REDUCED MEDICAL MARIJUANA LIMITS WIDELY OPPOSED

A proposal by two county supervisors to reduce the amount of medical
marijuana patients are allowed to possess and cultivate is drawing
fire from the sheriff and all three candidates for district attorney
in Mendocino County.

Supervisors Mike Delbar and Jim Wattenburger have drafted a resolution
that would lower the number of allowed mature pot plants to six and
the amount of dried marijuana a patient can possess to 8 ounces, the
minimum the state says counties should allow.

With a doctor's order, a patient could get a waiver from the limit,
Delbar said.

"It should be plenty," he said.

Currently, medical marijuana patients in Mendocino County are allowed
to grow as many plants as they can fit under a 100-square-foot canopy
and they may possess up to 2 pounds of processed marijuana.

That's much more than anyone should need, Delbar said, noting concerns
about the crime associated with people who are illegally making a
business out of growing medical marijuana.

Delbar and Wattenburger, who comprise the Board of Supervisors'
Criminal Justice Committee, expect to have an ordinance ready to
forward to the full board next month.

The other three supervisors were unavailable for comment
Friday.

The resolution faces strong opposition from Sheriff Tom Allman, three
candidates for district attorney and medical marijuana activists.

Allman said it's impractical to try to enforce a six-plant
limit.

"This is going to place a burden on law enforcement. If it's lowered
to the state minimum, my deputies this summer will not be able to
focus on any other public safety issue," he said.

Delbar discounted that concern.

"Whether a deputy has to count to six or 25, it's a math issue," he
said.

The proposal would also change the marijuana limit supported by
Mendocino County voters, who approved a 25-plant limit when they
passed the nonbinding Measure G in 2000.

"I won't go along with it" if elected, said Keith Faulder, assistant
district attorney and a candidate for district attorney.

The proposed reductions also are impractical and unfair because
residents of both Humboldt and Sonoma counties would then have
considerably higher allowances, Faulder and district attorney
candidates Bert Schlosser and Meredith Lintott said.

Patients who possess a legal amount of medical marijuana in one county
could be arrested while driving through another county, they said.

It's a violation of equal protection laws as well as being a burden on
law enforcement, Faulder said.

"It makes no sense to have it be different," Lintott
said.

Currently, differences in the amount of medical marijuana allowed in
various counties abound.

A number of counties, including Lake, use the state's minimum
guideline of six mature plants and 8 ounces of dried pot.

And while Sonoma, Humboldt and Mendocino counties all limit plants to
a 100-square-foot area, Sonoma and Humboldt counties allow 3 pounds of
dried marijuana, while Mendocino County allows 2 pounds.

"If I had a genie, I wouldn't wish for a million dollars. I would wish
the people in Sacramento would make one law that would be consistent
in all 58 counties in the state," Allman said.

Marijuana use and production remain in violation of federal
law.