Pubdate: Sun, 08 Oct 2000
Source: Oakland Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2000 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  66 Jack London Sq., Oakland, CA 94607
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Website: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/

MENDOCINO'S POT MEASURE BACKS HOME-GROWN PLANTS

MENDOCINO -- The burning issue on Mendocino County's ballot, a 
grow-your-own marijuana measure, is a bit of a moot point since state and 
federal anti-drug laws will still apply.

Still, backers have high hopes for Measure G, which could become the first 
such law in the country. Alaska voters also will vote on legalizing pot but 
there is considerable contention over that measure, which includes offering 
restitution for time spent in prison for marijuana crimes.

No organized opposition

Mendocino County's cannabis campaign faces no organized opposition.

"Measure G is a political statement by the people of Mendocino County that 
we think that the war on marijuana is hugely wasteful. We want to move 
political opinion and that's really what this initiative is all about," 
said Dan Hamburg, a former Democratic congressman turned Green Party 
activist who is among the marijuana measure's backers.

Land of postcards

Lovely and remote, Mendocino County is the land of a thousand postcards. 
But beyond the white-gabled inns and soaring redwoods is another country.

The "Emerald Triangle," where Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties 
converge, produces a pot crop with a street value of around $1 billion 
annually. And it's no ordinary smoke. Prized by connoisseurs, Emerald 
Triangle marijuana commands up to $5,000 a pound.

Last year, state anti-marijuana forces raiding Mendocino's illicit pot 
farms seized more than 63,000 plants valued at more than $250 million.

Measure G would prohibit sale or transportation of marijuana. But it would 
legalize uncounted pot YIMBYs -- Yes in my backyard -- by allowing 
residents to grow up to 25 plants for their own use. It also would direct 
county law enforcement to make busting small-time growers a low priority.

Authorities here already do that; Sheriff Tony Craver is among the 5,900 
residents -- twice the required number -- who signed the petition to get 
Measure G on the ballot.

Pass or fail, Craver said he will enforce state and federal bans on 
marijuana -- something he suspects will come as an unpleasant surprise to 
would-be pot farmers who interpret Measure G as a license to till. "I'm 
sure there'll be some political turmoil surrounding this issue."

Measure G backer Ann Deirup is old enough at 82 to remember Prohibition.

A tree farmer near the seaside village of Mendocino, Deirup has never 
smoked a joint. But she thinks the current approach to marijuana makes no 
sense.

"I am not into the thing. I don't grow it. I don't smoke it. But I don't 
think it's as dangerous as alcohol," she said.

Most expect Measure G to pass, considering that voters were 64.5 percent in 
favor of the 1996 state initiative allowing use of marijuana for medical 
reasons.

That measure passed but is still being fought over in the courts.

But support is not universal.

"I think it's going to give a mixed message to kids. And I think it's a bad 
message," said Ukiah schools superintendent Gary Brawley.

During lunch hour at the outdoor deck of a cafe in rural Boonville, some 
residents expressed mixed opinions.

County resident Eddie Pardini is against it. "Sure, there may be people 
that need it for medicinal purposes or whatever, but somewhere down the 
line it's going to be abused. Kids are going to get it," he said.

One table over, Hugh Hamilton thought he'd vote for it.

"I really think a lot of time and money's being wasted in the war on drugs 
in going after the little stuff. I kind of see it as Prohibition all over 
again," Hamilton said.
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