Pubdate: Fri, 18 Apr 2008
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2008 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Mike Geniella, Staff Writer

PRO-POT ADVOCATES INFUSE MARIJUANA CAMPAIGN IN MENDOCINO WITH CASH

Marijuana advocacy groups from outside Mendocino County are propping
up a beleaguered campaign to keep the county's liberalized pot
guidelines in place.

The No on Measure B campaign has received $1,000 from the San
Francisco office of the National Reform of Marijuana Laws, known as
NORML, and $500 from a Santa Rosa-based advocacy group, the Organic
Cannabis Foundation.

The campaign against the initiative is being outspent nearly 5-to-1 by
proponents of Measure B, which is aimed at ending the county's
national reputation as a haven for large-scale marijuana growers.

Measure B, if passed in the June primary, would repeal county
guidelines allowing individuals to cultivate up to 25 plants for
personal use and directing local law enforcement to make marijuana
prosecution the "lowest priority." It would replace the county's
allowance for pot cultivation with a more restrictive state standard
of six plants for individuals possessing official medical marijuana
identification cards.

Mendocino became the first county in the nation in 2000 to locally
legalize marijuana for personal use.

Since then, marijuana production has surged in the county, creating an
estimated $1 billion underground economy on the North Coast.

Rural Mendocino County residents have expressed outrage over
large-scale growing operations that have brought armed guards and
widespread environmental damage.

Supporters of Measure B, who are rallying behind the slogan, "take
back our county," include law enforcement agencies, city and county
officials, school administrators and even some former advocates of the
county's liberal guidelines.

Dale Geiringer, NORML's executive director, said he's aware of the
intensity surrounding current marijuana practices.

"There's no doubt people are concerned and angry about what's going on
in Mendocino," he said. But Measure B supporters are targeting the
wrong people, Geiringer said.

Reducing the 25-plant per person limit will not rid the county of
massive marijuana production, he argued.

"What it will do is turn legitimate marijuana growers into criminals
instead of the really big operators," Geiringer said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin