Pubdate: Wed, 9 Sep 2009
Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)
Copyright: 2009 Times-Standard
Contact: http://www.times-standard.com/writeus
Website: http://www.times-standard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1051
Author: James Faulk, The Times-Standard
Cited: Humboldt County http://co.humboldt.ca.us/board/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+215

COUNTY SEEKS TO IRON OUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA ISSUES

Seeking to get out in front of issues surrounding the use and growing 
of medical marijuana in Humboldt County, the Board of Supervisors on 
Tuesday appointed supervisors Mark Lovelace and Jimmy Smith to a 
subcommittee charged with brainstorming possible regulations.

Lovelace, representing the county's 3rd District, said the goal would 
be to explore various options -- without hurting patients who 
legitimately need their medicine -- to eliminate some of the 
consequences that can arise from medical grows, such as fires and 
building code violations, among others.

"We need to find a way to deal with it so that people who need 
medical marijuana ... can grow it or have access to it without 
inviting the abuses that we've seen, and without the potential 
neighborhood impacts," Lovelace said.

During his campaign for the 3rd District seat, Lovelace said it 
topped the list of voter concerns.

"Again and again, I heard, 'I support 215, but we're seeing too much 
abuse of the public's compassion on this issue,'" Lovelace said.

The subcommittee will consult and work with other municipalities, law 
enforcement, patient advocates, and dispensaries, among other 
interest groups, to find the best approach to regulation, Lovelace said.

Greg Allen, local attorney and a spokesman for Humboldt Medical 
Supply, said it's clear that among those growing medical marijuana, 
there are some who do not take the necessary precautions for their 
own safety, and that of others.

"It appears that there needs to be some sort of regulation so that at 
least everyone knows what the rules of the game are and can follow 
them," Allen said. "For those that don't, then having some regulation 
is a vehicle for bringing these folks to heel."

But for growers who are not operating under a Proposition 215 
umbrella, regulations will have little if any effect, he said.

"For those folks who are illegal, under the law they are criminals," 
Allen said. "Anyone would have to be skeptical that regulations are 
going to do much with these folks."

Similarly, Allen said any new rules by the county will have no impact 
on the biggest marijuana problem of all -- the outbreak of vast 
marijuana plantations on public lands, which are often manned by armed guards.

But medical growers would likely cooperate, at least to establish 
where they stand legally.

But even with buy-in by the area's medical providers, how do such 
regulations get enforced?

"In terms of having an enforcement mechanism, I'm somewhat skeptical 
that there's much the county can do," he said. "It's a very, very 
slippery slope when one starts playing with a person's rights under 
the Fourth Amendment. ... A supreme court justice has defined the 
most precious right as the right to be left alone, so anything that 
creates contact or conflict with law enforcement is not a good idea."

At the same time, Lovelace said his constituents have voiced fears 
that if the problems surrounding medical marijuana aren't dealt with, 
there could be a backlash against compassionate use.

"We just need to find a way to make this work," Lovelace said. "What 
those ways will be, I don't know."

In other business, the board voted unanimously to support a decision 
by the Headwaters Fund Board to reject a grant application that would 
have helped fund an online nursing program at Humboldt State University. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake