Pubdate: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 Source: Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA) Copyright: 2011 Appeal-Democrat Contact: http://www.appeal-democrat.com/sections/services/forms/editorletter.php Website: http://www.appeal-democrat.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1343 Author: Ryan Mccarthy, Appeal-Democrat LIVE OAK PRESSES AHEAD ON OUTDOOR POT GROWING BAN DESPITE OPPOSITION A draft ordinance to ban outdoor medical marijuana grows in Live Oak will be prepared for the City Council after a study session Tuesday produced mostly public opposition. "This is ridiculous," resident Raymond Cooper said of a ban. Cooper said he refuses to take pharmaceutical drugs for problems that include spinal degeneration, using medical marijuana instead. A ban on outdoor grows would boost electrical use for indoor cultivation, he said. "If you push it indoors," Cooper said, "It's bad for the planet." But council members Diane Hodges and Steve Alvarado raised concerns about the odor of the plant as well as exposing children to marijuana. "I would not want that happening next door," Hodges said of outdoor cultivation. Alvarado agreed: "I wouldn't want my kids seeing it or smelling it," he said. More than 15 people were at the usually sparsely attended study session and the discussion of a ban that began with City Manager Jim Goodwin recounting citizen complaints about outdoor grows. Gridley and Biggs in Butte County adopted measures prohibiting cultivation in yards, Goodwin said. Mayor Gary Baland cited thefts of marijuana and shootings, saying that if someone is growing marijuana, "You're just increasing the possibility of bad things happening." People who cultivate the plant and have children at home "are just putting them in danger," Baland said. Sutter County sheriff's Lt. James Casner, who oversees law enforcement in Live Oak, said three crimes connected with marijuana cultivation have occurred in the community in the past year. "They don't' steal it to use it," Casner said of plant thefts. "They steal it to sell it." A resident who declined to give his name said that he should have the right to put up a sign stating he isn't growing the plant but that his neighbor is. That would protect his property from people after marijuana, he suggested. Live Oak resident Sharon Huber agreed and said if someone nearby is growing the plant she'll put up a big sign reading: "Pot next door." A speaker who opposed a ban asked if the city would provide money for low-income families to build structures to house indoor medical marijuana grows. "I don't believe we would be," Baland answered. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.