Pubdate: Thu, 11 Aug 2011
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2011 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/161
Note: Does not publish letters from outside their circulation area.
Author: Lewis Griswold
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

TULARE CO. JUDGE: MEDICAL MARIJUANA NOT AN AG CROP

Pot may be a huge cash crop in California - but don't call it an 
agricultural crop.

In what is believed to be the first such finding in the state, a 
Tulare County Superior Court judge has ruled that a marijuana 
collective can't operate on land zoned for agriculture.

In his ruling that was finalized Tuesday, Judge Paul Vortmann 
dismissed a property owner's argument that a medical marijuana 
collective's cultivation of marijuana is legal because it is in an 
agricultural zone.

"In this state, marijuana has never been classified as a crop or 
horticultural product," Vortmann wrote.

Marijuana is a controlled substance, the ruling said, adding that 
"the court finds as a matter of law that growing marijuana ... is not 
an agricultural use of property."

Tulare County Counsel Kathleen Bales-Lange, whose office sued a 
property owner and collective on behalf of the Tulare County Board of 
Supervisors, said it's the first time a court has addressed whether 
medical marijuana might be an agricultural crop.

Marijuana plants are "agricultural in nature" because they grow like 
any other crop, said lawyer Brandon Ormonde of Tulare, representing 
the property owner. Still, he acknowledged that medical marijuana has 
never been recognized as an agricultural plant.

In 2006, marijuana legalization advocate Jon Gettman made a splash 
with a report that marijuana was the nation's top cash crop at $35.8 
billion a year, more than corn and wheat combined.

Maybe, but marijuana is not recognized by the California Department 
of Food and Agriculture as a an agricultural commodity.

In fact, no agricultural commissioner in the state -- not even in 
Mendocino or Humboldt counties -- lists it in annual crop reports.

"We don't regulate or track marijuana at all and regard that as a law 
enforcement issue," said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the state 
agriculture agency.

That could change under a proposed ballot initiative that envisions a 
farming future for marijuana. Among other provisions, it proposes to 
apply "existing agricultural taxes and regulations to marijuana" and 
would prohibit zoning restrictions on cultivation.

It was recently approved by the Secretary of State's Office for 
signature gathering for a 2012 ballot.

The Tulare County case involved the Foothill Growers Association 
medical marijuana collective, which rented a building south of 
Ivanhoe in an agricultural zone. The collective grew plants inside 
the building and functioned as a dispensary.

The county sued the collective and property owner last year, arguing 
that medical marijuana dispensaries are only allowed in specified 
commercial and manufacturing zones.

The group has until noon Friday to stop using the building.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom