Pubdate: Sat, 05 Nov 2011
Source: Hi-Desert Star (Yucca Valley, CA)
Copyright: 2011 Hi Desert Star
Contact:  http://www.hidesertstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3921
Author: Courtney Vaughn
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MARIJUANA USERS CONTINUE LEGAL BATTLE

SAN BERNARDINO - Leticia Pepper won't face county representatives in 
court until March 2012, but she's already gearing up for a battle 
that may take her to the state Supreme Court.

Pepper is the attorney representing Crusaders for Patients Rights, 
the self-proclaimed Christian organization that filed a lawsuit 
against San Bernardino County in April, after the Board of 
Supervisors banned medical marijuana dispensaries in all unincorporated areas.

The ordinance, passed April 5 by the board, also prohibited patients 
and caregivers from growing marijuana outdoors.

Pepper and CPR say the county's ordinance puts a heavy burden on sick 
patients. In the suit, plaintiffs say the county didn't follow the 
California Environmental Quality Act when it adopted the ordinance. 
The vocal attorney also says the county is violating state laws 
regarding medical marijuana.

"What the county is doing is illegal under Prop 215, which says any 
law must be designed to make access safe and affordable," Pepper said 
by phone Friday, on her way to a conference in Los Angeles.

In the Morongo Basin, the county ordinance restricts dispensaries 
from being established anywhere outside Twentynine Palms or Yucca 
Valley. Yucca Valley has one dispensary currently operating. 
Twentynine Palms city officials voted last year to ban dispensaries there.

Pepper claims the county didn't follow the CEQA process because 
harvesting marijuana indoors can actually create environmental 
hazards like pests and mold. Pepper also said growing marijuana 
inside, without natural sunlight and climate conditions, degrades its 
quality and effectiveness.

"The main thing is that it's better for the environment if people can 
grow marijuana outside .... To make a law that people can't do 
something when there's no good reason for it is illegal," she said.

During a public meeting of the board of supervisors in March, several 
people spoke against the county's plans, saying they did not have the 
means to grow their own marijuana and would be severely limited in 
their access to it if there were no dispensaries.

Before adopting the ordinance, the county put a moratorium on 
dispensaries in 2009 while it studied the issue, citing "a current 
and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare." Ten 
months later, the board of supervisors reviewed data from other 
agencies and claimed crime, loitering and traffic troubles would all 
result if dispensaries were permitted.

Pepper said the lack of sufficient evidence reviewed by the county is 
one of many missteps supervisors made before adopting the ordinance.

"Nobody had any evidence about why it wasn't bad for safe and 
affordable access. They also didn't have any evidence from their 
local law enforcement. They had stuff the California Chief of Police 
put together in a white paper," Pepper said.

The California Police Chiefs Association is named as an interested 
party in Pepper's suit. The association tried to remove itself from 
the suit, but a judge denied the request.

Neil Derry, 3rd District Supervisor, whose district includes the 
Morongo Basin, said his main concern was safety.

"Under a court decision, one individual can grow up to 99 (marijuana 
plants)," Derry noted by phone Friday. "My biggest concern is someone 
jumping the fence and stealing them. If you want to set up a 
greenhouse in your backyard and control it, I have less concern over that."

He said having a home where more than 100 large plants could grow in 
someone's backyard "isn't conducive to a safe neighborhood."

Pepper said even if a judge rules in the county's favor, she's 
prepared to keep fighting, saying, "If we have to go all the way up 
to the California Supreme Court, we will."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom