Pubdate: Thu, 12 Jan 2012 Source: Ukiah Daily Journal, The (CA) Copyright: 2012 The Ukiah Daily Journal Contact: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/feedback Website: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/581 Author: Tiffany Revelle, The Daily Journal U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE THREATENS LEGAL ACTION OVER POT PERMIT PROGRAM The county of Mendocino will soon be rethinking its medical marijuana permit program, according to a statement late Wednesday from the Mendocino County CEO's Office. Under the threat of legal action from the U.S. Attorney's Office and anticipating the effect of a Southern California court ruling that could end the popular permitting program, the Board of Supervisors will consider changing its medical marijuana cultivation ordinance at its next meeting, Jan. 24, according to CEO Carmel Angelo. The ordinance allows medical marijuana cooperatives to grow up to 99 plants as long as they buy permits from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and follow a set of rules. The Ryan Pack v. City of Long Beach ruling, which came down in October, could end the program if it is allowed to stand as a precedent. The ruling quashed a similar medical marijuana permitting program in Long Beach, saying the city overstepped its legal bounds by issuing the permits, since growing and using marijuana for any reason is illegal under federal law. At the Jan. 24 meeting, County Counsel Jeanine Nadel will propose "amendments (to the county's cultivation ordinance) that will conform to the Pack decision and the concerns expressed by the U.S. Attorney's Office," according to the CEO's Office. If the board approves the changes Jan. 24, the amended ordinance will go back before the board for approval Feb. 14, and would be effective 30 days after that. "In the meantime, consistent with the current advice of county counsel, applications for permits will not be accepted," the CEO's Office stated. Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said Tuesday that there were no applications pending, and the 2012 applications weren't yet ready. They usually start coming in around March or April, in time for the growing season. Newly elected Board of Supervisors Chairman John McCowen helped draft the current version of the county's cultivation ordinance, codified as county code Chapter 9.31. "The 9.31 permit program created an above-ground framework that balanced safe access to medical marijuana with public safety and environmental protection," McCowen said in the CEO's Office's prepared statement. "The Pack decision and the federal crackdown will have the effect of driving medical marijuana back underground, making it more illegal, profitable and dangerous." He further stated, "If the federal government is not going to provide the resources to eradicate all the marijuana that they consider illegal, then they should not interfere with local regulatory efforts to protect public safety and the environment." Mendocino County's permit program also sells zip ties to people growing medical marijuana to identify legal plants in the event of a raid. The permit money has helped fund the Sheriff's Office, and proceeds from those permits and other medical marijuana-related sources has amounted to more than $1 million, the Sheriff's Office reported last month. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D