Pubdate: Thu, 20 Jun 2013
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Jason Hoppin, Santa Cruz Sentinel

COUNTY WEIGHS POT-GROW RULES

Guidelines Sought for Producing Medical Cannabis

SANTA CRUZ - Santa Cruz County will look at regulating medical 
marijuana grow operations, from large pot fields draped over mountain 
peaks to those tucked behind curtains in quiet neighborhoods.

The effort would represent an expansion of rules passed in 2011 for 
dispensary operations in unincorporated areas. Though approved 
unanimously, those rules immediately were suspended while the state's 
high court weighed whether local governments could regulate pot clubs.

"In my district, we've got entire 2,000- squarefoot homes in Rio del 
Mar taken over for medical marijuana grows," said Supervisor Zach 
Friend, who has public safety concerns about commercial pot 
production in residential areas. "When you buy a home, a 
three-quarters-of-a-million-dollar home, you don't expect to move in 
next to a couple thousand pot plants."

Last month, the Supreme Court decided local cities and counties could 
regulate pot clubs, including banning them outright. A number of 
cities have done just that, especially after a 2011 Justice 
Department crackdown on the state's medical marijuana trade.

Along with Supervisor Bruce McPherson, Friend is one of two members 
of the five-member board sworn after the county first passed its pot 
regulations.

No immediate official action is expected. Existing county regulations 
are under a moratorium that expires in November, though the board 
could vote to lift it earlier.

Supervisors John Leopold and Neal Coonerty, the chairman of the 
board, signed a separate letter that also signaled a willingness to 
consider regulating the legally murky supply side of the county's 
medical marijuana industry.

"The law is very unclear in this area. It's why we didn't try to 
address it the first time," Leopold said. "But now there seems to be 
interest on the board to do it."

Grow operations exist throughout the county, and there is concern 
that some are operated in unsafe manners. That could include 
overloading electrical circuits that cause transformers to blow out - 
of special concern in wooded areas - to robberies to growers who 
guard their product with firearms.

Both Friend and McPherson said they have no intention of cutting off 
access for medical marijuana patients. McPherson, whose San Lorenzo 
Valley district includes several dispensaries, said he supports 
medical marijuana.

"When I was in the state Legislature, I supported medicinal uses for 
marijuana with proper oversight, and continue to feel that way," 
McPherson said.

While there are common themes in each, the fact that there are two 
letters regarding the county's pot regulations is a sign that the 
board - right now, at least - is not unanimous on what to do about them.

Ben Rice, a local attorney who works with a number of pot clubs, said 
he expects a few to close once the suspended regulations go into 
effect. Those rules required setbacks from schools and other 
dispensaries, among other criteria.

Rice also said he welcomes rules on cultivation, saying he tried to 
get the board to take up the issue when the board first tackled pot 
regulations two years ago. He also said his clients won't protest 
added taxes, a step suggested by the letter from Coonerty and Leopold.

"Nobody that I know that's doing this responsibly disagrees that this 
should be done, that we should have better and clearer regulations," 
Rice said. "And everyone agrees that we should be taxed to cover any 
county expenses required to monitor this stuff."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom