Pubdate: Mon, 28 Jul 2014
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2014 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Jeff Horseman

RIVERSIDE COUNTY

ORDINANCE WOULD IMPOSE $10 TO $1,000 FINES FOR GROWING MARIJUANA

Supervisor Kevin Jeffries' ordinance could get a Sept. 9 public 
hearing, after which it could be enacted

Growers of indoor and outdoor marijuana crops in unincorporated parts 
of Riverside County could be fined $10 to $1,000 under an ordinance 
before the county Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

Those who cultivate 12 or more plants also would face up to six 
months in jail if the ordinance offered by Supervisor Kevin Jeffries 
passes as written. Supervisors this week could set a Sept. 9 public 
hearing on the ordinance, after which they could vote on the proposed law.

Jeffries, who represents a district stretching from Riverside to Lake 
Elsinore, is sponsoring the ordinance to crack down on for-profit 
marijuana fields. More than 200 marijuana grows are in the Mead 
Valley, Good Hope and Meadowbrook areas of Jeffries' district, 
according to county officials.

Authorities say solicitors offer thousands of dollars a month to 
property owners and renters if they let their backyards be used for 
growing marijuana.

Permits posted near the crops state the marijuana is being grown for 
medicinal use. Jeffries said he fears drug cartels are involved, 
though sheriff's officials say they have not received specific 
reports on such activity. The crops increase the risk of crime, 
create noxious odors and lead to illegal power and water hookups, 
according to a county staff report on the ordinance.

Jeffries has said he doesn't want to go after legitimate medical 
marijuana patients with small crops. Medical marijuana is legal in 
California, although it remains against federal law and many cities 
and counties - Riverside County among them - have banned dispensaries.

Technically, the county already outlaws marijuana cultivation. 
Jeffries' ordinance would spell that out more clearly and impose $10 
fines for anyone found guilty of cultivating six or fewer plants.

Those who grow more than six but fewer than a dozen plants would be 
subject to a fine not to exceed $200. Anyone who cultivates 12 or 
more plants would be guilty of a misdemeanor could be fined up to 
$1,000, face a jail sentence of up to six months or both. Lanny 
Swerdlow, a marijuana legalization advocate from Whitewater, said the 
ordinance is deeply flawed.

"It's nice that they lowered the fines," he said. "They claim it's to 
stop large-scale grows ... but it stops little teeny (grows) by 
patients, indoor or outdoor.

"If patients cannot buy their marijuana locally and they cannot grow 
their own, how are patients supposed to obtain their medicine?"

Jeffries said he doesn't anticipate code enforcement officers 
spending a lot of time going after small growers. Currently, fines 
for a marijuana grow of any size starts at $100 for a first offense, he said.

"What we are doing is, we are taking a first offense for a small 
amount and lowering it (so it's) cheaper than a parking ticket," Jeffries said.

Jeffries' ordinance would be an interim measure. If passed, it could 
be renewed by a four-fifths vote no later than Oct. 21. The interim 
ordinance would give officials time to develop permanent zoning 
prohibitions against marijuana cultivation, the staff report read.

Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting starts at 9 a.m. at the County 
Administrative Center, 4080 Lemon St. in Riverside.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom