Pubdate: Sat, 21 Nov 2015
Source: Mail Tribune, The (Medford, OR)
Copyright: 2015 The Mail Tribune
Contact:  http://www.mailtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/642
Note: Only prints LTEs from within it's circulation area, 200 word count limit
Author: Sarah Kirby, Siskiyou Daily News

Siskiyou County

SUPERVISORS BAN OUTDOOR MEDICAL POT GROWS

Indoor growing would still be allowed

The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors has moved to ban outdoor 
cultivation of medical marijuana, but indoor growing would still be allowed.

The board voted 4-1 Tuesday on the ordinance, which is based on 
Shasta County's outdoor growing ban. A second reading is planned for Dec. 8.

"Banning outdoor grows provides safer grows," District 3 Supervisor 
Michael Kobseff said. "From stories I was told, grows are a safety 
risk to other residents because people want to steal pot."

Siskiyou County community members packed the board room to express 
their opinions about the ban. Some asked the board for a 
zero-tolerance cannabis-cultivation policy, while others considered 
the banning of outdoor cultivation to be an illegal infringement on 
state-declared rights.

Many homeowners from the Klamath River Country Estates said 
exceptionally large grows by their homes were affecting their roads 
and property values.

One community member said, "I've got three grows adjacent from me and 
one is a stone's throw away. We are thinking about selling our home 
because of these grows, but we talked to a Realtor, and we are upside 
down in value by about $50,000 from where we were a year ago."

Many of the individuals who were in support of the ban mentioned how 
large grows are popping up all around their homes. Large grows are 
considered illegal under the county law.

Many marijuana collective owners, medical cannabis patients and 
longtime county residents said the large grows are ruining it for 
everyone, but those following the rules shouldn't be penalized.

Members of the Hmong community attended Tuesday's meeting, saying 
they use medical cannabis for legitimate health issues.

"I have had ulcers for 20 years," said a Hmong woman. "I've been to 
doctors but their help did not work. Due to my ulcer, I could not 
bend over and do any work. My friend gave me a cannabis tea, and my 
ulcers have healed. Now I can work."

Some audience members said the county could put millions of dollars 
in its pockets if it chose to continue to allow outdoor cultivation 
with additional taxation.

Board Chairman Ed Valenzuela was the only member who voted against 
the ban. He said recreational cannabis use is likely to be approved 
by voters in 2016, and that he did not think that the ban would help.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom