Pubdate: Mon, 25 Jan 2016
Source: Manteca Bulletin (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.mantecabulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3670

CALIFORNIA POT GROWERS FACING CROP OF LOCAL BANS

SACRAMENTO (AP) - When the California Legislature passed the state's 
first comprehensive medical marijuana regulations in September, pot 
advocates hoped the move heralded a new era of trust in their 
often-tumultuous relationship with wary local officials and police. 
So far, it hasn't turned out that way. Facing what appears to be a 
rapidly closing window for action, dozens of cities and counties from 
across California are racing to enact new bans on marijuana-growing. 
Some apply only to commercial cultivation, both indoor and outdoor, 
but many would also prohibit personal pot gardens that have been 
legal - or at least overlooked - for 19 years.

"Any other industry that created four months of seasonal labor and 
hundreds of thousands of jobs...we would be giving tax breaks to 
those businesses," medical marijuana dispensary owner Robert Jacob, a 
member of the Sebastopol City Council who has been fighting 
pot-growing bans proposed in Sonoma County.

At issue is a paragraph in the 70-page framework approved in the 
closing hours of the legislative session that would give the state 
alone authority to license growers in jurisdictions that do not have 
laws on the books by March 1 specifically authorizing or outlawing cultivation.

Lawmakers involved in crafting the package say the deadline ended up 
by mistake in the final compromise regulations. Assemblyman Jim Wood, 
a Democrat who represents California's prime pot-growing region, 
included it in earlier versions as a way to free local governments 
from a responsibility they might not want, spokeswoman Liz Snow said.

"It was a way to try to make it clearer in terms of, 'OK, local 
jurisdictions. If you want to act, you should be thinking about it, 
working on it now. Otherwise, we will all defer to the state,'" Snow said.

Even before Gov. Jerry Brown signed the regulations, which create the 
first statewide licensing and operating rules for California's 
sprawling medical marijuana industry, Wood announced he would 
introduce an emergency bill this month deleting the March 1 deadline.

The League of California Cities and the California Association of 
Police Chiefs, while supporting the fix, nonetheless have advised 
their members to enact cultivation bans ahead of the original cutoff 
date as a precaution to preserve local control.

The two groups fought hard last year for provisions stating that to 
be eligible for licenses the state expects to start issuing in about 
two years, anyone involved in the commercial medical marijuana trade 
must first obtain a local operating permit.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom