Confusion about the present. Uncertainty about the future.

Some of Amador's top officials found themselves trying to navigate a swamp of mixed messages and legal questions on Tuesday as a member of one of the biggest land-owning families in the county asked them to lift a ban on growing and selling medicinal marijuana.

In late October, Sutter Creek rancher Robert Allen told the Ledger Dispatch he proposed to open a cannabis dispensary for locals struggling with health issues. Allen's family owns vast tracts of land throughout the area. Despite his property holdings, Allen said he was having trouble finding a location to start the enterprise - which he calls Gold Country Harvest - mostly because Amador County has a ban on such operations.

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