County alters med. marijuana restrictions

[EasyBakeIndica]

County alters med. marijuana restrictions​

Published: July 9, 2008

By Nicholas Grube

The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors clouded the issue of what is reasonable and excessive Tuesday when it decided to lift its medical marijuana possession and cultivation guidelines.

By removing limits on the number of plants a medical marijuana patient or caregiver can grow and the amount of processed marijuana they can possess, the supervisors put the burden of determining how much is too much on law enforcement, patients and their doctors.

Supervisor Leslie McNamer was the only one to vote against the new ordinance, and said after the meeting that she made that decision because she considers it a "medical issue" that should not be up to politicians or police.

"I don't feel it's up to the sheriff's department to determine what amount of medicine I'm supposed to take," McNamer said.

Under the county's current medical marijuana guidelines—which will be in effect until the new law takes over Aug. 8—patients and caregivers are allowed to grow up to 99 plants in a 100-square-foot area and be in possession of up to a pound of processed buds.

It's one of the most liberal standards in the state and one that local law enforcement officials have said contributes to marijuana percolating to the street.

The Board of Supervisors tried to amend the original ordinance and reduce the amount of marijuana a person can legally grow or possess to six mature plants or 12 seedlings, and eight ounces of processed product. This change would have brought Del Norte County in line with a majority of counties in the state that follow the same guidelines.

However, the board opted instead for no guidelines after a state appellate court ruled that placing limits on medical marijuana was unconstitutional.

This decision has made both medical marijuana patients and certain law enforcement officials a little uneasy, as the new ordinance leaves the discretion of what is considered the right amount of weed up to individuals—users, growers or officers.

If a patient doesn't have a set prescription for medical marijuana, such as 35 plants and 2 pounds, then someone in law enforcement would need to make a determination on whether or not the patient's situation warrants that amount.

Del Norte County District Attorney Mike Riese—whose office would eventually prosecute these cases—has expressed apprehension about such judgement calls, as have others in law enforcement.

Supervisor David Finigan said it will now be up to Riese and Del Norte County Sheriff Dean Wilson to come up with a solution.

"The district attorney ... (will) coordinate with the sheriff on how to enforce it," Finigan said.

http://www.triplicate.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=9424​

 

[inflorescence]

If a patient doesn't have a set prescription for medical marijuana, such as 35 plants and 2 pounds, then someone in law enforcement would need to make a determination on whether or not the patient's situation warrants that amount.

Why on earth would that person in law enforcement need to make that kind of determination.

If the suspect is found to be a legit medical patient (ie. their records support that) and if the law says NO LIMITS then why on earth would a law enforcement officer have to make a determination on what the limit should be for that patient.

That legit patient could have a million plants and be perfectly legal,

Just because the police don't like the law doesn't mean they have to make unlawful determinations on limits just because they disagree with the law.

 

[SCF]

Why on earth would that person in law enforcement need to make that kind of determination.

If the suspect is found to be a legit medical patient (ie. their records support that) and if the law says NO LIMITS then why on earth would a law enforcement officer have to make a determination on what the limit should be for that patient.

That legit patient could have a million plants and be perfectly legal,

Just because the police don't like the law doesn't mean they have to make unlawful determinations on limits just because they disagree with the law.

Exactly. Its really sickening actually and i hope i dont see a trend of more police stating harassment. The sick already have enough to deal with.

 

[EasyBakeIndica]

C.Y.A.

C.Y.A.

"If a patient doesn't have a set prescription for medical marijuana, such as 35 plants and 2 pounds, then someone in law enforcement would need to make a determination on whether or not the patient's situation warrants that amount."

This means we need to cover our asses. It can always be argued in court, but that will break the bank in legal fees.

This is a major issue, because most patients only carry recommendations from a doctor, not an actual prescription.