Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 • Supes implement ban on cultivation 

Effective around Nov. 11, the cultivation of marijuana in Lassen County is banned.

“The cultivation of marijuana in the unincorporated territory of Lassen County, indoors or outdoors, by any person, regardless of their status as a qualified patient or designated primary caregiver, is hereby declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance that may be abated in accordance with this title,” read the Title 19 amendment unanimously adopted by the Lassen County Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday, Oct. 11 meeting.

While the cultivation of marijuana in the county is soon to be unlawful, it does not stop patients with valid recommendations from using medical marijuana.

The amendment takes effect 30 days after its adoption.

During the meeting, the board heard from speakers for and against cultivation again, but ultimately decided for the ban in order to prepare for the future of marijuana in the state, since Prop 64, which would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in California, is on the November ballot. Board chairman Jim Chapman noted it seemed the proposition would likely pass.

“I think the board needs to have the breathing space to be able to sort (through new legislation),” said Chapman. “If we’re not ahead of that ball, the ball is going to squash us.”

Supervisor Tom Hammond said he was in favor of the amendment, adding he hoped the board would readdress the situation after the November vote.

Supervisor Jeff Hemphill was in favor in order to “restart the clock.”

However, Chapman also noted he didn’t think the amendment would push medical marijuana users back into the shadows.

“In terms of law enforcement cracking down on people who maybe who maybe in their own private lives and in the privacy of their own homes, having the stuff around … living in fear that they’ll have to be in the shadows … I think is an oversimplification. I don’t think law enforcement is going to take that action,” said Chapman. “(The ordinance) is a clear signal to those who want to flaunt … and come in with these large grows.”

Several speakers during the meeting pleaded with the board to not impose the ban.

One woman, who was in escrow with a property in Lassen County, asked the board to reconsider the amendment.

The speaker was in opposition to the ban, and noted she was interested in following the rules of cultivation in order to gain access to clean, fresh marijuana.

“There are plenty of people who want to follow the rules,” she said, however, she noted she understood there was a criminal aspect in the county.

Additionally, another man looking to move to the area in order to cultivate medical marijuana encouraged the board to think about solutions and “consider the human cost.

He said with a ban, medical marijuana cultivators would “either break the law so they can live, some kind of quality of life, or their going to not break the law and not have the quality of life that I believe that we’re all entitled to.”

He said, as a person on a fixed income, purchasing marijuana from a dispensary is too much money, as opposed to growing it himself.

A new Lassen County resident, Clinton Johnson, also spoke to the board. He said his way of using medical marijuana was not smoking it, but ingesting it raw. He commented on how much his ailments have improved since he started taking it.

He said there was a drug problem in the county, mentioning meth usage, but claimed the marijuana plant did not represent the crime.

“Put a control on it,” he said, “but a ban would only hurt us.”

However, residents for the ban also spoke during the agenda item.

Dava McCann addressed the board again, saying she had compassion for those who needed the substance, by said there were many who did not want to see the plant, smell it or deal with the criminal aspect.

She noted she was in favor of a ban until comprises could be arranged.

She claimed many were not against everything, but wanted to get things in place to protect youth from marijuana and the way of life for those in the area.

Several others addressed the board, for and against the ban.

The board unanimously approved the ban.

The medical marijuana ordinance was initially approved in April 2015, and has been amended since then.