Marijuana Hotbed Retreats on Medicinal Use

[groovedaddy]

UKIAH, Calif. — There is probably no marijuana-friendlier place in the country than here in Mendocino County, where plants can grow more than 15 feet high, medical marijuana clubs adopt stretches of highway, and the sticky, sweet aroma of cannabis fills this city’s streets during the autumn harvest.

Lately, however, residents of Mendocino County, like those in other parts of California, are wondering if the state’s embrace of marijuana for medicinal purposes has gone too far.

Medical marijuana was legalized under state law by California voters in 1996, and since then 11 other states have followed, even though federal law still bans the sale of any marijuana. But some frustrated residents and law enforcement officials say the California law has increasingly and unintentionally provided legal cover for large-scale marijuana growers — and the problems such big-money operations can attract.

“It’s a clear shield for commercial operations,” said Mike Sweeney, 60, a supporter of both medical marijuana and a local ballot measure on June 3 that called for new limits on the drug in Mendocino. “And we don’t want those here.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/us/09pot.html?th&emc=th

[navarth]

1. Just give us a chance to vote on that in Michigan.....

OH man I'd love to have the opportunity to vote for decriminalization.

Commercial operations? So tax and regulate them. Perhaps the voters would put such a mechanism in place.

We've got to begin to have sanity SOMEWHERE.

[High Plains]

2. Medical marijuana is on the Michigan ballot in November.

http://stoparrestingpatients.org

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

4. Put it on the 2010 ballot!

If a few states start passing laws to create mechanisms for commercial marijuana regulation, eventually the pressure will trickle up to the federal level. Several states have anti-abortion laws that are nulled by the Supreme Court; state marijuana laws could be put in place with the expectation that the federal prohibition will soon be challenged. Medical pot is already well on its way to federal sanctioning, at least if Obama gets elected.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

5. More on this issue...

The state ballot initiative could:

1. Make prosecution of personal possession the "lowest law enforcement priority" and
2. Establish a new set of laws for the regulation of commercial cannabis under the hypothetical scenario that it eventually becomes federally legal.

[High Plains]

3. This vote HAS NOT been decided!!!

The measure was leading 51-49 last Tuesday night, and the media called it a win, but 38% of the ballots have yet to be counted. They are mail-in ballots from rural areas of the country, which will presumably be more favorable to the status quo.

The county says it will take the full month allowed by law to count the remaining ballots.

[wildbilln864]

6. Solution=

Legalize it! :eyes: