cannabisnews.com: How Measure B Will Help





How Measure B Will Help
Posted by CN Staff on May 05, 2008 at 11:14:18 PT
By Mike Sweeney
Source: Ukiah Daily Journal
Ukiah, CA -- The latest ploy by the opponents of Measure B is to claim that it won't do any good.Tell that to people who live next door to a marijuana grower and you'll learn otherwise. Listen to the anguish in their voices as they describe the overpowering odor of the neighbor's plants, filling the air night and day, and the fear that it will attract armed robbers. Imagine their frustration at the futile attempts to get help from law enforcement, only to be told that nothing can be done.
If Measure B passes, these long-suffering neighbors will get help at last. Overnight, the medical marijuana cards used as a shield by profit-seeking growers will be good for only one-quarter as many plants, since Measure B replaces the county's absurdly-high limit of 25 plants per card with the statewide guideline of 6 plants. But that's only the start. Within days of the passage of Measure B, the Board of Supervisors will be asked to follow the lead of the City of Ukiah and strengthen county nuisance laws so nobody will have to see or smell a neighbor's marijuana plants, and so growers who don't comply with these good-neighbor standards will be subject to immediate abatement measures. With the mandate of the voters fresh in their minds, the Supervisors can be expected to act on the environmental crisis as well. Diesel fuel is spilling into the ground and the streams all over Mendocino County from leaky plastic tanks and pipes used by growers. A new ordinance is urgently needed to prevent improper sales and storage of diesel fuel. Like all regulation of commercial marijuana, it must be a criminal statute, as well as civil, so that peace officers can enforce it.Sheriff Tom Allman and District Attorney Meredith Lintott have already responded positively to the public outrage that created Measure B, and they are pursuing marijuana cases that would have been blocked just a few years ago under the previous sheriff and district attorney. Sheriff Allman has stated that if Measure B passes his priorities will include "complaints about growers who create a public nuisance, endanger public safety or trash the environment."Perhaps the most important benefit of Measure B will be that it will restore the credibility of Mendocino County in the eyes of the federal and state officials who allocate scarce resources to fight large criminal drug operations. It's no secret that they have told Mendocino County officials, "Why should we help you? The people there don't want us." This is the legacy of Measure G.The passage of Measure B will get us back in line to get more state and federal help against the commercial growers who are turning public and private land into "no-go" zones, destroying the environment, and defending their grow operations with guns and vicious dogs. Nobody is thrilled about the presence of state and federal agents but we have seen that the alternative is much worse. Sheriff Allman has a big responsibility to keep state and federal activity in line with our county's priorities: (1) stop destructive commercial growing, (2) leave personal and medical users alone.The debates over Measure B have really illuminated the basic policy choice that's before the voters.The No on B camp claims that all marijuana is medical and that they have the right to grow as much as they want without any concern for the impacts on children, neighbors or the environment.The Yes on B side believes that public health and safety and environmental protection must come first. If "Yes" wins, we will go through a restructuring that will establish new ground rules for marijuana cultivation, regulating the amounts that can be grown and the impacts. Because most people are tolerant of medical and personal use, these ground rules will undoubtedly be very reasonable. Marijuana will continue to be grown -- it will just be a lot less offensive.But if "No" wins, a very different kind of restructuring will happen. The last barriers to a total marijuana economy will be breached and all restraint will be gone. After a while, there will be few people left in Mendocino County besides marijuana growers and those who profit from the underground economy.Rarely does a vote count for so much.Mike Sweeney lives in the Ukiah Valley area.For more information on No on B, go to: http://www.nomeasureb.org/For more information on Yes on B, go to: http://www.yesonbcoalition.org/Source: Ukiah Daily Journal (CA)Author: Mike SweeneyPublished: May 5, 2008Copyright: 2008 Ukiah Daily JournalContact: udjrb pacific.netWebsite: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/Related Articles:Mendocino County Rethinks Marijuana Regulationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23876.shtmlAdvocacy Groups Back Efforts To Defeat Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23836.shtmlNo on B, Yes on B Backers State Casehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23833.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by SamFox on May 08, 2008 at 21:38:06 PT:
Armed robbers??
You mean the DEA? These people should be glad that their house isn't mistaken for a drug dealer's. Good way to get shot by antsy cops. Happens all the time. Another reason for RE legalizing! Check out the site Victims Of The Drug War-http://tinyurl.com/pgdphCops have killed a lot more innocents than cannabis. A lot more! 
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on May 05, 2008 at 21:27:40 PT
Does it really stink that bad?
Is it like living downwind of a paper mill?
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Comment #4 posted by John Tyler on May 05, 2008 at 20:20:55 PT
vote No on B
I say vote No on Measure B. Cannabis doesn’t smell bad. It’s all relative anyway. I heard of a farmer that raised hogs. He was asked if minded the hog poop smell. He said no. It smelled like money to him. Tomato plants have a certain odor about them too, but no one complains. This is just prohibitionists BS.
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Comment #3 posted by runruff on May 05, 2008 at 14:41:12 PT:
Call 911 I think I smell a crime!
Imagine their frustration at the futile attempts to get help from law enforcement, only to be told that nothing can be done. Ahhhhh, sanity at last!
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 05, 2008 at 13:42:33 PT
AP: Clay Backs Bill To Decriminalize Marijuana
May 5, 2008 
WASHINGTON -- Rep. William Lacy Clay is supporting a bill that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.The Missouri Democrat has signed on as a co-sponsor of the measure to eliminate federal penalties for possessing up to 100 grams - or about 3.5 ounces - of marijuana for personal use.The bill also would remove penalties for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce of marijuana between adults.Clay is only the third lawmaker to sign onto the bill introduced last month by Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat.Frank says prosecuting people for smoking marijuana is an unwise use of law enforcement resources.Copyright: 2008 The Associated Presshttp://www.examiner.com/a-1375590~Clay_backs_bill_to_decriminalize_marijuana.html
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Comment #1 posted by Yanxor on May 05, 2008 at 13:00:47 PT
Something smells skunky, call the cops!
"Listen to the anguish in their voices as they describe the overpowering odor of the neighbor's plants, filling the air night and day"Jesus, these growers - with their odors!These people have clearly never lived in New York - trust me, the smell of pot is much more preferable.
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