California County May Scrap Pro-Pot Law Amid Furor Over Crime

By Ryan Flinn

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Dr. William Courtney says he has prescribed marijuana to more than 2,000 patients in Mendocino County, California, taking advantage of a measure passed eight years ago to decriminalize pot and allow the possession of as many as 25 plants.

Residents of the county 140 miles north of San Francisco may make it harder for Courtney to continue the treatment. Today they vote on a plan to make recreational use of pot illegal again and to limit the number of plants allowed for medicinal purposes to six per person.

Measure B, as the proposal is known, ``would be an incredible step backward for the county,'' said Courtney, 55, who has an office in the town of Mendocino. ``Every one of my patients will be entrapped by Measure B -- as soon as they harvest, each one will become a felon.''

Medical benefits aside, supporters of the proposal say the rural county of 88,000 residents erred when it became the first in the U.S. to legalize pot with its 2000 ordinance, called Measure G. They say it has spawned crime, drug cartels and teenage pot use, and scared off developers.

``The fact that we passed Measure G makes us stand out like a sore thumb,'' said Dave Bengston, commissioner of Mendocino's Agriculture Department. ``It's a failed experiment, and I think it's time to reverse it.''

Mendocino County, which encompasses 3,510 square miles of coastal mountains, redwood forests and beaches, epitomized the pot-friendly environment of northern California with Measure G, which went well beyond a state program allowing pot for medicinal purposes.

Character and Culture

``The character and culture of Mendocino is at a crossroads,'' said Laura Hamburg, spokeswoman for No on Measure B, a group that opposes the restrictions. ``Some say we need to bleach our culture so we can lure big development and get those $8- to $10-an-hour jobs.''

Hamburg, 44, said she grew pot for a medical collective until her property was raided and she was arrested for having 39 plants. The charges were later dropped, she said.

The law put the county at odds with the federal government, which doesn't recognize the state's approval of marijuana as medicine or Mendocino County's allowance of personal use. Authorities stage periodic raids of growers.

Government agencies eradicated more pot plants from the Mendocino National Forest in 2006 than anywhere else in the country, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, a component of the U.S. Justice Department, in a February 2007 report on domestic cannabis cultivation.

Aggressive Growers

The county itself destroyed a record 334,000 marijuana plants last year, a 50 percent increase from 2006. The number of marijuana felony arrests in the county rose to 173, the most in a decade, in 2006, according to the most recent data available from California's Criminal Justice Statistics Center in Sacramento.

Growers, particularly Mexican drug-traffickers in California and Washington, are becoming more aggressive in protecting cultivation sites, leading to an increase in the number of armed encounters between law enforcement and guards protecting the crops, the National Drug Intelligence Center said in the 2007 assessment.

Critics of the proposal argue that it will open the door to crackdowns on so-called Mom and Pop growers.

``Measure B will place our lives in danger as law enforcement will enter homes, and spend their efforts to find any amount of plants over six,'' said a hand-scrawled, anti- Measure B flyer at Twist, an organic and hemp clothing store on Main Street in Mendocino. ``Please don't let the fears of the Measure B proponents take away the security of our citizens to provide for their health and safety.''

Reeking of Pot

The proposal ``provides a voter mandate for reasonable protections, while not interfering with legitimate medical marijuana,'' according to the Web site of the Yes on B Coalition, a group pushing for passage.

Kathy James, former president of the Ukiah Unified School District Board of Education, said the 2000 law should be scrapped because it has contributed to widespread marijuana use among students.

``I think it's very prevalent, and it's considered no big deal,'' said James, 60. ``They'll say `it helps with my anger, my sore back from wrestling, it keeps me calm.'''

Young people are also finding jobs with marijuana growers, she said. Several students have been sent home from school because they reeked of marijuana after harvesting the plants, she said.

Marijuana Haven

Bengston, the agriculture commissioner, said he's concerned business developers will bypass Mendocino because of its reputation as a marijuana haven. With the county's $90 million grape harvest suffering its worst bout of frost in 45 years, the salmon season canceled statewide because of a drop in the fish population, and the timber industry continuing to decline, the county needs to attract new industries, he said.

County Sheriff Tom Allman also supports today's proposal. If Measure G passes, ``I think what will happen is that people will say, `Wow, Mendocino County isn't full of Mr. and Mrs. Cheech and Chong,''' Allman said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 3, 2008 00:01 EDT