Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Morass is defined as a bog, marsh and also a difficult situation. That description appears fitting for our county. Calaveras County voters approved Measure C, enacting taxes and fees on marijuana production, at the Nov. 8 election. In legal terms, Measure C is described as Calaveras County Ordinance No. 20160712o3071.
While I am not a legal expert, it appears to me the following two sections are contradictory: Section 1, (G) states "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to allow the use of cannabis for nonmedical purposes, or allow any activity relating to the cultivation, dispensing, or consumption of cannabis that is otherwise illegal under state or federal law," seemingly restricting marijuana to medical usage. However, Chapter 3.56.020 under definitions, Section (a) seems to allow "...state voter-approved legal cannabis, medical cannabis, or medical cannabis products ..." To me, those two sections conflict. The first bans any nonmedical marijuana but the second allows "state voter-approved legal cannabis." The inconsistent statements may be moot anyway because while California's voters passed Proposition 64 allowing the recreational use of marijuana, the proposition allowed cities and counties to make nonmedical use illegal. A Calaveras County group is gathering signatures to place a ban on nonmedical marijuana before the county's voters. Those disliking the legalization of marijuana will be pleased if the make-marijuana-illegal drive gathers enough signatures to require a vote and would be delighted if the proposed ban was approved and many marijuana farmers were forced to shut down their now unprofitable operations.
But having fewer growers here would reduce, possibly greatly, the amount of money available to law enforcement. County residents who believe making marijuana, or any drug for that matter, illegal is going to sharply reduce the supply are living in a dream world. I have brought the issue up in a previous article but believe repetition is justified. Throughout history, persons wanting mind-altering drugs, legal or not, have managed to acquire them. Making a substance illegal invites unsavory individuals, who have no regard for laws or social mores, to supply drugs regardless of real or perceived harmful effects. By many and probably most accounts, our costly war on drugs has been a total failure. There are those who say it is impossible to say nothing has been accomplished. But most will agree that drugs are still easily obtained.
Marijuana is claimed by many to be a gateway to more dangerous drugs and they may present supposedly objective studies as proof. To the best of my knowledge, no nonbiased gateway study exists. Unverifiable claims are easily made, as evidenced by our recent national election, but proof is an entirely different matter. There are many legitimate studies validating the harmful, even fatal, results of using or abusing drugs, legal and illegal. Compared to some other drugs, marijuana is relatively (please note relatively) benign, but unfortunately we have become fixated on it and pay little more than lip service to much more dangerous and potentially deadly drugs including opioids, heroin and methamphetamine.
President-elect Trump's choice for U.S. Attorney General is Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions. If approved by the Senate, his decisions will be interesting as he is a hard-liner on some game-changing issues, including being opposed to legalizing marijuana. U. S. law (very questionably) places cannabis among the most dangerous drugs. President Obama's administration has taken a softer approach, treating the matter as a states rights issue. The 10th Amendment of our Constitution reads, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." The 10th Amendment is seen as a strong declaration of states' rights to most conservatives, but liberals are likely to prefer the segment of our Constitution's Section 8 that reads, in part "to provide for the general welfare of the United States." Conservatives usually subscribe to limiting the power of our federal government as much as reasonably possible, while liberals generally favor proactive measures.
If Sessions is approved for attorney general, he can decide to shut down all currently legal (in some states) marijuana operations in the United States or he can decide it is a states rights matter, the logical conservative view. If he decides to crack down on growers, it would indicate his belief in a limited role for federal law enforcement does not apply to marijuana. He could say he is just enforcing the law, but politicians of all stripes pick and choose the laws they enforce.
Should current federal law on marijuana be strictly adhered to, several U. S. states will have major problems. Costly and time-consuming lawsuits would be guaranteed. In Calaveras County, logic would indicate fees and licenses for marijuana producers would have to be eliminated, resulting in a major loss of income for our sheriff's department while untold billions of additional dollars will be squandered nationwide on an unwinnable drug war. Illegal growers would continue to supply cannabis just as they have all along. What a morass!
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The Marijuana Morass
Author: Ted Shannon
Contact: 209-754-3861
Photo Credit: Glen Stubbe
Website: Calaveras Enterprise
While I am not a legal expert, it appears to me the following two sections are contradictory: Section 1, (G) states "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to allow the use of cannabis for nonmedical purposes, or allow any activity relating to the cultivation, dispensing, or consumption of cannabis that is otherwise illegal under state or federal law," seemingly restricting marijuana to medical usage. However, Chapter 3.56.020 under definitions, Section (a) seems to allow "...state voter-approved legal cannabis, medical cannabis, or medical cannabis products ..." To me, those two sections conflict. The first bans any nonmedical marijuana but the second allows "state voter-approved legal cannabis." The inconsistent statements may be moot anyway because while California's voters passed Proposition 64 allowing the recreational use of marijuana, the proposition allowed cities and counties to make nonmedical use illegal. A Calaveras County group is gathering signatures to place a ban on nonmedical marijuana before the county's voters. Those disliking the legalization of marijuana will be pleased if the make-marijuana-illegal drive gathers enough signatures to require a vote and would be delighted if the proposed ban was approved and many marijuana farmers were forced to shut down their now unprofitable operations.
But having fewer growers here would reduce, possibly greatly, the amount of money available to law enforcement. County residents who believe making marijuana, or any drug for that matter, illegal is going to sharply reduce the supply are living in a dream world. I have brought the issue up in a previous article but believe repetition is justified. Throughout history, persons wanting mind-altering drugs, legal or not, have managed to acquire them. Making a substance illegal invites unsavory individuals, who have no regard for laws or social mores, to supply drugs regardless of real or perceived harmful effects. By many and probably most accounts, our costly war on drugs has been a total failure. There are those who say it is impossible to say nothing has been accomplished. But most will agree that drugs are still easily obtained.
Marijuana is claimed by many to be a gateway to more dangerous drugs and they may present supposedly objective studies as proof. To the best of my knowledge, no nonbiased gateway study exists. Unverifiable claims are easily made, as evidenced by our recent national election, but proof is an entirely different matter. There are many legitimate studies validating the harmful, even fatal, results of using or abusing drugs, legal and illegal. Compared to some other drugs, marijuana is relatively (please note relatively) benign, but unfortunately we have become fixated on it and pay little more than lip service to much more dangerous and potentially deadly drugs including opioids, heroin and methamphetamine.
President-elect Trump's choice for U.S. Attorney General is Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions. If approved by the Senate, his decisions will be interesting as he is a hard-liner on some game-changing issues, including being opposed to legalizing marijuana. U. S. law (very questionably) places cannabis among the most dangerous drugs. President Obama's administration has taken a softer approach, treating the matter as a states rights issue. The 10th Amendment of our Constitution reads, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." The 10th Amendment is seen as a strong declaration of states' rights to most conservatives, but liberals are likely to prefer the segment of our Constitution's Section 8 that reads, in part "to provide for the general welfare of the United States." Conservatives usually subscribe to limiting the power of our federal government as much as reasonably possible, while liberals generally favor proactive measures.
If Sessions is approved for attorney general, he can decide to shut down all currently legal (in some states) marijuana operations in the United States or he can decide it is a states rights matter, the logical conservative view. If he decides to crack down on growers, it would indicate his belief in a limited role for federal law enforcement does not apply to marijuana. He could say he is just enforcing the law, but politicians of all stripes pick and choose the laws they enforce.
Should current federal law on marijuana be strictly adhered to, several U. S. states will have major problems. Costly and time-consuming lawsuits would be guaranteed. In Calaveras County, logic would indicate fees and licenses for marijuana producers would have to be eliminated, resulting in a major loss of income for our sheriff's department while untold billions of additional dollars will be squandered nationwide on an unwinnable drug war. Illegal growers would continue to supply cannabis just as they have all along. What a morass!
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The Marijuana Morass
Author: Ted Shannon
Contact: 209-754-3861
Photo Credit: Glen Stubbe
Website: Calaveras Enterprise
