Smokin Moose
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex Moderator
The Sonora City Council voted unanimously Monday to ban marijuana smoking in public, but the revised ordinance it adopted says nothing about consuming the weed in other ways.
"The smoking of marijuana" has been added to the prohibitions listed in Ordinance No. 778, Public Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages.
The revision was proposed by Sonora Police Sgt. Turu VanderWiel in September. VanderWiel saw the need to make all marijuana smoking, even with a prescription, illegal on city streets.
The revision was introduced at an Oct. 15 city council meeting. At that time the ordinance was to be retitled, "Public Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages or Use of Marijuana."
Sonoran Christopher Demars then spoke out against the revised ordinance, explaining that not all medicinal marijuana is smoked. He said his father, who could not attend due to the effects of multiple sclerosis, ingests marijuana through a tincture to relieve his pain.
He added that his father, Chris Demars, does not smoke marijuana publicly yet he would still be breaking the law should the revised ordinance pass as first written.
After hearing Demars, the council agreed to readdress the issue. Richard Matranga, the city's attorney, consulted recent case law on the issue and decided on the current wording.
The revised ordinance will be effective Jan. 2, 2008.
Source: Union Democrat, The (Sonora, CA)
Copyright: 2007 Western Communications, Inc
Contact: letters@uniondemocrat.com
Website: UnionDemocrat.com - The Union Democrat Online
"The smoking of marijuana" has been added to the prohibitions listed in Ordinance No. 778, Public Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages.
The revision was proposed by Sonora Police Sgt. Turu VanderWiel in September. VanderWiel saw the need to make all marijuana smoking, even with a prescription, illegal on city streets.
The revision was introduced at an Oct. 15 city council meeting. At that time the ordinance was to be retitled, "Public Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages or Use of Marijuana."
Sonoran Christopher Demars then spoke out against the revised ordinance, explaining that not all medicinal marijuana is smoked. He said his father, who could not attend due to the effects of multiple sclerosis, ingests marijuana through a tincture to relieve his pain.
He added that his father, Chris Demars, does not smoke marijuana publicly yet he would still be breaking the law should the revised ordinance pass as first written.
After hearing Demars, the council agreed to readdress the issue. Richard Matranga, the city's attorney, consulted recent case law on the issue and decided on the current wording.
The revised ordinance will be effective Jan. 2, 2008.
Source: Union Democrat, The (Sonora, CA)
Copyright: 2007 Western Communications, Inc
Contact: letters@uniondemocrat.com
Website: UnionDemocrat.com - The Union Democrat Online
