Medical Marijuana Milestone: Zip Ties Sold

[Ganjarden]

Zip-ties to identify medical marijuana plants grown in Mendocino County went on sale for the first time at noon Wednesday. About 1 p.m., a man arrived at the sheriff's headquarters and paid $150 to buy the first six zip-ties sold by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

The voluntary zip-tie program for medical marijuana has been in the works since 2007, when the Sheriff's Office provided free identification ties.

"If law enforcement shows up and these are attached and everything else is in compliance," Sheriff Tom Allman said, "the plants will not be eradicated."

The blue zip ties with a serial number sell for $25 each; they will be available to veterans and Medi-Cal qualified medical patients for half price. Medical marijuana zip-ties will be available at Sheriff's Offices in Ukiah, Willits and Fort Bragg.

Because of needed approval from the county Board of Supervisors and finalization of the details, the program was not able to start before now.

"I wish we could have been selling these in April," Allman said.

To buy six zip-ties like those sold Wednesday afternoon, bring a California medical marijuana card or a physician's recommendation to the Sheriff's Office front desk.

Zip-ties or tags expire either at the end of the calendar year they were sold in or when a medical marijuana card expires, is taken away, or surrendered, according to the Sheriff's Office policy. Zip-ties cannot be transferred from person to person or to next of kin.

The policy also states that some or all zip-ties can be given to a designated care giver. Zip-ties are not good in other counties and cannot be replaced if they are lost or stolen, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Confidentiality has been one concern for the program and at one time it looked as though the county's Health and Human Services department would sell zip-ties.

The Sheriff's Office makes a copy of a medical marijuana card, but name, address, phone number, driver's license or medical condition are not asked.


News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Ukiah Daily Journal
Author: ZACK CINEK
Contact: The Ukiah Daily Journal
Copyright: 2009 Ukiah Daily Journal
Website: Medical Marijuana Milestone: Zip Ties Sold

 

[Hightide805]

i don't get it... if its all legal and everything is in compliance anyways, then they should not be busted regardless of zipties?
this looks like a way to make more money off the med mj community, soon it will be (state) mandatory i bet. (lame)

 

[Weedpipe]

while i do respect ur post hightide, i just gotta say this: i read and see video threads on here all the time of people buying, growing and using Mj and its all legal under their state law. but for alot of us the law is (this varies on how much ur found with, but even a gram is gonna cost ya) throw ur ass in jail, take as many of ur assets as possible, let ya out of jail, put ya on some kind of probation for a good long time so they can suck some more cash out of ya. and if ur lucky, u keep ur job. so my friend, when i read that u need to pay $25 for a zip-tie so u stay in comliance with the law ... well, im havin a hard time workin up a tear to shed for ya ...


also: do these zip-ties have exp. dates on them? if they dont just recycle em.
when u harvest just take it and put a clone through it or let a seedling grow up through it, hell i dont know, just a thought

i think this news story is another baby step towards full legalization. and when it does become legal every level of government is gonna want their nug off the plant, no different than anything else u buy

 

[Jim Finnel]

imo 25 bucks is small change to grow a legal plant..
it ain't right and Cannabis should be free in every sense of the word but this ain't a perfect world. like weedpipe said "baby steps", although we seem to be making strides lately.

do these zip-ties have exp. dates on them? if they dont just recycle em.

they'll find a way to mark them or color them so that they can't be reused, count on it.

 

[Hightide805]

every level of government is gonna want their nug off the plant, no different than anything else u buy

and your just ok with that... i'm not.


if it gets bad enough, it will cost as much to register your plants that it won't be worth growing it... what if 25 a plant and goes up to 50 or 100 or more... people can't afford that on top of everything else it cost to grow inside (think about if you don't have a outside spot )

we will had a "budwiser" of cannabis that can afford the taxes and shell out the money.... where as the patiats that actually NEED the meds can not even afford to grow it or buy it.

 

[Weedpipe]

everything else gets the hell taxed out of it, alcohol, cigs, coffee, my house, my paycheck, gas, ect ect ... why should weed be any different? if they offered the mj users in my home state a program of $25 a plant to grow ur own without fear of arrest, then the part of the story about the man who was 1st to buy his strip of 6 zip-ties would have been about me ... and as far as big business gettin into sellin weed, fine by me, flood the market, the mexicans seem to be able to do it with out much problem (except for all the killin). ive just come to the realization that in order to get a little, im gonna have to give a little ...

 

[Weedpipe]

freeing the weed does not mean ur weed is gonna be free

 

[Hightide805]

well i can go and grow tommatoes and corn in my backyard, thats free, i don't need "zipties" for that...

its just the gov wanting more money...

 

[Weedpipe]

i do respect ur opinion that it should be totally legal, and be grow without any taxation, but thats not the country we live in. we tax almost everything. it will become legal and will be taxed, most people in the western usa will be pissed off, and most people everywhere else will be happy as hell. u live in a world where small amounts of mj isnt a big deal, and from what ive seen, if ur found with some u get a ticket or they just confinscate it. in my world u get some handcuffs and a phone call, your fear of state mj laws and mine are quite different. i do understand for u $25 seems like an outragous price to pay to stay out of jail, but when u dont even have the option to pay it or not, it looks like a pretty good deal to me.

ok on to the corn thing: the problems associated with growing, selling regulating, controlling mj is far different than corn, not everyone grows corn, and not everyone is going to grow weed. ur gonna have to get the money to control it from somewhere, if not from the weed itself, then from where?

 

[Hightide805]

ok on to the corn thing: the problems associated with growing, selling regulating, controlling mj is far different than corn, not everyone grows corn, and not everyone is going to grow weed. ur gonna have to get the money to control it from somewhere, if not from the weed itself, then from where?

huh? say i have a garden that grows corn, tomatoes, avacodo tree, apple tree, and i pay for the upkeep on it all.. as of now, a garden like that is not getting taxed if its for personal consumption!!.. it should be the same with pot, if you grow it and up keep it for personal consuption, why get taxed on it? ( now if you sell it thats different, then permets should be there)

BUT, i do see your point coming from different areas, i have family in the midwest.

 

[Weedpipe]

i agree with u about a personal garden, but just try to consider this as a victory towards legalization for me and those like me. this program will looked at very closely by alot of different groups, and if it shown to be a viable option vs. criminal charges, maybe someday i can post a thread about how i paid my $150 today for my zip-ties (with a big-o-smile)

 

[Jim Finnel]

freeing the weed does not mean ur weed is gonna be free

it could be
Imagine

 

[Weedpipe]

it could be
Imagine

i do everyday ...

 

[Keith Lake]

I'm fine with the government taxing MJ, that'll get them hooked on the cash flow.

That said, I'm against zip ties for several reasons.

1) The legislature should be the one determining the tax, not the sherrif
2) It's protection, ie. like Al Capone, in this instance. Medicinal growing is already legal, but as long as you buy the zip tie we won't bother those plants? If you don't buy the zip ties, you don't have the added protection; wink wink
3) They're only selling 6 zip ties per patient, despite the limit being 25 plants (I think)
4) The money goes to the sherrif not to the general fund (rumor I read, not confirmed)
5) $150 is a lot of money for people on fixed incomes growing a minimum amount (6 plants) of medicine for themselves. At 6 harvests a year that's a grand.
6) This tax is on top of the card fee already levied.
7) It's a sneaky way to try to lower the legal limit from 25 to 6 plants

Just my opinion

 

[Hightide805]

no one could have said it better soniq

 

[Racefan]

I grew up in this county where these zip are at. They are a farce. The zip ties don't guaranty that your garden is legal in anyway. they don't protect your garden in any way either. if you're legal, you're legal! Period. If your not legal then your out of compliance and will be arrested and have your plants taken. If all your allowed is 6 plants all you can grow is 6 plants. A piece of plastic around the stem guaranties nothing. All the zip tie does is take good hard earned cash out of a persons pocket while putting the address of the grow and grower on a list controlled by a outside source. Not the smartest move by anyone, especially in Mendo county. Loose lips sink ships and buying a piece of plastic to say "I'm legal" when all one has to do is "BE LEGAL" seems ridiculous.
And yes they expire at the end of the grow or year which ever comes first and the money goes to the health departments general slush fund.

And to reply to soniq...your only allowed 25 plants if your doctor recommends 25. The county has decided to enforce the states minimum (6/12) as the counties maximum. This county also only allows 25 plants per land parcel so if you live in a aprtment and the owner allows growing you better make sure your not the 6th person growing because you'll be over the limit and everyone will lose their plants and possibly be charged for their removal.

 

[Keith Lake]

I hadn't thought about the address aspect - a good point.

The "protection racket" comment I made was after hearing one of the politicians describe why they were supporting the Sherrifs proposal. He was insinuating that this would in fact be treated as "more legal". I completely agree this is wrong policy and not necessary; I just wanted to put it out there after hearing it.

Also even if the doctor recommends 25 plants, my understanding is the proposal still only allows you to buy 6. I got this point from another article, the one I posted below does say they'll sell you more than 6, but I still think they're working this aspect out behind the scenes.

Here's one of the articles I read when forming my opinion

Sheriff Allman ... said "In summary, what we're trying to do is give a very clear opportunity to people who are legitimate medical marijuana growers and give them some comfort," he said. "This will speak for them in the same way a prescription bottle speaks for itself."

Medical Marijuana Patients in Mendocino County will be able to purchase 6 "marijuana zip ties" with a standard Medical Marijuana Card or doctors recommendation, additional Medical Marijuana Program zipties will be available with a doctors approval recommending more marijuana than the typical state approved and Mendocino Measure B backed 6 plant limit. The current law in Mendocino county states that a patient may currently have 25 plants. Other amendments made Monday to the county's marijuana ordinance include the addition of a $25 fee for dispensing tags to medical marijuana growers, with a half-priced rate for patients on Medi Cal and disabled veterans. The tags – zip ties with serial numbers on them – are voluntary.

[One supervisor] said that legalization was the ultimate answer, but failing that was throwing his support behind the program.

"I look at it as a real protection for the medical marijuana growers," he said. "Without the zip ties they're susceptible to losing their medicine and being subject to criminal prosecutions. I've been wrangling with this issue since 1995 and the sheriff on his own came up with an innovative ideas. I think we ought to at least give it a chance."

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