New Marijuana Rules Adopted In Tehama County

Jim Finnel

Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
CA - Holding up a framed photo of his 3-year-old granddaughter, Tehama County Supervisor Bob Williams on Tuesday said he wanted to enact restrictions on medical marijuana gardens to protect children like her.

Three of his four fellow supervisors agreed, voting in favor of a controversial ordinance that would ban medical marijuana gardens within 1,000 feet of schools, school bus stops, churches, parks and child care centers and would limit the number of plants grown based on acreage.

"My thought through all of this whole process is how can we limit the number (of marijuana plants grown) in residential areas," Williams said.

He said he was inspired to write the ordinance after looking outside from his granddaughter's bedroom during a visit and seeing a medical marijuana garden.

The ordinance would require growers to register with the county Health Services Agency, have a notarized letter of consent from their property owner and shroud their plants behind a 6-foot fence.

Supervisors will again vote on the ordinance after another public hearing. Board chair Ron Warner said that vote likely won't be for at least three weeks because Supervisor Charles Willard, who cast the lone dissenting vote Tuesday, will be on vacation until then.

Willard said there are too many unanswered questions about the marijuana ordinance, including what defines a school bus stop and pending medical marijuana court cases in other parts of the state.

"I think this is a bad time for this ordinance," Willard said.

After hearing complaints last summer from Gerber residents about a marijuana garden close to a school bus stop, Williams proposed regulations for such gardens near schools and places frequented by children. Supervisors shelved that proposal, saying it was written too hastily.

Williams and Supervisor Gregg Avilla then headed an ad hoc committee to examine the issue. Over several months they met with the sheriff, district attorney, school administrators and medical marijuana advocates. The county released a draft of the ordinance at the end of last month.

Before Tuesday's vote, the board held a public hearing. For nearly two hours, people from opposing sides of the medical marijuana debate made their arguments. The most fiercely debated issue was whether there are negative impacts to growing medical marijuana near where children congregate.

"We don't want to take people's medicine away, but we want to protect the children," said Cherrie Kennedy, a board member of Gerber Union Elementary School District.

Punctuating the point later was Williams with the photograph of his granddaughter, who lives in the county.

But medical marijuana users have children, too, and there is no evidence that their gardens cause problems for children, said Jason Browne, 39, of Red Bluff.

"I think it is a smoke screen," he said.

Browne said he's had a small garden for eight to 12 patients since 1998.

He said the county's ordinance would violate state laws allowing medical marijuana and would likely result in a lawsuit.

"They are not going to stop us from growing our medicine," Browne said. "We have been growing it for a decade and we are not going to stop."


NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: redding.com
Author: Dylan Darling
Copyright: 2010 The E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact: ddarling@redding.com
Website: New marijuana rules adopted in Tehama County Redding Record Searchlight

• Thanks to Irish for submitting this article
 
Tehama County Supervisors Debate Who Has Best Pot

What started as a regular Tehama County Supervisors meeting this afternoon quickly turned into an Amsterdam-style debate on which part of the county grows the best weed.


The argument began when District 1 Supervisor Gregg Avilla, who recently helped District 4 Supervisor Bob Williams re-draft an ordinance that would restrict medical marijuana gardens by property size, whispered off-mike to a reporter "Everybody knows you need wide open spaces to grow good gange--that's why the Bowman Bud is the bomb."


"I heard that," yelled District 2 Supervisor George Russell, who has fielded many complaints from his primarily residential Red Bluff constituency that the law would discriminate against citizens with little or no property. "Just because someone on Walnut Street has to grow their stash in a windowbox doesn't mean it isn't every bit as good as your bogus Bowman blowhard smoke."


Williams tried to reconcile his colleagues, but only made matters worse.


"Listen man," he said, tryng to be cool. "Bowman Bud and Walnut Street Windowbox are both some of the finest grass grown in the county. Anyone suffering from a medical condition like boredom would be well served by either one of those fine local agricultural medicinals. Of course if you really want to blow your gourd you'll step up from the schwag and burn some crumbly, skunky Paskenta Purple. Anyone who knows their 420 knows the PP is the shit."


Williams then pulled out a photo of his three year old granddaughter helping with last fall's harvest. "She was stickier than when we let her have cotton candy at the Fair last year," he snarked.


"Objection," shouted District 5 Supervisor and carnival barker impersonator Ron Warner, twisting his large, funny mustache for added effect. "It's common knowledge that the Fine Vina Vine is Tehama County's sweetest herbal cure. Grown on the open plains in cow crap and sunshine--you can't beat that, dagnabbit!"


Charles Willard, retiring supervisor from District 3, suggested a competition to settle the matter, pulling out his bong and a bag of stank Paynes Creek Kush to start things off. Avilla scoffed at Willard's bitchin' skull-shaped water pipe, rolling a bomber joint in one hand and passing it to Russell, who had already begun puffing on his own stuffed corncob pipe. Williams loaded up a vaporizer ("Snob!," yelled someone from the crowd) and Warner broke out a plate of homegrown brownies.


The audience, who had sat mostly in stunned silence as the supervisors debated, now stepped forward to take full part in the discussion. Everyone smoked, laughed, and forgot what they had been fighting about before adjourning to Hal's Eat -Em-Out for milkshakes and tater tots.


"That whole argument was a farce," complained medical marijuana advocate Jason 'Green' Browne as he watched the party leave without him. "It was all hollow posturing--we're no closer to having a workable marijuana ordinance in this county than we were yesterday. Besides, everyones knows I grows da best weeds arounds, byatches!"


NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: 420 Girls - Creating Cannabis Awareness Since 1993
Author: Merry Standish
Copyright: 2010 Merry Standish Standard
Contact: Contact/Comments/Mailing List
Website: Tehama County Supervisors

• Thanks to Irish for submitting this article
 
:rofl: I read the first half of the real article then got some coffee then scrolled too far down to the second half of the second one. I was so confused. lol No more bong loads in the morning, I'll go back to the pipe for future matutinal smoking. ;)

Anyways, it seems deceiving to try and hide it from his grand daughter. If he respected her he would just teach her about it and trust her not to abuse it, through the years, he's going to have to anyway. :peacetwo:
 
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