What Do We Do With A Hand Grenade In The Middle Of Measure B?
| By Pebbles Trippet No on Measure B Coalition | Published June 2, 2008 |
Mendocino County's Measure B is spearheading the marijuana war at the June 3 ballot. Its goal is to repeal Measure G--the most progressive personal use marijuana legislation in the country--and reject the 25 plant guideline for personal and medical use that county voters approved at the 2000 ballot. In the absence of state leadership, Mendocino County alone took the bull by the horns with a vote of the people and won 58% approval for 25 flowering females for personal or medical use--a realistic standard the voters could live with. It allowed the Mendocino majority to avoid criminalizing their neighbors and friends in large numbers, given the county's vast and remote rural spaces and the prevailing live and let live attitude of most of its residents.
The same situation exists today only moreso, with local timber and fishing industries disappearing, tourism offering low-end and dead-end jobs and the void being filled by marijuana cultivation. With the passage of Measure B, a substantial portion of Mendocino County residents would be criminalized overnight. Thousands of qualified medical patients with anything over state limits of 6 plants/8 ounces would potentially face felony charges and incarceration for non-compliance--after years of being able to grow 25 plants under local ordinance Measure G (MCC9.36). Measure B would allow personal use (non-medical) growers 0 plants and 0 ounces. As with federal law; even one plant is a felony. Former Asst District Attorney Keith Faulder refers to this legal phenomenon as "creating a whole new criminal class by lowering the bar for criminalization" of its marijuana growing residents, currently protected by Measure G.
Three incidents stand out as politically defining moments in the No on B Campaign, all occurring in the final month.
1) MEASURE B MAILER & THE SHERIFF--Sheriff Tom Allman was upset that his photograph-in-uniform with quote appeared in a No on B mailer, despite it clearly stating his neutral position. (There is no law requiring permission to use a public official's quotation or photograph.) In a flurry of publicity, Allman abandoned his principled neutral position--"I don't make law, I just enforce it"--and his medical marijuana constituency to jump on the Yes on B bandwagon of public officials, businesses and law enforcement trying to rid the county of the "pot problem" with a do-nothing initiative.
The Sheriff's office has simultaneously stepped up law enforcement targeting of "low-hanging fruit"--small legitimate medical marijuana gardens--dating from the October 07 Laura Hamburg raid of 39 plants and 2 pounds for 3 people. Deputies are taking advantage of the arbitrariness of two conflicting laws the county has codified--25 plants per person (9.36) and 25 plants per parcel (9.31), a nuisance ordinance. There are so many confusing guidelines created by the Board of Supervisors' piecemeal misleadership, that no one knows which law to comply with to avoid being treated like a criminal. If B passes, it will be increasingly "confusing and chaotic", according to Myron Sawicki, former 23-year long Mendocino County assistant DA, who has now joined the No on Measure B legal team, along with Susan B. Jordan and Keith Faulder.
2) MEASURE B & THE FEDS---Yes on B spokesperson Mike Sweeny wrote an article, "How Measure B Will Help" in the 5/4/08 Ukiah Daily Journal, virtually inviting the feds to come to Mendo and clean up our marijuana problem. To summarize: Measure B = Bring in the Feds = Zero Tolerance. "Perhaps the most important benefit of Measure B will be that it will restore the credibility of Mendocino County in the eyes of federal and state officials who allocate scarce resources to fight large criminal drug operations...The passage of Measure B will get us back in line to get more state and federal help against the commercial growers."
In reality, Measure B will do nothing to fight commercial growers. Instead it will usher in a new stage in the War on Drugs--Big Government v Little People. An era of taking federal money in exchange for cooperation; resurrecting prohibition on personal use; turning Mendocino, a marijuana-producing county, into a prohibition battleground. When county voters come to realize the intent of Measure B, they will reject federal intrusion in local affairs.
3) MEASURE B & PEOPLE v KELLY--On May 22, the 2nd District Appeals Court ruled in People v Kelly that the quantity limits in Senate Bill 420 of 6 plants/8 ounces are unconstitutional and void, on grounds that a legislative body cannot amend an initiative passed by the voters. (There were no limits in the original Compassionate Use Act of 1996 beyond a doctor's authorization.)
The Kelly ruling dropped "a hand grenade in the middle of Measure B", according to County Counsel Frank Zotter, who will be forced to defend the county's Measure B limits if it passes, a hard task since they are authorized in the same SB420 section that was unanimously struck down by Kelly. A pending lawsuit--Laguna/Hanamoto--has been filed challenging Measure B on constitutional grounds and will be heard by Judge Behnke immediately after the election in light of Kelly, if B passes.
The election eve news of a positive appellate level ruling reversing a patient's criminal conviction and honoring voters' rights is huge. We couldn't have scripted it better. Kelly is a perfect example of vulnerable low-hanging fruit it is easy to pick off, an ill patient convicted for cultivating 7 plants instead of 6 and possessing 12 ounces instead of 8--the same restrictive punitive tight-ass approach as in Measure B.
If B passes, Mendocino County will become the laughingstock of low-hanging fruit clogging the courts while large commercial growers run free to profiteer and plunder because Measure B targets the wrong people. That is not right. Vote No.
Pebbles Trippet
No on Measure B Coalition
Vote No on June 3, 2008
| Date: |
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 |
| Time: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Address: | Voter Location |
To find your polling place, visit http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_ppl.htm or call 1-800-345-VOTE
