Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Cannabis users and advocates rejoiced last week after the passage of Proposition 64 legalized the adult recreational use of marijuana, celebrating the end of government-enforced misery for otherwise law-abiding adults who just want to toke up.
The people in Mendocino County charged with enforcing marijuana-related crimes, however, are bracing for an uncertain and difficult transition as new opportunities for crime stand poised to flourish in an already troubled industry.
County prosecutors will still confront dangerous and environmentally toxic crimes associated with the long-established industry, and lingering ambiguity in the law's provisions will likely leave open fertile gray areas for new crimes to spring up, said Mike Geniella, spokesman for the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office.
District Attorney C. David Eyster, who personally oversees almost all the county's marijuana-related cases, does not expect his case load, half of which is connected to the cannabis industry, to lighten in the years ahead, Geniella said. For one thing, county law enforcement already commits almost none of its precious resources to policing the low-level kinds of marijuana-related activities legalized by Prop. 64, Sheriff Tom Allman said.
"We don't start our day trying to find out who's smoking marijuana in this county," Allman said. "We have other priorities."
Moreover, the lack of specificity in Prop. 64's regulatory skeleton will likely only complicate the task of navigating the porous boundary between legal and illegal cannabis, Geniella said.
Regardless of the state's obligation to flesh out the law's provisions with specific regulations by Jan. 1, 2018, the DA's Office is prepared for a gradual and halting journey to regulatory clarity, one that retraces the stumbling steps they took after the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, which legalized medical marijuana, Geniella said.
That law, also known as the Compassionate Use Act, left prosecutors struggling to navigate the often poorly defined space separating legal from illegal cultivation, he said.
"Our experience under Prop. 215 taught us there's no simple answers, and we're not so sure Prop. 64 provides simple answers," Geniella said. "Prop. 215 did not wave the magic wand. In fact, it created a lot of confusion and work."
Lack of clear and restrictive regulations attached to medical-marijuana legalization opened space for for-profit commercial cultivation, which is technically illegal but nonetheless possible under Prop. 215's permissive regulations, Geniella said. Millions of dollars flow every year through for-profit commercial cultivation, which makes up the bulk of cultivation in the county, he said.
Prop. 64 does not tidily neutralize the poisonous influence of the profit motive by rendering it irrelevant, Geniella said. It simply gives scofflaw entrepreneurs new frontiers of illegality to explore, he said.
"Just because you can grow it for profit does not mean everyone will do it by the book," Geniella said.
The licensing framework for marijuana enterprises is certain to be a complexly layered system, and there are sure to be people eager to exploit the gray areas and loopholes inherent in complex bureaucracy, Geniella said.
Attempts to enforce the law's restrictions on personal use could get bogged down in court as technological limitations hinder the collection of evidence for offenses like DUI, Geniella said. Chemical evidence of marijuana intoxication stays in the body long after a person's high dissipates, potentially giving defense attorneys room to challenge sobriety tests conducted on drivers, he said.
Prosecutors are hopeful that the state will develop clear and useful standards by 2018, but they are not holding their breath, Geniella said. The DA's Office spent many years after Prop. 215's passage gradually resolving its many gray areas, a characteristic shortfall of ballot initiatives that tend not to occur in legislation, Geniella said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana Legalization May Bring Uncertain, Difficult Transition
Author: Erick O'Donnell
Contact: (707) 468-3500
Photo Credit: Craig F. Walker
Website: The Ukiah Daily Journal
The people in Mendocino County charged with enforcing marijuana-related crimes, however, are bracing for an uncertain and difficult transition as new opportunities for crime stand poised to flourish in an already troubled industry.
County prosecutors will still confront dangerous and environmentally toxic crimes associated with the long-established industry, and lingering ambiguity in the law's provisions will likely leave open fertile gray areas for new crimes to spring up, said Mike Geniella, spokesman for the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office.
District Attorney C. David Eyster, who personally oversees almost all the county's marijuana-related cases, does not expect his case load, half of which is connected to the cannabis industry, to lighten in the years ahead, Geniella said. For one thing, county law enforcement already commits almost none of its precious resources to policing the low-level kinds of marijuana-related activities legalized by Prop. 64, Sheriff Tom Allman said.
"We don't start our day trying to find out who's smoking marijuana in this county," Allman said. "We have other priorities."
Moreover, the lack of specificity in Prop. 64's regulatory skeleton will likely only complicate the task of navigating the porous boundary between legal and illegal cannabis, Geniella said.
Regardless of the state's obligation to flesh out the law's provisions with specific regulations by Jan. 1, 2018, the DA's Office is prepared for a gradual and halting journey to regulatory clarity, one that retraces the stumbling steps they took after the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, which legalized medical marijuana, Geniella said.
That law, also known as the Compassionate Use Act, left prosecutors struggling to navigate the often poorly defined space separating legal from illegal cultivation, he said.
"Our experience under Prop. 215 taught us there's no simple answers, and we're not so sure Prop. 64 provides simple answers," Geniella said. "Prop. 215 did not wave the magic wand. In fact, it created a lot of confusion and work."
Lack of clear and restrictive regulations attached to medical-marijuana legalization opened space for for-profit commercial cultivation, which is technically illegal but nonetheless possible under Prop. 215's permissive regulations, Geniella said. Millions of dollars flow every year through for-profit commercial cultivation, which makes up the bulk of cultivation in the county, he said.
Prop. 64 does not tidily neutralize the poisonous influence of the profit motive by rendering it irrelevant, Geniella said. It simply gives scofflaw entrepreneurs new frontiers of illegality to explore, he said.
"Just because you can grow it for profit does not mean everyone will do it by the book," Geniella said.
The licensing framework for marijuana enterprises is certain to be a complexly layered system, and there are sure to be people eager to exploit the gray areas and loopholes inherent in complex bureaucracy, Geniella said.
Attempts to enforce the law's restrictions on personal use could get bogged down in court as technological limitations hinder the collection of evidence for offenses like DUI, Geniella said. Chemical evidence of marijuana intoxication stays in the body long after a person's high dissipates, potentially giving defense attorneys room to challenge sobriety tests conducted on drivers, he said.
Prosecutors are hopeful that the state will develop clear and useful standards by 2018, but they are not holding their breath, Geniella said. The DA's Office spent many years after Prop. 215's passage gradually resolving its many gray areas, a characteristic shortfall of ballot initiatives that tend not to occur in legislation, Geniella said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana Legalization May Bring Uncertain, Difficult Transition
Author: Erick O'Donnell
Contact: (707) 468-3500
Photo Credit: Craig F. Walker
Website: The Ukiah Daily Journal
