Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Although Californians recently voted to legalize mixing marijuana in with your breakfast cereal if you so desire, our esteemed local leaders aren't sure what to do with this latest expression of the will of the people.
Not being a user myself and hoping that my kids never become users either, I still recognize that the law is the law is the law.
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors, however, seems not to have quite come to terms with legalization and what it might mean in our region.
"Voters may decide two cannabis measures," said the front-page headline in Friday's Enterprise over the byline of Anne Ternus-Bellamy.
"By June of next year, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors will have spent more than two years trying to figure out how to best regulate outdoor commercial cultivation of medical cannabis," the story begins.
"Countless meetings and public hearings dating back to fall of 2015 have been dedicated to the issue of who can commercially grow medical cannabis in Yolo County, how much they can grow, where they can grow it and how much they should pay the county in order to do so."
As the headline states, some of the issues may be headed for the ballot box next June, and remember, passing out leaflets or smoking pot within 20 feet of a polling place is strictly forbidden.
Adds the story, "One measure, which the Board of Supervisors likely will place on the June ballot, would enact a tax on cannabis cultivation to fund law enforcement, health and education programs related to the impact of cannabis on the community."
But here's the kicker, which pretty much takes this thing out of the hands of the voters after all.
"If voters fail to approve the tax, a poison pill placed in the interim ordinance last month would end commercial cultivation altogether, meaning the more than 50 growers who have invested in commercial operations over the past year and a half will have to wind down their operations and go out of business by the end of 2018."
In other words, we know the stuff is legal, but if you don't play by our rules, we won't let anyone actually grow it.
It's as if the voters legalized the sale of milk in Yolo County and the Board of Supervisors outlawed cows.
The second potential ballot measure comes from private citizens and will need 4,500 signatures before we'll get to vote on it come June.
"The Cannabis Fairness Act would require the county to treat cannabis like any other agricultural crop and abide by the same regulatory standards as the state does. That would mean no buffer zones, no special fees, nothing that doesn't apply to any other agricultural commodity."
Food for thought, no matter how you might feel about the whole issue of legalization.
Specifically, the Cannabis Fairness Act would require that "Yolo County shall treat cannabis as an agricultural product, which shall be eligible for all agricultural exemptions and benefits, and which shall not be designated or treated differently from other plants or plant-based products."
Translation: Some people grow pot-atoes and some people just grow pot. Both crops require dirt, water and sunlight. Treat the two the same.
Additionally, "Yolo County shall treat cannabis, cannabis products and cannabis businesses the same as any other plant-based agricultural business regarding operations, zoning, setbacks, nuisances and any or all other plant-based agricultural business regulations or restrictions."
Furthermore, "Yolo County shall impose no tax, charge, fee or assessment of any kind upon cannabis cultivation, production, manufacturing or distribution."
Given that misuse of cannabis has considerably more consequences than misuse of corn, one could argue that all these restrictive measures are prudent.
On the flip side, one could point out that the county openly brags about another locally grown plant – the mighty grape – that has led directly to the deaths of countless thousands of people over the years.
It will be interesting to see which side the various players in the county and the city of Davis line up on when it comes time to endorse or condemn the Cannabis Fairness Act, and which ones choose to simply sit on the sidelines sipping a glass of fine Yolo County wine.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Bob Dunning: On which side of Cannabis Fairness Act will players line up?
Author: Bob Dunning
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Anthony Souffle
Website: Davis Enterprise | Yolo County, California
Not being a user myself and hoping that my kids never become users either, I still recognize that the law is the law is the law.
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors, however, seems not to have quite come to terms with legalization and what it might mean in our region.
"Voters may decide two cannabis measures," said the front-page headline in Friday's Enterprise over the byline of Anne Ternus-Bellamy.
"By June of next year, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors will have spent more than two years trying to figure out how to best regulate outdoor commercial cultivation of medical cannabis," the story begins.
"Countless meetings and public hearings dating back to fall of 2015 have been dedicated to the issue of who can commercially grow medical cannabis in Yolo County, how much they can grow, where they can grow it and how much they should pay the county in order to do so."
As the headline states, some of the issues may be headed for the ballot box next June, and remember, passing out leaflets or smoking pot within 20 feet of a polling place is strictly forbidden.
Adds the story, "One measure, which the Board of Supervisors likely will place on the June ballot, would enact a tax on cannabis cultivation to fund law enforcement, health and education programs related to the impact of cannabis on the community."
But here's the kicker, which pretty much takes this thing out of the hands of the voters after all.
"If voters fail to approve the tax, a poison pill placed in the interim ordinance last month would end commercial cultivation altogether, meaning the more than 50 growers who have invested in commercial operations over the past year and a half will have to wind down their operations and go out of business by the end of 2018."
In other words, we know the stuff is legal, but if you don't play by our rules, we won't let anyone actually grow it.
It's as if the voters legalized the sale of milk in Yolo County and the Board of Supervisors outlawed cows.
The second potential ballot measure comes from private citizens and will need 4,500 signatures before we'll get to vote on it come June.
"The Cannabis Fairness Act would require the county to treat cannabis like any other agricultural crop and abide by the same regulatory standards as the state does. That would mean no buffer zones, no special fees, nothing that doesn't apply to any other agricultural commodity."
Food for thought, no matter how you might feel about the whole issue of legalization.
Specifically, the Cannabis Fairness Act would require that "Yolo County shall treat cannabis as an agricultural product, which shall be eligible for all agricultural exemptions and benefits, and which shall not be designated or treated differently from other plants or plant-based products."
Translation: Some people grow pot-atoes and some people just grow pot. Both crops require dirt, water and sunlight. Treat the two the same.
Additionally, "Yolo County shall treat cannabis, cannabis products and cannabis businesses the same as any other plant-based agricultural business regarding operations, zoning, setbacks, nuisances and any or all other plant-based agricultural business regulations or restrictions."
Furthermore, "Yolo County shall impose no tax, charge, fee or assessment of any kind upon cannabis cultivation, production, manufacturing or distribution."
Given that misuse of cannabis has considerably more consequences than misuse of corn, one could argue that all these restrictive measures are prudent.
On the flip side, one could point out that the county openly brags about another locally grown plant – the mighty grape – that has led directly to the deaths of countless thousands of people over the years.
It will be interesting to see which side the various players in the county and the city of Davis line up on when it comes time to endorse or condemn the Cannabis Fairness Act, and which ones choose to simply sit on the sidelines sipping a glass of fine Yolo County wine.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Bob Dunning: On which side of Cannabis Fairness Act will players line up?
Author: Bob Dunning
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Anthony Souffle
Website: Davis Enterprise | Yolo County, California