Marijuana.com

PotShot

Matter of Fact: Pot advocates, officials must see eye-to-eye
SETH FREEDLAND | The Ukiah Daily Journal | April 08, 2006

This past Wednesday, about 40 residents gathered at the Ukiah Brewing Company to kick off the formation of a Medical Marijuana Advisory Board.

The development may come as a surprise to City Council enthusiasts who recall the council roundly rejecting a similar creation months ago. The Citizens Advisory Board concept was discussed but never adopted by councilmembers -- despite strong recommendations from various officials, most notably Planning Commissioner Judy Pruden.

The CAB was proposed as an "educational component" of the marijuana cultivation ordinance as a means to moderate disputes between patients and neighbors. The board saw some communal support -- including from the Ukiah Daily Journal's editorial page -- but councilmembers put the kibosh on the notion by passing the ordinance without the CAB on Feb. 15.

Problems stemmed, as they seemed to do frequently, from faulty communication from pro-medical marijuana advocates and city officials. Despite reasoned concerns of the costs and personal safety with moving all pot-growing indoors, advocates did not respond in the Feb. 4 public comment period to concerns of public safety and focused on more general matters like the CAB. Councilmembers were understandably less-than-enthusiastic to give up dispute mediation to a citizen group, and rather brusquely dismissed that request.

It seemed to me then that if the medical marijuana advocates had logically tackled the council members' public safety worries -- and then explained the benefits of the CAB -- the idea may have had a fighting chance. But marijuana-rights rhetoric clouded the brief debate and it was too easy for councilmembers to dispense with the notion.

Now we find ourselves with this modified MMAB, which aims to focus on all of Mendocino County. It will be difficult for county and other officials to ignore this group. Its advisory panel includes, in part, Pruden, County Clerk-Recorder Marsha Wharff, Fort Bragg County Planner Paula Deeter and former Sheriff Tony Craver, who will serve as chairman.

The group wants to become a "policy-advising organization" on all marijuana issues countywide. This may seem like quite a request, but at second look the goal is actually less than the original dispute-mediation purpose of the CAB. But if the Ukiah City Council's quick dismissal of the first version is any indication, the tone and method by which the MMAB communicates its desire to be useful will be crucial.

One councilmember said the original CAB appeared to be intended as an alternative for regulations the council was adopting. But a medical marijuana advocate told me that belief, while understandable, was errant.

There's little doubt in my mind that one of the biggest hurdles to effective medical marijuana policies is the dialogue between these two groups. The pro-pot residents are too quick to defend the more ethereal benefits of marijuana, and have trained officials to be too quick to block out the bombast. The MMAB's next step -- beyond that of its next meeting, on May 17, 2 p.m. at "Area 101," 10 miles north of Garberville -- is crucial. How will it request a partnership with the Board of Supervisors after the failures at the city level? How receptive will supervisors and county officials be to a citizen's advisory group on this difficult issue?

Some have suggested the MMAB spend its energy focusing on specific areas, like community education, criminal justice fine-tuning or exploring draft regulations for new cannabis clubs, which are currently under moratorium in Ukiah. But regardless of what path the MMAB takes, its leaders must accept the potential for concerns over public safety and come up with a reasoned response.

The Board of Supervisors can easily ignore the MMAB and render it useless. But the thinking here is that the county would benefit more from maximizing the benefits it offers. A strong partnership between the county and this advisory board could go a long way toward a medical marijuana policy more agreeable to both sides -- and shouldn't that be the ultimate goal?

Seth Freedland wonders how many "City Council enthusiasts" there really are. He guesses seven. If you have a question, comment or story idea please contact him at udjsf@pacific.net .

__________________
Posting Guidelines

Carl Sagan Goodness Richard Dawkins Goodness