CANNABIS PATIENTS' SUIT AGAINST COUNTY
In response to the newspaper's statements about our lawsuit against Tehama County, several corrections must be made in order for local residents to understand the facts and to have an informed, intelligent discussion about the merits of this case.
We identify ourselves accurately as qualified patients in this lawsuit, not as "pot growers." The cannabis we grow is our own medicine, and 100 percent of it is grown for lawful, medical uses.
We also identify as property owners and as legal residents of this county who are being deprived of our land-use rights and our medical rights by an over-reaching government bureaucracy.
Our county supervisors most certainly did not pass this nuisance ordinance and the corresponding ban on dispensaries "to reduce crime stemming from medical ( cannabis ) theft." No mention of protecting patients was ever offered at the public meetings, and in fact, patients who had suffered criminal attacks were derided and scapegoated as somehow responsible for neighborhood unrest, merely for exercising their rights.
Furthermore, no statistics were ever offered in support of claims that cannabis gardens or dispensaries attract unreasonable levels of crime. Our side offered factual crime statistics from Los Angeles that show banks attracting far more burglaries and robberies than either cannabis dispensaries or gardens. Yet, nobody has demanded that banks, or even more dangerous victims of crime, like mini-marts, liquor stores and bars, should be regulated out of existence in order to protect our community.
The real effects of this ordinance, not surprisingly, would enhance the ability of criminals to target medical cannabis gardens, as it places blame for such acts on the victims, rather than the perpetrators of the crimes. This ordinance declares open season on cannabis farms, which will only increase the problems associated with crimes in our neighborhoods.
Had we not sued Tehama County into eventual compliance with California laws, every legitimate cannabis garden here would be subjected to endless harassment by the disgruntled opponents of our rights. This ordinance not only empowers busy bodies with lots of idle time to blame people they know little about for problems they don't fully understand, but it gives politicians and bureaucrats access to state resources in the form of tax money to harass their political opponents.
It also allows fat cats who own hundreds of acres to grow nearly unlimited amounts of cannabis, with no adherence to state laws, while depriving legitimate patients of the right to merely grow enough for their own medical needs.
This is nothing more than good ole' boy politics and old money vs. new money, and it's keeping our county from earning the tax revenues and increases in local economic growth that are available from the cannabis industry throughout the state.
Please take note that we did not sue the Sheriff's Department, as we didn't want to take away resources that our community needs. We also feel that our sheriff respects the rule of law and accepts our rights, regardless of his personal opinions about cannabis.
We sued Tehama County in order to protect the property rights and medical rights of everybody who lives here, and in support of our state and federal constitutions.
Lastly, to those of you who are still upset that we were able to exercise our First Amendment rights in holding our WHEE festival, please look in the mirror, read your Constitution or Bible and ask yourselves if it's really worth all the fuss.
How many alcohol fueled events occur here every year? Even though such events attract far more problems and public costs than our events do, we support your right to hold them here.
You really don't present your side very well, when you vandalize our private property, harass our sheriff for not rounding us all up or come to our event to start trouble.
Please consider supporting our rights, just as we support yours, and if you aren't willing to consider changing your mind about cannabis, try finding more constructive uses of your spare time.
We are not your enemies, even though you attack us, and it seems we all have more important things to worry about than who does or does not use cannabis.
And for the record, WHEE had more than 3,000 people in attendance during the peak of the festival Saturday and the sky didn't fall.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n576/a03.html
Source: Red Bluff Daily News (CA)
Author: Jason Browne
Note: Jason Browne is a medical cannabis advocate and lives in Red Bluff.
