A disturbing trend is emerging for 2014: bans on any and all medical marijuana cultivation in California counties opposed to Proposition 215.
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Fresno County is considering an all-out ban at at an upcoming hearing of the Board of Supervisors.
The move comes after a California Appellate Court ruled in November that such bans would be legal, in spite of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, which exists to “ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.”
“California NORML will be supporting a legal challenge by James Maral to the Third District Appellate Court decision upholding Live Oak’s ban on medical marijuana cultivation,” writes Ellen Komp with California NORML.
“Apart from Live Oak, Tracy is the only other jurisdiction I am aware of with a total cultivation ban (they snuck it in with 2012 their dispensary ban, Section 10.08.3196 ),” Komp says. “Sacramento County passed an ordinance in 2011 zoning out anything federally illegal; police took out patient gardens this year citing a “new law.”
She’s tracking cultivation ordinances here.
In related news, The Napa City Council voted 3-2 to ban medical dispensaries, while the board of supervisors in neighboring Solano County voted to permanently prohibit all medical cannabis operations in unincorporated areas.
Correction: The original version of this blogpost mistakenly attributed news about the Napa City Council as a quote from Ellen Komp of California NORML.
