OROVILLE — The Butte County Board of Supervisors Tuesday repealed an ordinance banning marijuana dispensaries in the county, but the ban still remains in effect. The unanimous vote came in response to a petition drive seeking to rescind the ordinance passed in October that banned all medical marijuana dispensaries within Butte County jurisdiction. After the ordinance was passed, opponents began a petition drive to block the measure. The petitions were turned in to county officials in late November, Roger H. Aylworth reports in the Chico Enterprise-Record. In mid-December, the county’s Elections Office certified the petitions [...]
Proposition 215, passed by voters in 1996, leaves too many things open to interpretation and needs to be clarified by the Legislature. As the California Legislature gets back to work next week, there’s no more important duty than addressing the state’s budget crisis. A close second in terms of priorities should be medical marijuana, the Chico Enterprise-Record writes in an unsigned editorial. While the budget is job one, the Legislature can’t say it doesn’t have time for clearing up the medical marijuana confusion at the same time. After all, the Legislature last year had the [...]
OROVILLE — Medical marijuana will be back on Butte County supervisors’ agenda Tuesday, but this time it shouldn’t generate crowds or controversy. In fact, the item is on the board’s consent agenda and could well be handled without any discussion, Roger H. Aylworth reports in the Chico Enterprise-Record. The measure is a mandated resolution that will put Butte County’s medical marijuana cultivation ordinance up to a referendum vote during the June 5, 2012, primary election. On May 24, after a series of hugely crowded, passionate, often angry hearings, the supervisors adopted the ordinance. Applicable only [...]
CHICO — Former dispensary employees shook their heads Friday when patients came in asking where they could get their medical marijuana. North Valley Holistic Health, the only dispensary operating in Butte County, stopped dispensing the drug Wednesday, said Andrew Merkel, vice president of the nonprofit. The dispensary that once housed a wall full of bud-filled jars, display cases of marijuana edibles and a shelf of clones for patients to grow their own was left Friday with a few mother plants, soon to be destroyed or given away. The operators plan to keep their doors open [...]
OROVILLE — Medical marijuana dispensaries have officially been banned in all unincorporated areas of Butte County. In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors made permanent an interim ordinance banning dispensaries that was passed in January 2010. But according to Butte County Counsel Bruce Alpert, such facilities were illegal before any vote was taken, Roger H. Aylworth reports in the Chico Enterprise-Record. Alpert said there had been suggestions among some in the medical marijuana community that pre-existing dispensaries would be allowed or “grandfathered in” even if the ban was approved. “That is an erroneous [...]
Growing medical marijuana just became a bit more difficult in the Town of Paradise, which was once made famous for its agricultural potential with fruit trees. The Paradise Town Council unanimously approved a medical marijuana ordinance Tuesday which outlaws co-ops and limits gardens to a 50-square-foot plot at patients’ homes. It also retains the town’s policy against dispensaries, and also outlaws outdoor growing within 600 feet of schools, Paul Wellersdick reports in the Paradise Post. The ordinance was met with some forceful opposition from marijuana users and advocates. Thomas Wahl began to shout during his [...]
New medical marijuana restrictions will go before the Paradise Town Council on Tuesday that would limit pot gardens to 50 square feet at qualified patients’ homes only. The town is now under an emergency ban of collectives and cooperatives and the new ordinance would ban them and dispensaries, Paul Wellersdick reports in the Paradise Post. The law has seen a number of changes since its initial drafting following the January 2011 emergency moratorium that expires mid-December. The newest version cuts out any provision for collectives lest the town be federally prosecuted. While the previous version [...]
Our view: Four city councilors wanted to provide something for medical marijuana users, but now the users may end up with nothing. The City Council’s plan to endorse two huge marijuana-growing operations in Chico is quickly unraveling. Wow, who saw that one coming? Well the truth is, everyone, except the four city councilors who voted for it knew this would happen, the Chico Enterprise-Record opines in this unsigned editorial. Ignoring the warnings of the Department of Justice, the Butte County district attorney, the police chief and the local police force, the council voted 4-3 on [...]
The Chico Police Officers’ Association executive board said today it will not enforce the city’s medical marijuana dispensary ordinance. The association planned to deliver letters to council members today stating that the ordinance allowing for two dispensaries conflicts with federal law, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports. “Our only option is this. The members of the Chico Police Officers’ Association will not participate in any part of the medical marijuana ordinance that involves commercial marijuana growing or selling operations,” the letter reads. “We will not assist in any way in any activity that normalizes, standardizes, expedites or [...]
The Paradise Planning Commission approved a draft medical marijuana ordinance Thursday evening with minimal changes from the 12-page staff-drafted document. The draft will be presented to the Paradise Town Council for its consideration and approval at a later date. During the public hearing on the ordinance, a few citizens had concerns with the draft. One concern was from former school board candidate and expectant mother Rachelle Zuccolillo. Key among her concerns was the fact that the town’s ordinance doesn’t limit growing medical marijuana within a school zone, Paul Wellersdick reports in the Paradise Post. Town [...]
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