Voters roll back liberal pot rules

A complete election tally has affirmed that voters on June 3 repealed Mendocino County's liberal marijuana guidelines.

"Measure B passed," Mendocino County Assessor/Clerk-Recorder Sue Ranochak announced Friday after the last of the outstanding absentee ballots were tabulated.

Measure B won with 52 percent of the vote, the same margin by which it was leading on election night, June 3.

In the complete tally, there were 14,577 votes in favor of Measure B and 13,369 opposed.

"I think it's a clear statement the citizens of Mendocino County are fed up by the abuses of the commercial growers," said Measure B coalition member and Ukiah City Councilman John McCowen.

"It sends a message that Mendocino County is no longer the best place in the nation to grow commercial marijuana," he said.

Measure B opponents downplayed their loss.

"It doesn't spell out a mandate," said Laura Hamburg, who was arrested earlier this year on charges of growing marijuana. The charges were dropped because she was growing marijuana for herself and several other people who hold prescriptions for medical marijuana.

Hamburg said the narrow vote margin indicates Mendocino County voters agree something needs to be done about illegal commercial cultivation, but they still want to protect legitimate medical marijuana growers from prosecution.

She's hoping that the opposing parties will sit down together to figure out the best way to meet their goals despite a vitriolic campaign that included allegations of sign stealing and questionable voter-registration against opponents of the measure.

Measure B proponents have other priorities.

Buoyed by their success, they plan to push efforts to rid the county of commercial growers, many of whom relocated or bought property in the area because of the county's liberal stand on pot.

Many of the growers say they are cultivating for medical patients but allegedly are making huge profits, which remains illegal under state law.

Measure B proponents say they will now push for more effective nuisance ordinances to deal with neighbors who abuse medical marijuana laws and will monitor law enforcement's prosecution of commercial pot growers.

They've established a phone line -- 467-3636 -- to monitor complaints about pot growers.

With Measure B's passage, Mendocino County joins 50 California counties adhering to state guidelines -- six plants per person for medicinal purposes. Lake County is among them. Sonoma County's guidelines call for a maximum of 30 plants.

Measure B went into effect June 4, according to the Mendocino County Counsel's Office. It repeals a local voter initiative from 2000 that directed law enforcement to make marijuana their lowest priority and to refrain from any prosecution for less than 26 plants.

Almost 60 percent -- 28,192 -- of Mendocino County's 47,040 registered voters cast ballots in the election. Most of those, 27,946, cast votes on Measure B.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@

pressdemocrat.com.