Recent news coverage and news events have me wondering how ludicrous this marijuana licensing and medical permit has become. It has long been known that on a given night in a neighboring town, these “prescriptions” can be purchased for a fee. In a recent letter published in the paper, a local attorney urged the county supervisors not to use draconian measures in regulating the pot farms locally. He stated that home grows were an important economic industry in Lake County. Did he actually say “industry”? I can”t believe it. The medical marijuana law was passed disguised as a compassionate law for true sufferers who need it to alleviate pain. I don”t recall the word “industry” in its passage.
In truth, probably 95 percent of prescription holders just want to get high. Having worked for years in juvenile corrections for the California Youth Association, I can tell you that pot is indeed a gateway drug. I have never talked to a known user who has not gone on to more potent drugs.
On a more personal note, just last week a group of Hispanic young men installed an illegal pot garden adjacent to my property in Spring Valley. It is illegal in every aspect. They brought in heavy equipment to dig about 40 holes in the ground approximately 50 feet from my property line. The grow is uphill from me and there is no erosion control in place. I checked with the appropriate county agencies and there were no permits granted for digging the ground, erosion control or driveway ingress. In a week”s time, the project was completed, with a water tank and irrigation system installed.
We hold legal corporations such as wineries to stricter regulations than this. Dealing with the appropriate county agencies has been frustrating. The Sheriff”s Department evidently doesn”t communicate with the general public, as no phone calls were returned in the last 10 days. Code compliance required me to fill out a complaint form, which when they received, did call me with a few questions. They informed me it would be several weeks before they would do anything about it.
This seems intolerable for a legal resident and taxpayer (my taxes are current) to have to abide this dangerous situation for weeks. They have already planted 3-foot-tall plants and they will have to guard them. This was too expensive an installation to be funded locally, the funds may have come from as far south as Mexico. And there is plenty of reason to believe they will be armed. Are they going to just camp out at the site with no hygienic facilities? Lake County needs to realistically assess this pot situation.
Clifford Morgan
Spring Valley
