Placer County looking to regulate medical pot
A comprehensive medical marijuana regulatory framework for the unincorporated areas of Placer County was adopted this week by the Board of Supervisors.
The board’s decision allows county staff to work with the community to begin to define what the regulation should look like.
“What we discussed (Dec. 8) was putting in a placeholder legislation in January that would preserve our right of jurisdiction over what happens in Placer with regards to cultivation, land use, location, manufacturing – all of the components that come with medicinal marijuana use,” said Supervisor Jack Duran. “And provide us the opportunity after January to then really put the meat on the bones in crafting an ordinance that suits our needs for passage later in the year.”
To date, Placer County has not enacted any ordinances that regulate medicinal marijuana. Since county zoning ordinances prohibit activities that aren’t expressly permitted, this has effectively banned medical marijuana in the county’s unincorporated areas.
County staff advised the board that not regulating or banning medical marijuana will continue to put the county at risk of criminal activity and environmental damage.
The board is expected to take up the issue again in January.
People need to understand that there are seriously ill people who depend upon medical cannabis to get them through each day. Not having a dispensary locally forces these sick people into their cars and onto dangerous winter roads. When you are sick, the last thing you want to do is go out on a road trip in winter conditions. Placer County needs to recognize these patients and their needs by enacting a program that allows them to have local access to the medicine that works best for them.