Marijuana Legalization?

I do not believe we should criminalize responsible adult behavior. Marijuana is a public health issue, not a public safety issue. I support legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana so that it can be regulated like tobacco and alcohol, and have publically advocated this since taking office in 2003.

In May of 2010, I signed onto a letter along with many other law enforcement officers across the state and country in favor of legalization of cannabis as a way to protect public safety.

On "Grow Houses"?

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors has created laws to address 215. My opinion on grow houses has always been the same—when I am confronted with evidence of illegal acts, I prosecute them. While I respect and adhere to the Compassionate Use Act, as voted on by the people of the State of California and Humboldt County, I understand that there are a group of people who choose to take advantage of the act to make profit from marijuana. Whenever I am presented with evidence of this, I prosecute—it is as simple as that.

• In 2007-2008 we filed 356 cases involving the trafficking and cultivation of marijuana.

What happened to the 1000 watts?

Shortly after taking office, I created prosecution guidelines for medical marijuana cultivation that were designed to be clear, and objective.  These guidelines were based on information created by the federal government and were set at:

• 1000 watts
• 100 square feet

The guidelines were intended to limit production to 3 pounds per year.  The 1000 watt limitation would reduce the impact of grows in residences and would limit yield to 1 pound per harvest.

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors did not adopt all of my prosecution guidelines when they created the County's ordinance. The only county ordinance that was codified was the 100 square foot limitation on grows.

Both the prosecution guidelines and the county ordinance are available to anyone.