[420 Girl]

Ca. - Local medical marijuana advocates plan to collect signatures beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Comfort Inn at 90 Sale Lane in Red Bluff for a class action lawsuit against the county.

Ken Prather, owner of Tehama Herbal Collective in Corning, said the suit will target the county's medical marijuana ordinance, which limits the number of plants that can be grown depending on parcel size and requires growers to register with the county.

“Plaintiffs should be valid Tehama County patients or caregivers whose right to cultivate is compromised by the ordinance,” Prather wrote in an e-mail to the Daily News.

The suit has the backing of the California branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a non-profit lobbying group dedicated to marijuana legalization, Prather said.

Calls to CalNORML Director Dale Gieringer and E.D. Lerman Law Offices, the latter of whom Prather said would be filing the suit, were not returned Tuesday afternoon.

County Counsel Arthur Wylene said he could not comment on pending litigation, but was confident the county's policy could withstand legal challenges.

The ordinance passed the Board of Supervisors 4-1 on April 6 and has yet to take effect.

Local medical cannabis growers and advocates have attended public meetings with protests and legal Advertisement
threats, arguing the county is attempting to supercede California law, which permits the growth and Advertisement
use of cannabis with a doctor's recommendation. Supervisors pushed for marijuana controls as a matter of public safety. Supervisor Bob Williams, who drafted the ordinance, has argued that medical marijuana growths attract armed robberies and endanger neighborhoods.

Supervisor George Russell, who voted for the ordinance, has repeatedly called the proposition vague, and part of a larger pattern of laws sorted out by California courts instead of the Legislature.

Russell has justified his vote by saying he has to do what he believes is best for the county, even if future court cases mean the county must rethink its approach.

Prop. 215 patients with questions about the ordinance were asked by Prather to contact either Gieringer at 415-563-5858 or E.D. Lerman Law Offices at 707-468-8300.

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