[420 Girl]

Business has been brisk at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office since it began selling ID tags for medical marijuana plants.

Since July 1, the department has brought in more than $12,000 by selling approximately 500 of the novel zip ties to medical marijuana patients seeking added protection from seizure of their pot plants, said Sheriff Tom Allman.

“We had one day where we sold $2,000 worth of zip ties,” he said.

Most of the royal blue zip ties were purchased at the regular price, $25 each. Discounts are available for Medi-Cal patients and disabled veterans.

The money from the sales goes into the county’s general fund, not the Sheriff’s Office coffers, Allman said.

The purely voluntary program is aimed at protecting legitimate marijuana growers from having their plants seized by mistake.

“The zip tie acts like a prescription bottle,” he said.

They also will reduce the amount of time it takes law enforcement to determine whether pot plants they find truly are being grown for medicinal use, Allman said.

“It’s a five-minute investigation as opposed to a two-hour investigation,” he said.

Allman and marijuana advocates believe the program — first done on a trial basis in 2007 — is the only one of its kind in the world.

“We’re the first,” Allman said.

But other law enforcement agencies have expressed interest in the program, he said. Allman would not identify the agencies that have contacted him.

The plastic tags look like regular zip ties that are widely available in stores with the exception of a serial number and a program insignia.

Patients are limited to six unless they have a doctor’s note recommending more, Allman said.

Doctors’ recommendations are limited by the county’s ordinance prohibiting more than 25 plants per parcel.

The zip ties are attached loosely around the base of pot plants to accommodate growth. The tags are available at the Sheriff’s Ukiah and Fort Bragg offices.

Marijuana advocates are ambivalent about the new program. “I think we’ll just have to wait and see how the program is implemented,” said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access.

Its drawbacks include limiting the number of tags available per patient to six, he said.

The program also is redundant for those who have state medical marijuana identification cards, which also are aimed at safeguarding legitimate medical pot patients against seizure of their medicine, Hermes said.

All such programs should be unnecessary, said Eric Brenner, who runs a podcast for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

“They should let people grow it. Enough with this already,” he said.

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