[420 Girl]

In Red Bluff, the Planning Commission on Tuesday proposed an all-out ban on growing or selling medical marijuana.

In much of Shasta County, the past few months have simply seen an anything-goes green rush.

In between, there's a sensible middle ground that lets bona-fide medicinal users live their lives without letting any entrepreneur who can paint a green leaf on a window enter the marijuana trade as a "co-op."

And an ordinance that the Redding City Council will consider Tuesday night is at least in the ballpark.

The proposal from Police Chief Peter Hansen and City Attorney Rick Duvernay runs to 16 pages of rules on management, security, ancillary sales and location, and it surely needs a good vetting.

The gist, however, is sensible: License cooperatives and collectives through the Police Department, run a background check on the managers, and ensure they follow state law on medical marijuana. (At least, as best as the law is understood. With shifting court judgments, it seems to change by the month.)

It's a mystery just what kind of a regulator the police chief will be. Checking marijuana vendors' leases and security plans instead of simply arresting them is, obviously, a change of pace for law enforcement.

Hansen, however, has taken a levelheaded approach to a rapidly changing situation. He's said a number of the new overt operators in Redding are at least trying to comply with the law, and he's not been in a rush to shut them down.

A good set of strict but fair regulations will minimize the impacts of these dispensaries on their neighborhoods and the city at large. And the police licensing process will itself separate honest medical providers from those who might be milking the current legal tolerance.

It's too soon to say if Redding's ordinance is the last word, but it's certainly a good start.

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