[420 Girl]

County officials moved one step closer Tuesday to closing some of the county's larger medical-marijuana organizations.

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors gave final approval to an ordinance limiting the number of clients seen by marijuana-distribution organizations as well as capping at 99 the number of plants they may possess.

The new rules are aimed at shutting down large operations with hundreds of plants and customer lists that hover in the thousands.

"I think this is a good effort," Supervisor Pete Vander Poel said. "I think this is good for the county."

The move comes after an emotional -- and sometimes angry -- public hearing last month. More than 40 medical-marijuana supporters came out to defend the state law that allows distribution of the plant to those with a doctor's prescription.

This week, however, neither medical marijuana's supporters nor critics said anything during the meeting.

Currently, there are five medical-marijuana facilities in the county's unincorporated areas -- in Goshen, Ivanhoe, Tipton and near Exeter and Porterville. Some of those facilities claim patient lists of more than 1,000.

But county officials are moving to limit the number of facilities in the unincorporated areas to three, which would close two of them.

The new ordinance will limit the allowed facilities to "collectives," which serve a small number of patients and do not operate for profit.

The larger dispensaries, sheriff's officials say, are illegal under both state and federal law.

The sheriff's department plans to have each of the facilities inspected by the time the ordinance goes into effect Dec. 10.

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