Michael Montgomery of the Associated Press reported that officials in Mendocino County, Northern California, are expected to pull the plug on an unusual program that put pot growing under supervision of the local sheriff. It was the first effort of its kind in the nation and proved a success, at least in the eyes of many locals. Federal prosecutors, however, took a different view.
For years, Mendocino County, like other places in Northern California, struggled to contain an explosion in pot growing, especially since the state legalized the use of medical marijuana. So two years ago, officials decided to try something completely new – legalize medical marijuana production under strict conditions. And they gave the job to a barrel-chested sheriff's sergeant named Randy Johnson.
The program has earned the sheriff's department more than half a million dollars and enlisted nearly 100 growers.
After California voters legalized medical marijuana use 16 years ago, the state never determined how pot should be produced, leaving such regulations to local authorities. So far, only Mendocino has taken on the challenge.
But in October, federal prosecutors went on the offensive against California's marijuana industry, closing dozens of storefront dispensaries and seizing properties.
Melinda Haag, the U.S. attorney for Northern California, said the California law has been hijacked by profiteers who are motivated not by compassion, but by money. She also warned cities and counties that marijuana licensing schemes were against federal law. Soon after, heavily armed Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a farm in Mendocino owned by one of the county's legal growers.
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