FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2000
RE: Mendocino County Marijuana Initiative

Mendocino Becomes First County in the US
to Decriminalize Personal Cultivation and Possession of Marijuana

CALIFORNIA—In Mendocino, voters on Tuesday passed a ballot measure making it the first county in the US to decriminalize the cultivation and personal use of marijuana.

Under the newly passed Measure G, local authorities are ordered to make marijuana enforcement their lowest priority, and to entirely stop prosecuting cases involving “25 or fewer adult female marijuana plants or the equivalent in dried marijuana.” Thus, the measure effectively decriminalizes the personal use and cultivation of marijuana within the county. Selling marijuana, or growing more than 25 plants remains a felony offense.

In Mendocino County where the sound of helicopters searching for hidden marijuana crops routinely breaks the rustle of wind in the trees, Measure G’s passage signals that the town-folk have grown weary of the government’s war on marijuana. For the last two years, state and federal anti-drug agents have eradicated more marijuana plants in Mendocino County than in any other county in California.

The measure’s passage was welcome news to Richard Glen Boire, a lawyer well-known for defending marijuana cases, and who currently directs the nonprofit Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics, in Davis, California. “The landslide victory for Measure G shows that the people are tired of misappropriating money away from schools in order to finance a military-style war on plants,” said Boire.

According to the proponents of Measure G, which was authored by the Green Party, approximately $8 billion is spent each year for the US to wage war on marijuana. The measure orders Mendocino officials to immediately cease expending County funds on investigating, arresting or prosecuting those who use marijuana or grow it for themselves. 

In a county known as much for its world-class wines as for its high-quality marijuana, proponents of Measure G argue that it is irrational to treat the personal cultivation and use of marijuana any differently than the personal production and use of wine. “The federal government,” said Attorney Boire, “should listen to the people of Mendocino, and end its ridiculous distinction between the grape plant and the Cannabis plant. It’s time to end the war on Nature – plant nature and human nature—and begin treating adults like adults. Mendocino’s new measure simply recognizes that a person has the right to control his or her own consciousness so long as he or she causes no harm to others.”

The full text of Measure G is online at: www.cognitiveliberty.org/lawlibrary/measureg.htm

Contact Information:
Richard Glen Boire, Esq.
Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics
E-mail:info@cognitiveliberty.org
Telephone: 1-530-750-7912
Fax: 1-530-686-8265
Web site: www.cognitiveliberty.org