With some ballots still left to be counted from Tuesday’s election in Shasta County, it is pretty certain that Measure A — which would severely restrict marijuana grows —has passed with about 58 percent of the vote. But those who opposed the regulation are not going away without a fight.
Rick Arons, the owner of a cultivation supply store in Redding, wrote the petition that forced the initiative onto the ballot after the Board of Supervisors voted to enact it several months ago. He says that he has been consulting with the American Civil Liberties Union about the constitutionality of the new law.
Arons: “There’s no legal way that you can get your medicine from the dispensary to that $12,000 accessory structure without violating the law, because you’re storing it in your pocket. There’s physically no possible way for any patient in Shasta County to get their medicine inside that building.”
The planning department estimates that it will cost about $12,000 to build a detached structure that will comply with the law. Arons says that renters will have no way to grow marijuana legally because of the new restrictions. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko has said that he is ready to begin enforcing the law.