League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Butte County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Measure A Medical Marijuana Referendum County of Butte Majority Approval Required Pass: 27916 / 61.59% Yes votes ...... 17408 / 38.41% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure A	Arguments Against Measure A
Please join us in voting YES on Measure A. Measure A will preserve Butte County's rural quality of life by preventing large-scale commercial marijuana cultivation. It does NOT affect patient access to medical marijuana. Measure A establishes reasonable regulations to limit marijuana grows and combat the abusive practices being perpetrated by commercial marijuana growers--many of whom don't live here. QUALITY OF LIFE: The Butte County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the Comprehensive Marijuana Cultivation Ordinance--Measure A--in February to protect Butte County residents and communities from the intimidation and violence associated with large commercial marijuana grows. PUBLIC SAFETY: Measure A prohibits outdoor marijuana grows in most residential neighborhoods to keep commercial drug activities away from our children and families. It improves law enforcement capabilities to safeguard our public lands and toughens security requirements at marijuana sites to better protect public safety. PATIENT ACCESS: Measure A protects patients who need medical marijuana in compliance with the Compassionate Use Act by permitting limited indoor grows. ENVIRONMENT: Measure A strengthens environmental protections for our water and public lands. It will preserve local wildlife like the Fisher Martin which is being threatened by toxic chemicals from large marijuana grows. Measure A stops out-of-town marijuana growers from profiteering at the expense of Butte County residents. Measure A is a responsible solution to preserve Butte County's quality of life and ensure patient access to medical marijuana. Vote YES on Measure A to take back our neighborhoods. Vote YES on Measure A to stop marijuana grower abuses. Vote YES on Measure A to preserve our quality of life. YES on Measure A s/ Michael L. Ramsey, Butte County District Attorney s/ Maureen A. Kirk, Butte County Supervisor s/ Jerry W. Smith, Retired Butte County Sheriff s/ Sean Early, President, Butte County Cattlemen s/ Irv Leen, President, Butte County Farm Bureau Rebuttal to Arguments For The district attorney and the sheriff have not been truthful in their arguments. .Measure A would drastically impact both your property rights and qualified patient access to Medical Cannabis, by cutting back the number of plants allowed to almost nothing. Measure A is an ill-conceived extremist measure designed to stamp out cultivation of Medical Cannabis in Butte County. The existing Cannabis cultivation ordinance protects residential neighborhoods, by requiring an approved, occupied home and an approved well on each parcel on which Medical Cannabis is grown. The existing Cannabis cultivation ordinance also has a one-year residency requirement. Measure A would NOT CHANGE ANY of these requirements. Measure A does nothing to protect the environment. The existing Cannabis cultivation ordinance has environmental provisions which strictly regulate water use, garden runoff, and use of pesticides. Measure A would NOT CHANGE ANY of these requirements. The D.A. and the sheriff want you to believe that all Medical Cannabis gardens cause problems. This is not true. The vast majority of Medical Cannabis growers in the County are good neighbors and good stewards of their land. They grow their own medical Cannabis to make sure they know exactly what is in it. They would never harm their land or their bodies, by introducing toxic chemicals into either. Why should everyone be punished, because of a few bad apples? County officials have been very successful this year in obtaining compliance with the existing ordinance. Don't buy the fear campaign. Vote No on Measure A.	Reasonable restrictions on cultivation are fine, but Measure A goes way overboard. Measure A is an effort to make growing medical Cannabis in Butte County almost impossible. Measure A would be the first Butte County ordinance to limit your right to grow a crop on your land to a small square footage. Measure A would also be the first Butte County ordinance to authorize the Butte County Sheriff to conduct repeated warrantless trespasses to check for a medical Cannabis grow on your private property. Measure A would limit your right to grow a crop on only 50 sq. ft. of parcels of less than 5 acres or smaller. Even if you own one of the largest parcels in the County, you could only grow a crop of medical Cannabis on 150 sq. ft of your land. Butte County wants you to think that all Cannabis gardens are nuisances, in order to scare you. Butte County's existing nuisance ordinance is more than adequate to address any medical cannabis grow which becomes a nuisance. Under Butte County's existing Cannabis cultivation ordinance (which is identical to Measure B), only a 72-hour notice need be given before Butte County can take enforcement action. Butte County also wants you to believe there are no environmental regulations in the existing Cannabis cultivation ordinance. However, under the existing Cannabis cultivation ordinance and other County ordinances, water use, garden runoff, pesticides and grading are all strictly regulated. The existing ordinance isn't broken and doesn't need fixing. Don't buy Butte County's fear campaign. Measure A lives in the past, just like the policy behind the federal War Against Marijuana, which has been a failure for 40 years. Stand up for your rights. Vote No on Measure A. For more information, go to http://www.bcaig.org s/ Andrew T. Holcombe, Attorney, Former Chico Mayor s/ Denice Lessard, Patient s/ Anne Murphy, Patient s/ Philip G. Seuls, Patient Rebuttal to Arguments Against Don't be fooled by the dubious claims being made by commercial marijuana growers. Measure A does Not limit the ability of patients to get legal medical cannabis. The 50-square foot growing limitation contained in Measure A provides more than enough cannabis to accommodate the legitimate medical needs of any patient. Measure A does Not weaken property rights. Instead, it protects private property and public lands from being "squatted on" and stolen by marijuana growers! Local Control: Measure A stops abusive industrial-scale commercial marijuana cultivation that destroys our quality of life, pollutes our environment and jeopardizes our safety. Economy: Measure A protects local jobs, farms and businesses. Marijuana mercenaries have already wrecked the economies of several other rural Northern California counties--including Lake and Mendocino. We can't afford to let it happen here! Public Lands: Measure A gives Law Enforcement the tools to protect our environment from abusive practices of marijuana growers--who poison our water and threaten the ability of local residents and tourists to enjoy Butte County's public lands. Water: Measure A prevents our water supplies from being diverted Away from local residents and farms to benefit out-of-town commercial marijuana growers. Measure A is Local Control for Local Residents. The out-of-town marijuana growers opposing this Measure don't care about the quality of life in our communities. They just want to profit at our expense. Butte County is a great place to call home. Voting Yes on Measure A will keep it that way http://www.ProtectButteCounty.com

Full Text of Measure A

WHEREAS, the Butte County Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 4075, amending Sections 34A-4, 34A-5 and 34A-8 to Article I, Chapter 34, entitled "Restrictions on Cultivation of Medical Marijuana" of the Butte County Code on February 11, 2014; and WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 4075 was challenged on March 12, 2014, by a petition protesting it pursuant to California Elections Code Section 9144; and WHEREAS, the Butte County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters certified on April 9, 2014, that the Referendum Petition to protest Ordinance No. 4075 had been found sufficient; and WHEREAS, on April 22, 2014, the Board of Supervisors approved submitting said Ordinance to the voters of the County at the November 4, 2014 General Election. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte, State of California, as follows: 1. The Board hereby submits Ordinance 4075 to the voters at the General Election to be held November 4, 2014; 2. The question to be submitted to the voters shall be: Shall Ordinance 4075, an Ordinance Amending Sections 34A-4, 34A-5, and 34A-8 to Article I, Chapter 34A entitled "Restrictions on Cultivation of Medical Marijuana" of the Butte County Code, be adopted? 3. Said election shall be consolidated with the statewide general election to be held on November 4, 2014; 4. Said election shall be held and conducted pursuant to the procedures specified in Part 3 of Division 10 of the Elections Code commencing at Section 10400; 5. For purposes of this election, and Ordinance No. 4075, the "County voters" and the "County electorate" shall include all voters in the County, including voters in the incorporated areas of the County; and 6. In accordance with Elections Code Section 13120, the question to be submitted to the voters shall read as follows: Shall Ordinance 4075, an ordinance amending Sections 34A-4, 34A-5 and 34A-8 to Article I, Chapter 34A entitled, "Restrictions on Cultivation of Medical Marijuana" of the Butte County Code, be adopted? YES [ ] NO [ ] PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte, State of California, on the 10th day of June, 2014, by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors Connelly, Wahl, Kirk, Lambert and Chair Teeter NOES: None ABSENT: None NOT VOTING: None s/ Doug Teeter DOUG TEETER, Chair Butte County Board of Supervisors ATTEST: PAUL HAHN, Chief Administrative Officer and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: s/ Paul Hahn Deputy