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Josephine County voters asked whether to ban recreational pot on rural residential land Saturday Apr 29, 2017 at 11:44 AM Apr 29, 2017 at 11:44 AM By Shaun Hall Grants Pass Daily Courier Should the growing of marijuana for the recreational market be banned in rural residential areas of Josephine County? That question forms the basis of Measure 17-81, an advisory question placed on the May 16 ballot by the county Board of Commissioners. But is recreational marijuana even the problem? County officials put the advisory question on the ballot in response to more than 300 complaints in the last year about marijuana. Most of the complaints dealt with medical marijuana growers rather than recreational growers, a distinction that may not be important to the people who file the complaints. The range of concerns include illegal camping, illegal structures, ugly fencing, setbacks from property lines, noise, light pollution, erosion, illegal water usage, erosion and traffic. In reply to the flood of complaints that began in earnest last spring, officials held town halls around the county, followed by hearings on proposed land-use rules governing marijuana production. However, formal adoption of the rules is awaiting the outcome of the May 16 vote. If voters want a ban, that would give cover to the Board of Commissioners to adopt new regulations. The advisory measure, however, is nonbinding. There has been significant opposition to the county's proposed regulations. Commissioners received dozens of negative comments from growers, including the Williams-based Oregon SunGrown Growers' Guild. No opposition statements were made in the official Voters' Pamphlet, but Christopher Hall, chairman of the board of the Cave Junction Farmers' Market, sent a lengthy written statement to the Daily Courier sticking up for the recreational marijuana industry. "Cannabis is the new economic alternative to logging," Hall said. "Cannabis is crucial to the economic welfare of Josephine County, especially to the Illinois Valley." Hall noted that recreational grow operations are required to have extraordinary security systems and are subject to extensive regulation. He maintained that the county was having problems with medical growers, not recreational growers. The underlying issue appears to be dramatic growth in medical marijuana grows ever since Oregon voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2014. Medical growers now produce well beyond the capacity of Oregonians to legally consume what is grown, according to a draft report by Oregon State Police. The balance is sold illegally, with much of it shipped out of state. Over the years, changes in the loosely regulated medical program have allowed more pot to be grown, and growers began establishing large sites, some with hundreds of plants. As of this month, there were 2,800 registered medical marijuana grow sites in Josephine County. Meanwhile, the state has issued 71 licenses locally to growers of marijuana for the recreational market, with twice that number of applications filed. County Community Development Director Julie Schmelzer said recreational growers snap to attention when faced with potential violations and that it is the medical growers and a lack of inspections by the state that have caused significant frustrations. Although medical marijuana became legal in 1998, the state began inspecting local medical grows only in the last year, and then at only a handful of sites. The question on the May 16 ballot makes no mention about banning existing grows, and proposed county rules include grandfather provisions to protect current growers. County officials say the advisory question was put on the ballot at a time when it appeared that oversight of the medical program would be shifted from the Oregon Health Authority to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. This would mean that medical farms selling to OLCC-licensed facilities would likely fall under the ban, according to Schmelzer. In a related matter, a proposal currently before the Oregon Legislature, Senate Bill 1057, would place the state's medical marijuana program under the purview of the OLCC. A second measure, House Bill 2198, would revamp the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, but leave it separate from the OLCC. Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass, termed the house bill "almost a new medical marijuana act," and he said both proposals were "reaching a critical mass soon." — Reach reporter Shaun Hall at 541-474-3722 or [email protected]