Fresno's Backyard Medical Marijuana Ban is Banned

The emergency ban on backyard marijuana gardens was lifted in Fresno County, California on Wednesday. The temporary ban to stop residents from growing marijuana outdoors was approved on September 14 by county supervisors and it was to last for 45 days. The time frame was to give county officials time to develop a permanent ordinance that would ban the use of people’s backyards to grow legal medical marijuana.

Judge Jeff Hamilton issued a temporary restraining order against the ban after Attorney Brenda Linder filed suit last week on behalf of four collectives and an individual medical marijuana user. The problem is that many medial marijuana patients and caregivers planted their outdoor gardens before the ban, and it would be denying them access to their medical marijuana if the plants had to be pulled. Judge Hamilton will hear arguments on November 3rd on whether to grant a preliminary injunction against any ordinance that would prohibit a citizen to grow medical marijuana outdoors, on their own property. If the injunction is granted, it would prevent any county official from enforcing the ordinance for the duration of the lawsuit.

Linder says the emergency ban created apprehension among medical marijuana users who were hesitant to call the police if thieves stole their marijuana plants. She says that they didn’t’ want to be viewed as criminals themselves for growing medical marijuana, especially since the marijuana had been growing all summer when no such ban existed.

County Counsel Kevin Briggs said the Board of Supervisors, who placed the emergency ban in September will now meet to discuss their next course of action in light of the new ruling. He says that they are disappointed in the issuance of the temporary restraining order against the ban and will be plotting their next legal course of action.

One of the Supervisors, Henry Perea said last September that he proposed the ordinance because of recent violence over marijuana plants inside of Fresno city limits. There were four incidents of shooting and one fatality. He criticised medical marijuana proponents saying they had turned a well-intentioned law into a sham. Fresno can be dangerous, even if you aren’t a medical marijuana patient growing legal medicine in your backyard. Just last night there were three shootings in Fresno,  and an additional murder-suicide. None of them were marijuana related.