By Associated Press
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A judge says backyard Fresno County pot growers must harvest their marijuana crop by the end of the month.
Superior Court Judge Jeff Hamilton says a Board of Supervisors decision on Sept. 14 to ban outdoor pot gardens is valid.
But the judge ruled Wednesday that the ordinance cannot be immediately enforced because growers who planted before Sept. 14 have a vested interest in their crop. Pot growers must harvest their marijuana by midnight Nov. 30.
The Fresno Bee says the judge criticized county officials for failing to explain why it was so urgent to ban the gardens, noting California voters approved the medical marijuana law 14 years ago.
The judge asked county lawyer Jeffrey Dunn where patients were supposed to get their pot, in his words, “From the medicinal-marijuana fairy?”