Fresno city council members moved forward with a ban on indoor marijuana grows Thursday, but city officials are showing some compassion to those who rely on marijuana for medical purposes.
The ban is officially in effect, but council members and police chief Jerry Dyer say their hope now is to find some middle ground; a way to not criminalize and help those people who really need medical marijuana. A new committee formed Thursday will focus on just that.
In a 6-1 vote, city council members finalized an ordinance banning indoor marijuana grows, but not before hearing pleas from people like Joan Byrd.
Joan Byrd, a medical marijuana user says, "I'm just a grandma. I don't want to break the law. I don't want to cause or create problems for law enforcement or for anyone."
Byrd is a 67 year old retired employee of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department, who suffers from severe osteoporosis. She started growing and using marijuana about a year ago.
Byrd says, "That this is the one thing I can use that helps me with my pain. It helps me to live a normal life."
Under the new ordinance, no one-- medical marijuana card or not-- will be allowed to grow pot indoors. Violators will have to pay a $1,000 fine for every plant that's found. Police chief Jerry Dyer says the point is to weed out those who abuse the system.
Fresno police chief Jerry Dyer says, "We're not out there to try to target those individuals that have a real need, a true need. We're targeting those individuals that are making a profit off of growing marijuana."
The city already bans outdoor grows and nearby medical dispensaries have shut down. Patients say they have no where to turn.
Thursday, council members formed an Ad Hoc committee, vowing to find options to serve those like Byrd with legitimate medical marijuana needs.
"I'm not a criminal and I don't want to be looked at as a criminal," says Byrd.
Chief Jerry Dyer is on board with the committee and hopes to bring some options and solutions to the table in the next month or so. He says it will be another five months before enforcement of the new ordinance will start.