It seems almost daily we are treated to a new “public information release” from our sheriff's department.

We are told of countless profits seized, dangerous weapons found and the horrible criminals involved in this illicit cannabis trade. It seems the Lake County Sheriff's Office wants us to believe that all cannabis is criminal. This is not the case.

In a recent public information release we learned of a medical cannabis dispensary operator who was arrested in a “routine traffic stop.”

The sheriff's office obtained a search warrant, and raided his medical cannabis dispensary, seizing cash and medicine.

The sheriff's office maintains “he was selling marijuana for profit” in an effort, I believe, to make even the legal dispensing of cannabis to qualified patients seem “criminal.”

It seems there is a confusion between revenue and profits.

Current state law does not prohibit cash changing hands in the trade of medical cannabis. The current language (in Prop 215 and SB420) allows for “reasonable recovery fees” to be collected by cooperative or collective growers, caregivers and dispensaries.

“Reasonable recovery fees” would cover the cost of cultivating the medicine (time and material), as well as administrative costs for dispensing the medicine to qualified patients. This is defined further in the California attorney general's guidelines, and case law too numerous to mention here.

While I do not know the status of this particular dispensary mentioned in this press release, I know that dispensaries and collectives generally have “nonprofit” status.

This does not mean that the organization cannot handle money, it simply means that, as an organization, it is not their intention to make a profit. This is not to say that its directors and employees can not be paid a salary, all though I know of a few dispensaries with all volunteer staff.

It seems the sheriff's office wants us to believe that if there is cash involved, that automatically means there is criminal activity. This is not the case.

There is a group of legitimate medical cannabis patients who want responsible regulation. These cannabis patients want the same rights as everyone else to public safety and equal protection from criminals.

These patients want to cultivate medicine for the patients they care for in a way that is responsible to the community, and to the environment, without fear of having their investment seized by the sheriff or their freedom threatened.

These patients also are entitled by state law to “reasonable recover fees,” fees that find their way back out into our community, not only through sales tax and property tax revenue to the county, but into the local economy, supporting all types of small business.

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 5:30 p.m. the Board of Supervisors will meet at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Fritch Hall to discuss a new ordinance effectively banning outdoor cultivation. This ordinance is dangerous to our community, and harmful to patients.

There are several laws in place we can use to chase out illegal growers without passing a new, economy-killing, job-crushing ordinance.

Please come out and let our Board of Supervisors know how you feel about this new ordinance.

If for some reason you can't come out, please email the supervisor in your district at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Boards/Board_of_Supervisors.htm and let them know how you feel.

Michael Horner lives in Cobb, Calif.