Rancho Cordova's Measure O might as well be Measure Oh No! for local residents who grow their own pot at home.
City voters Tuesday night passed the measure to impose taxes of up to $600 to $900 per square foot on personal marijuana cultivation. The tax means that a medical marijuana user who grows weed in a five-foot by five-foot indoor space could be required to pay an annual local levy of $15,000.
Already marijuana advocates are threatening suit.
"Nobody is going to pay that tax," said Dale Gieringer, California director of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. "And if they try to collect the tax, they're going to end up with a court suit on their hands and I think they'll lose."
He said his organization and medical marijuana groups believe Measure O isn't allowed under Proposition 215, the medical marijuana law passed by voters in 1996.
Rancho Cordova Mayor Ken Cooley said before the election that the city was protecting its interests should California voters approve Proposition 19, which would allowed any Californian over 21 to grow marijuana for personal recreational use.
Cooley said the city was already seeing "problems caused in neighborhoods by growing marijuana" under the existing medical pot law.
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