Concord Bans Outdoor Marijuana Grows

The city has also banned medical cannabis dispensaries.

The city of Concord has just said "no" to outdoor medical cannabis cultivation.

The Concord City Council on Tuesday passed a law making growing marijuana outdoors a crime, according to the Contra Costa Times.

The council reportedly told a packed house of the public -- nearly all of whom were opposed to the ban -- that they "understand the benefits of marijuana," but that growing the plant in the sun presents "great" "risks to public safety," the newspaper reported.

The city will begin enforcing the ban in two to three months.

Under the law, medical cannabis must be grown indoors, in residences. The cannabis cannot be seen "from a public place, such as a sidewalk," the newspaper reported.

Concord also banned medical marijuana dispensaries outright in 2005.

One Concord resident, Chris Olsen, became the unwilling centerpiece of the Concord marijuana debate when a neighbor of his complained about his backyard marijuana grow. Olsen plans to sue the city, the newspaper reported.

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