Deschutes County commissioners are scheduled to consider next week changing regulations for growing and processing marijuana in rural areas.

Some county residents want increased restrictions. Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson has called for no new grows. Others argue that growing pot is legal in Oregon and that the county’s regulations are too restrictive.

Commissioners don’t have convincing evidence that they should change anything, based on a county staff report. The convincing evidence they have is that marijuana is going to continue to be difficult to regulate. For now, the county should continue monitoring and enforcing regulations.

The county’s report comes right out and says “it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of Deschutes County’s regulations.” If the county doesn’t know if the regulations are effective, it doesn’t have a good reason to change them, unless, of course, it has reason to believe they were fundamentally wrong from the beginning. And the report doesn’t say that.

“The concerns expressed by opponents are likely directed at marijuana uses that were not permitted under land use,” the report says. “Instead, these uses are probably personal cultivation, pre-existing or new medical grows that do not comply with Deschutes County’s standards, hemp or illegal grows.” Those are primarily enforcement issues or issues beyond the county’s regulatory authority.

The county passed its pot regulations in June 2016. It has approved 32 operations for marijuana production, four for marijuana processing, three for marijuana wholesaling and one for retail as of March 9. Thirty more applications have been pending.

The regulations cover sight, sound, odor, waste, water, access and more. The county could, the report suggests, revise or clarify those regulations. For instance, it could allow unannounced inspections. It could change permitted noise levels, setback requirements or require more details about how odor levels are analyzed. But, again, it doesn’t have the evidence to suggest the regulations are ineffective.

Some may criticize commissioners for “doing nothing” if they don’t tweak or tighten the regulations. But they would be doing the right thing to continue to monitor how the regulations work before changing them.