Pompo

Just say 'no' to WAMMfest medication
9/21/08|Santa Cruz Sentinel| by Jeffrey Kongslie



This coming Tuesday, Santa Cruz City Council members will once again be faced with deciding if the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana WAMM should be granted an exemption to the non-smoking policy for San Lorenzo Park. The stated need for this exemption is to allow members to "utilize their medication" during a festival intended to raise funds and awareness for the organization. I urge the Santa Cruz City Council to oppose this exemption.

While I support the mission of WAMM and I recognize that there are people who legitimately use marijuana for medicinal purposes, I do not believe that sanctioning the use of our public spaces for this purpose, and the likely recreational drug use that will accompany it, is consistent with our goals as a community.

The city of Santa Cruz has invested significant taxpayer resources in ridding San Lorenzo Park, and the adjacent neighborhoods, of chronic drug use so that these spaces are again welcoming to the broader Santa Cruz community, especially families. For the city to then "open the floodgates" to this use for one day seems greatly at odds with its policies the other 364 days of the year.

While the event organizers hope to restrict the use of marijuana to a specific area, it was well-documented by the media that this was not enforced last year. It is not the intent of WAMM to host an event that is a destination for recreational marijuana users, but this trend was also documented by the media. I fear that while WAMM has good intentions, their goals and mission might be compromised by others with different goals. Remember, the 4/20 event at UCSC started out as a small student activity that has now grown to include hundreds of recreational drug users from across the Bay Area.

A concern that has not been addressed are where these "medicated" individuals go after the event. They are now under the influence of a controlled substance. Do they get in their cars and drive? Do they go downtown, just over the bridge? We have also invested significant resources in getting drug use out of our downtown area, and I fear this event will undermine those efforts as well.

Recently my aunt passed away after a brief and intense battle with cancer. During her treatments, she used marijuana medicinally and it was the only thing that enabled her to deal with the side effects. I firmly believe that it is right to have compassion for people with terminal or serious chronic conditions, whose suffering can be lessened by the use of marijuana. But there are more practical ways to express that support. I hope WAMM will rethink its approach to this event, with the understanding that there are community members who support their goals but cannot see the logic of lifting the smoking ban in the park.

I hope that our community leaders will consider the health and well-being of the entire community and our goals for the use of our public spaces when casting their votes on Tuesday.

Jeffrey Kongslie is the co-owner of Vinocruz, a downtown business, and serves on the city's Downtown Commission.

Buzzby

Do they deny medical marijuana users the right to take their medicine the other 364 days? These are not recreational drug users or hard drug users. They're medical marijuana patients. I fail to see how allowing WAMM rally attendees to use their medicine has any effect on recreational use or hard drug use at all.

Why not ask smoking attendees to show their medical marijuana recommendation or state card? If they don't have one, slap 'em with a ticket. Better still, just leave 'em alone. Who are they harming but, possibly, themselves?

This sounds a bit like NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome. Wouldn't want those filthy medical marijuana patients hanging out in front of his store or spending their filthy money there!

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SpiralArchitect

Hm, curious, I looked up Vinocruz. It's a wine company. Odd?

Although this guys claims he supports the mission of WAMM, what harm can he really seen being done by medical marijuana patients allowing themselves to peacefully medicate during this event? It seems hypocritical.

"Yes, I support your mission -- but I don't think harmless and helpful marijuana shouldn't be used by those that truly need it, on a day of activism and protest for their cause."

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KillerWeed420

Yeah we have this same law in Washington. Makes no sense. A legal mmj patient is not allowed to take there medication in public.

kcbennie

Nobody seems to be worried about where the people go after a sporting event. I was at a Royal's game Friday with my wife and my 2 year old daughter. As we were leaving the game, there was a group of 6 guys, all in their early 20's and completely hammered drunk. One of them could barely stand up. As wer got to the turn-style gate to exit the stadium, they crowded into the gate at once and started playing around, holding up everypne behind them. When the guy behind me said something to them, they started cursing and threating him. As a parent, I really don't want my daughter to hear that kind of talk, but more importantly, if a fight would have broke out, I would have been in the middle of it with a 2 year old in my arms. As we walked thru the parking lot to our car, I couldn't believe how many of these beligerantly drunk assholes wer around. Also, the amounts of garbage in the parking lot, mostly beer bottles and cans. But God forbid any one should smoke a joint. The hipocracy makes me sick.

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