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Police refuse to help unlucky medical marijuana grower who has lost the pot... again
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
19 May 2004 | http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...p?story=522635

Jason Beck is one of San Francisco's best known providers of medical marijuana. And that, in turn, is proving downright dangerous.

A few days ago, two intruders kicked down the door of his house, put a gun to his head and fleeced the place of several thousand dollars' worth of weed along with other valuables.

Mr Beck had previously decided not to keep his marijuana supply at his shop, Alternative Herbal Health Services, in part because of a armed robbery there last December, in which he was pistol-whipped five times and both he and his customers had their money stolen.

He would ask the police to give him better protection, but the police has a problem too. While the cultivation and sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes is both tolerated and fully legal under California state law, the federal government views it as a crime.

If the city police is seen to be supporting trade in illegal stimulants, it risks losing its federal funding supply. Likewise, if Mr Beck tries to reduce his reliance on cash and accepts cheques or credit cards for his services, he risks being prosecuted under federal racketeering and money-laundering laws "We're at war with the feds and with the people trying to rob us," he said.

Mr Beck, who is 26, has a very personal stake in medical marijuana. He suffers from cerebral palsy, which in turn exposes him to the risk of seizure. Since he was a teenager, marijuana has been the constant drug he has taken to keep the symptoms at bay. On one occasion, when a heavy cold stopped from smoking, he suffered a grand mal seizure in his sleep and wound up on life-support in hospital.

Both California and the city of San Francisco have been supportive of marijuana use for medical purposes for years. It was legalised in the state in a 1996 referendum, leading a national movement towards similar legislation in several other states.

The Bush administration, however, has been particularly assiduous in opposing the practice, launching a number of police raids against pot farms and shops like Mr Beck's. A landmark federal appeals court ruling last December effectively put the brakes on the raids by saying California had the right to regulate the movement of drugs within its own borders, but the issue continues to be contested higher up the legal system.

Mr Beck said he hoped the attacks he had suffered would prompt a change in the law ending the official harassment and making it easier to guard against the criminal onslaught. "Sometimes, in order for changes to be made, bad things have to happen," he said. For his part, he has installed security cameras, buzzers and steel doors at his shop in the Lower Haight, an old hippie neighbourhood. He also plans to move house and find a safe, secret location for his marijuana stash.

The head of San Francisco's city agency regulating medical cannabis, Wayne Justmann, likened purveyors like Mr Beck to diamond traders who become obvious criminal targets because of the value of the wares they carry with them. "This can happen to any of us who are affiliated with a facility that provides access to safe cannabis," he said. "Our profile is such that people know who we are, and therefore we are vulnerable at our place or work and also in our homes."


Logosnote: It is worthwhile to mention here that the reason that marijuana is so valuable (roughly the same value as gold) is simply because it is illegal. If it weren't, it would cost about as much as distilled grains, or packaged tobacco. Who says money doesn't grow on a shrubbery, gold does...

This item was submitted by dstrausser70(D)

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GrooveGuardian

Quit fighting each other, were all on the same side. As far as him getting robbed, society breeds it with there prohibition laws. These criminals dont come from no where. They grow up in American familys they go to American schools, and vote for American politions. We breed our own fundemental ills in society.

greenbudz

what is a good upload site to put my sig up on?

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it's not a war on drugs, it's a war on people. no drugs have ever gone to jail.

No images or remote links allowed in signatures.

Logos

Greenbudz, can't view your link, so don't have a clue what it pertains to. Says something about your quota being met.

If it is cultivation oriented, try hempcultivation.com.

If it isn't marijuana related at all, your comment will dissapear as soon as someone realizes it.

PM me wiht more info and I'll do what I can to help point you in the right direction.

Logos

PsYch0siS

Woo. Way to go, cops. Do your job! Yeah!

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I Toke and I Vote!

Hydrosan

How come Santa Cruz can manage to protect it's Medical Marijuana growers, yet San Francisco can't?

from California couple runs only legal marijuana farm in U.S.

Is this down to the local law enforcement, or local political personalities choice? Can you imagine the scene.... they all sit down at a state level political meeting, the mayor, chief of police, councilors or whatever etc. and discuss how to impliment this 'legal paradox' surrounding the difference between state and federal law.... Santa Cruz start off with something like "We are responsible for implementing the will of our people....how can we protect Mother Teriasa from the feds.... lets deputize her...that'll help while we wait for federal law to change *warm smiles allround*".
And San Francisco start off with "how can we stop these hippies and their evil weed now the people have mistakenly voted to allow it?....well, we can't help them when they're robbed or we'll lose our funding!....yes, that'll help while we wait for federal law to change *giggles all round*

OK that's just a figment of my imagination. But how are these things decided, and why the two different solutions?

San