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Pot Crimes May Get Less Police Attention
Supervisor Proposes making marijuana busts a low priority
Charlie Goodyear | San Francisco Chronicle | 09/12/2006

Famously tolerant San Francisco could become an even friendlier place for pot smokers if the Board of Supervisors passes legislation that proclaims most marijuana violations "the lowest law enforcement priority" for city police.

Supervisor Tom Ammiano introduced the legislation last month before supervisors took a four-week late-summer break. His nonbinding ordinance directs police to essentially ignore all marijuana crimes except those involving minors, driving under the influence of the drug or the sale of marijuana in a public place.

Ammiano said Monday that his legislation is consistent with Proposition W -- a measure passed by 64 percent of city voters back in 1978 that called for an end to marijuana arrests and prosecutions -- and with city policy permitting the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

"It bears a revisit," Ammiano said. "This is catching us up to what today is bringing us. I think it's definitely worth a look."

If passed, the ordinance would commit the city to refusing federal funds intended for the investigation or prosecution of marijuana offenses. It also would prevent a federal agency from commissioning or deputizing a city police officer for assistance in such cases.

Under the ordinance, an oversight committee of 11 members appointed by supervisors would review police arrest records to determine whether law enforcement is taking a hands-off approach to marijuana offenses.

Ammiano's ordinance has been assigned to the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee of the Board of Supervisors and will be the subject of a hearing in the coming weeks.

The legislation has the full support of groups pushing for the decriminalization of marijuana at the federal and state level, such as the Drug Policy Alliance and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"The public would be better off to stop wasting money arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning people for marijuana, and to start collecting tax money from them instead," said Dale Gieringer of NORML's California chapter. According to the group, San Francisco police arrested more than 1,000 people in 2004 for marijuana-related crimes and the city spent between $2.5 million and $8 million prosecuting them.

Ammiano said he hopes San Francisco's law enforcement community will agree with his legislation. District Attorney Kamala Harris' office did not respond for requests for comment about the possible downgrading of marijuana-related crimes. Likewise, the San Francisco Police Department declined to discuss the proposed policy measure. A spokesman for Mayor Gavin Newsom's Office of Criminal Justice said city officials will examine the legislation as it nears a vote by supervisors.

Camilla Field, a spokeswoman for the Drug Policy Alliance, said getting cities to adopt legislation like Ammiano's is the best path to decriminalizing marijuana on a national level. With violent crime edging up in San Francisco, a police officer's time is better spent not worrying about marijuana use, she said.

"It's really not trying to take away any tools of police officers," Field said. "We just think they should focus their attention elsewhere."

Cities such as Oakland, West Hollywood, Denver and Seattle already have adopted such policies. Voters in Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara and Santa Monica will decide on similar initiatives in November.

"We believe that we need to move in this direction," Field said. "Society is increasingly moving in this direction."

dredpiratrobert

I have been there and it is already like that in most places, you can smoke, hold, even grow a modest garden and none of the LEOs are gonna say anything to you about it except maybe, "do you have a cannabis club card? You should really consider getting a cannabis club card..." and the like.

This is the sort of responsible outcome we should be looking for nationwide...

IMO the most responsible way to be a toker is to grow your own! This way you are not supporting the black market nor are you wasting your hard-erned money. The cash you spend on supplies and tools is taxed when you spend it so there is no national losses there. it's better for you and everyone

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True Patriots Live Free Or Die Trying!!!

vladimir

but, in my case, i would risk getting in trouble with my landloard, my friends spreading the message too far, and, in the end, getting in trouble with the police. while it is a great idea, the very possible consequences just don't justify it for most of the people in this country.
i think this is what they encourage in spain, according to friends who have studied there.

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If a drug (or technique or process) were ever to be discovered which would consistently produce a plus four experience in all human beings, it is conceivable that it would signal the ultimate evolution, and perhaps the end of, the human experiment.

Buzzby

IMO, the most responsible way to be a toker is to support the full legalization of marijuana for adults for any use they might choose. Growing your own is a great hobby, but not something that everyone feels like doing.

I'm a vegetable gardener. I enjoy the whole process and get a big kick out of eating what I grow. On a practical level, though, it's ridiculous. If I put the time and energy into my work instead of the garden I could buy 50 times the amount of vegetables I grow with the money I'd make. In any agricultural venture, the economies of scale make large-scale operations much more efficient than the backyard garden or indoor grow room.

At present, around 0.25% of marijuana users have joined or contributed to the three major pro-legalization organizations. Altogether, they operate on a budget of $12 - $16 million a year, most of which is contributed by a few billionaire supporters. That’s all they have to use in an effort to both educate a nation of 300,000,000 and to lobby federal and state legislators.

If users contributed 1% of what they spend on weed and accessories, these organizations would have $400,000,000 to spend annually in the effort. We're working against the ONDCP which spends $120,000,000 a year on anti-pot TV ads and the pharmaceutical industry which distributes millions to our representatives campaign chests.

If you really want to make a difference, join and, above all, financially support, NORML, MPP, and DPA. If you're concerned about exposure (which is not a real problem), send a money order in an envelope without your return address.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)

Drug Policy Alliance (DPA)

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