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Lit_Match

Pot-Growing Woman, 60, Reports To Prison
01.06.07|San Francisco Examiner|By Adam Martin

Amid a shower of tossed daisies, a flurry of hugs and lots of tears, a 60-year-old woman who was investigated by San Francisco police for growing medical marijuana in 2002 turned herself in to federal marshals this week.

Stephanie Landa must begin serving her 41-month federal prison sentence while waiting for her latest appeal to make its way through the courts, a federal judge ruled in December. In 2002, Landa pleaded guilty to federal marijuana cultivation charges. Evidence, including the actual marijuana, collected during the San Francisco police investigation was used in her federal prosecution.

On July 18, 2002, police officers raided the warehouse space Landa and two co-defendants were renting at 560 Brannan St., just two blocks from police headquarters at the Hall of Justice. They placed Landa in handcuffs and read her Miranda rights, then let her go, but three weeks later, according to her attorney Allison Margolin, she was indicted on federal drug charges.

At the time of Landa’s arrest, San Francisco had recently declared itself a symbolic “sanctuary” for medical marijuana users, growers and distributers. Proposition 215, passed by state voters in 1996, permits the growing and using of medical marijuana with a doctor’s prescription.

Most recently, in November, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution making marijuana violations the lowest priority for law enforcement. But marijuana possession, cultivation and sales remain federal crimes.

Before Landa’s arrest, she said, she and other medical marijuana activists met with San Francisco police officers with the narcotics division, who advised them on the law, and suggested they set up shop near the Hall of Justice to lower the risk of burglaries.

“They said as long as you stay in The City, within the city limits, hire licensed electricians, you can grow medical marijuana,” Landa said Wednesday.

But Capt. Tim Hettrich, who heads the narcotics division, said Wednesday that the officers never gave specific advice to individuals and “definitely” didn’t instruct them on where to set up shop.

“We are not going to advise people to break the law,” Hettrich said. “At the time, Prop. 215 was in effect. [The officers] went out and spoke to many groups on the effect of the law on citizens for medicinal marijuana.”

On Thursday, as Landa hugged her 20-year-old son Max Landa before heading into the federal building, Police Commissioner David Campos called for a review of police resources spent on the enforcement of marijuana laws.

“It makes no sense to me that we would expend those resources enforcing marijuana laws,” he said. “The idea that a 60-year-old woman could spend 41 months in prison makes no sense to me.”

Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who introduced the latest marijuana legislation, said, “I’m supportive of this woman. I think there’s a lot of arbitrary morality in this decision. If anybody’s a victim, I think she is.”

But Capt. Hettrich defended the department’s handling of the case. He said a citizen complaint instigated the surveillance and subsequent raid of the warehouse.

“We would be remiss in our duty if we did not investigate complaints,” he said.

It should be known that this 60 year old woman is not going to a county jail. She'll be serving over three years in Federal corrections facility, which I doubt she is cut out for.

I hope these guys' paychecks are worth it.

 

Buzzby

Ever heard of "Club Fed"? Federal minimum-security facilities are much preferable to county jails. I had a cousin who went down for tax evasion. He was in a facility with tennis courts and he got to go home on weekends. He "did his time" reading books and gardening.

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Hansje

It is an outrage that this woman was ever pursued! I don't care to believe the stories of how good people have it at so-called Club Fed. No one should have ever been pursued, let alone imprisoned, by law enforcement and criminal justice authorities for anything non-violent even remotely cannabis related.

I hope the Democrats have the guts to get Hinchey-Rohrabacher passed within the first 100 hours, so that people will be allowed to invoke the medical aspect in their defense. Juries will then be able to let them off of the charges, and the prosecutors will soon realize they are wasting their time and taxpayer money on marijuana persecutions. You read correclty, I wrote persecutions, because that's exaclty what all this harrassment of peaceful nonviolent responsible cannabinists, you know, marijuana folks, has been all along.

The sooner the LEOs are under pressure to stop wasting tax money on marijuana prosecution, the closer we will be to legalising cannabis and scrapping outdated and racially motivated laws concerning marijuana--and some really great sex 'cause pot makes sex better...don't care what you say...does for everyone I know! Ask anyone if sex is better before you smoke/vaporise marijuana or after!

I look forward to progress by the Democrats on this issue within the first 100 hours, as they have announced that they will legislate on matters having popular support according to polls. Medical marijuana certainly qualifies for that! If that doesn't happen, then we're looking at causing a so-called velvet revolution.

Come on, Nancy! The tax on marijuana once it is cleared for recreational use will pay for the debt for the military campaings in both Afghanistan and in Iraq, and possibly even for a wider regional war in that theatre of operations if necessary to secure our oil needs, and all that without having to raise other taxes. In fact, you probably could continue to lower corporate taxes for environmentally friendly and fuel friendly technology companies, auto manufacturers, oil companies for switching their core business slowly over to renewable U.S.-based fuels, education, and whatever you wanted, you know, easing them all in to use the money for after the conflict in the Middle East no longer requires so much of a U.S. presence. Can you say the best universal health care system in the world! Can you say the best universal post-secondary education system in the world!

Halleluja!

Buzzby

You don't "care to believe" the well-documented truth? That's interesting...

The Hinchey - Rohrabacher amendment would affect only the federal prosecution of medical marijuana patients and providers. Such federal prosecutions represent only a tiny percentage of all federal, state, and local marijuana prosecutions.

How do you propose doing all of that on $14 billion a year? That's what a consortium of world-famous economists predicted that all US jurisdictions would save/earn by completely legalizing marijuana.

Hansje

I was just brainstorming. You bring up some points that merit scrutiny of the entire way of reforming the laws to bring about legalisation.

Don't take this wrong way, but what's your plan to free cannabis, save government spending on it as a criminal justice issue, and also bring in money for infrastructure improvements and whatever you choose to fund, regardless of whether they were on the list or not or if some of them have get cut out? What was the model of the world famous international economists? Got a name of the study and a link for the public? I would like to know more about the tax structure of the projections. Do you believe legalisation will come without regulation? Will its regulation not have some costs associated with it? I really have to read who would benefit monetarily from other people's plans. You have my curiosity.

Taking away someone's freedom is no comfort. Movement and possessions are restricted, the body and its fluids are monitored. If they charged for similar accommodations in the private sector, I wonder what a room would cost per night. As much as Motel 8, Comfort Inn, Hilton, Four Seasons, Bilderberg, somewhere in New York, Paris, London, Hong Kong or even Chateau Frontenac? I wonder what the price of food would be, you know, how many stars, as in a Michelin Guide or a travel guide from AAA. I think one's perception is a matter of taste and affordability.

I'm thinking the continuum beginning from the left would be lots of social programs funded with the revenue from cannabis taxation to complete legalisation with no regulations whatsoever, with permits, licences, and zoning and quantitiy restrictions somewhere in different combinations in between--just to brainstorm.

I'm not sure of what kind of a law has a better chance of being passed, Hinchey-Rohrabacher or a complete overhaul of the Controlled Substances Act and whatever other federal laws on the books need to be changed to leave the legality of cannabis a right of the states. The Democrats might be able to get Hinchey-Rohrabacher passed in the first 100 hours, but I'm not so sure about the second prong of the forked approach, that being reforming all the laws necessary to change cannabis to a different schedule and leave the issue for the states to decide. Is W. that desperate to continue his wars? If you can judge how desperate W. is by what kinds of concessions he makes to the Democrats, I wonder what they might be.

I'm definitely all for legalisation for medical, recreational, and industiral use of cannabis. Hey man, if W. is that desperate, push comprehensive cannabis legalisation through and make it law.

 

Dachshund12

The cops told her where she could set up to grow? That was a mistake trusting them.