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Published: The
Oakland Tribune, October 18, 2004
Measure Z
would ease pot use laws
Supporters hope Oakland initiative would set
a precedent for state
OAKLAND -- After
San Franciscans legalized medical
marijuana in 1991, voters statewide
followed suit five years later.
Backers of
Measure Z, the Oakland Cannabis
Initiative, hope it will have the same
effect.
The measure would
put Oakland at the forefront of efforts to
decriminalize adult, recreational pot use
statewide.
It makes private
adult marijuana offenses, including
possession, sales and cultivation of the
herb, the lowest priority for Oakland
police. And it directs the city to set up
a system of taxation and regulation as
soon as state law allows it -- which is
largely symbolic and, according to the
city attorney's office, unconstitutional
for technical reasons.
Supporters say it
will free up law enforcement resources to
combat more serious crimes, give marijuana
patients and their caregivers additional
protection, take marijuana out of the
hands of violent drug dealers and
eventually, when and if state law changes,
fatten the city's budget with new sales
tax revenues.
Most people
believe the war on drugs has been a
failure, said Judy Appel, legal director
for the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a
national group with offices in Oakland.
"Where do we want our enforcement dollars
spent -- on violent crimes or adult
marijuana charges?"
A September poll
of 400 likely voters commissioned by the
group pushing the measure found 65 percent
supported it. The poll, by respected San
Francisco firm David Binder Research, also
found 70 percent of those surveyed
supported legalization of pot.
But opponents say
the measure is about more than adults
taking a few bong hits in the privacy of
their homes. They worry its broad language
would turn Oakland, already beleaguered by
a thriving drug trade that draws customers
from the suburbs, into a statewide center
for the profitable business.
They say police
already are spending few resources chasing
marijuana users, and have developed a good
relationship with the medical marijuana
community. The measure could jeopardize
marijuana patients by attracting federal
agents, they argue.
"Whether or not
you believe pot should be decriminalized,
making one city the hub of sales,
cultivation and distribution doesn't make
sense," said Councilmember Danny Wan
(Grand Lake-Chinatown). "I could
personally care less about people smoking
in their own homes, and I might even
support a statewide law. But this is about
the industry of marijuana growing, and
many people selling drugs aren't going to
just have one kind."
Although it
doesn't cover underage users or allow
street sales, opponents say the measure
would make them harder to control.
"I don't know how
you can contain it in that way," said Fran
Matarrese, a community activist in the
Fruitvale district. "I've seen so many
kids in the neighborhood get involved in
drugs, and get in deeper and deeper."
Joe DeVries,
former chief of staff to Alameda County
Supervisor Nate Miley and the main author
of the measure, said Wan's fears are
unfounded. He says an advisory panel of
citizens and law enforcement set up after
the measure passes will draft reasonable
policies to implement it. Large-scale
commercial sales wouldn't be covered, he
said.
"I think it's
silly to suggest every drug dealer in the
country would move to Oakland," said
DeVries, campaign manager for the Oakland
Civil Liberties Alliance. "We'll come up
with a sensible way to implement it."
DeVries said he
left the measure deliberately broad, so as
not to tie the council's hands in
implementing it.
He and Richard
Lee, a medical marijuana advocate and
owner of the SR71 and now-defunct Bulldog
cannabis cafes came up with the idea,
which is why they are using Oakland as the
test case. The idea is that it's far less
costly to do a local measure than a
statewide initiative, and the expectation
is it will have a snowball effect.
Measure Z is
inspired by a measure passed by Seattle
voters last year. It made adult personal
marijuana use the lowest law enforcement
priority, and, contrary to the fears of
opponents, has not led to an influx of
dealers or heavier use by minors,
according to news reports.
But Measure Z is
broader, since it applies to all adult
offenses, including cultivation,
distribution and sales.
Wan and
Councilmembers Larry Reid (Elmhurst-East
Oakland) and Ignacio De La Fuente
(Fruitvale-Glenview) oppose the measure,
along with Mayor Jerry Brown, the Chamber
of Commerce leadership and several
prominent community leaders, such as
Bishop Bob Jackson of Acts Full Gospel
Church.
Councilmembers
Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary) and
Nancy Nadel (West Oakland), along with
state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, and
Alameda County Supervisors Nate Miley and
Keith Carson, support it, as do some
community leaders and national drug reform
groups.
"I think this
reflects what the vast majority of
residents want to see happen," Brooks
said. "I think (Wan) is spreading the
politics of fear, and I don't think you
can jump to the conclusion this will lead
to more dealers coming into the city."
Of those, 138
were for possession, a misdemeanor charge
that carries a fine. The rest were for
possession with intent to sell or
marijuana sales, both felonies. There were
just five arrests for cultivation
In 2002, about 17
percent of the 5,550 drug arrests were for
marijuana offenses. And in the first six
months of 2004, 89 people were busted for
pot possession, and 326 for sales or
intent to sell.
Many of the sales
arrests occurred during buy-bust stings on
the street, and few were in private homes
-- unless police were there for another
reason, authorities said.
"I don't think
this is something the city needs," said
Police Chief Richard Word. "We've been
very compassionate with medical marijuana.
We spend our time responding to community
complaints about drug sales. They don't
know which drugs are being sold. They just
see a lot of traffic into a house or
corner. It's often more than one drug."
In California,
possession of less than an ounce of
cannabis carries a fine up to $100, and
more than an ounce carries a fine of up to
$500.
If prosecutors
pursue a charge of possession with intent
to sell -- which must be backed up with
evidence of packaging or observation of
transactions taking place -- it's a felony
leading to jail time.
It's those types
of offenses that concern DeVries.
Marijuana users or even medical growers
caught up in such a charge must spend
money defending themselves, and the
government spends money prosecuting and
incarcerating them.
"We want to take
marijuana out of the hands of street
dealers, which is where the violence
occurs, and ultimately tax and regulate
it," he said.
National funders
have stepped up, most notably the
Washington, D.C-based Marijuana Policy
Project, which contributed $80,000.
Through September, the Measure Z campaign
had raised $154,500, and spent $110,000.
Other large
donors include local businessman George
Zimmer, chief executive of the Mens
Warehouse, who gave $15,000; the state
branch of the National Organization to
Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML), which gave
$3,300; and Richard Lee, who gave $5,250.
The city
attorney's office has pointed out that two
portions of the measure are
unconstitutional, because they don't
directly create or change laws -- a
requirement for initiatives. Those
provisions are for the city to license,
tax and regulate marijuana sales if state
law changes, and for the city to lobby the
state for those changes.
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