Last week, I reported that the LA City Council was slated to vote on SJR 20, in the wake of raids on local pot dispensaries and allegations of abusive conduct by the DEA.
Post: 03/31/08
On Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008, City Council voted 9-1 to approve state Senator Carole Migden's Senate Joint Resolution SJR 20 which was introduced by Council members Dennis Zine, Janice Hahn, and Bill Rosendahl.
Councilman Greig Smith was a lone dissenter, who I understand from informed sources, is under fire for his reluctance to "get on board".
In a nutshell, SJR 20 establishes a call for the President and Congress of the United States to enact legislation requiring federal law enforcement to respect state medical marijuana laws, to cease raids of medical marijuana dispensaries that are operating legally under California and local law, and to return any assets seized from medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives to the states in which they are located.
And, SJR 20 urges that Congress and the President take notice that Californians are best equipped to deal with the implementation of their state medical marijuana law.
By taking the action they have, the Los Angeles City Council is now standing up for patients’ right to legal access to medical marijuana.
The LA City Council's vote follows recent actions from Mayors from Oakland, Santa Cruz and West who Hollywood have sent letters to House Judiciary Chair John Conyers (D-MI) calling for Congressional hearings on the matter. Several other local governments have joined Los Angeles in condemning federal interference, including San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley.
Approval of SJR 20 signals a growing statewide trend to oppose federal intimidation and DEA interference with California State Legislative Laws.
According to last reports, there are 183 registered dispensaries in the city of Los Angeles and an estimated 250,000 Californians use medical marijuana to relieve aliments associated with AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and other chronic conditions.
"This is not about getting high. This is not about drug dealing on the street corners. This is about the Compassionate Use Act," said Zine, who has spent almost 40 years with the Los Angeles Police Department.
California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, which legalized the use of marijuana by patients with a doctor's prescription. The federal government bars cannabis use of any kind.
Virgil Grant - who suffered abuse by DEA agents when his dispensary was recently raided - noted for the record,
"I'm a holistic person who likes to take non-drugs. I don't like taking synthetic drugs. I live the all-natural life, so medical marijuana provides that for me without the side effects (of) Vicodin, other things," Grant said.
When the DEA was asked to state their position regarding City Council's precedent-setting action on SJR 20, a spokeswoman for the DEA noted the federal agency does not comment on policy issues.
