DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 118 August 6, 1999 California "Law Enforcement" Ignores Prop. 215 AGAIN TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS PLEASE SEE THE INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS FOCUS ALERT *PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE* DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 118 August 6, 1999 A sadly familiar story in California was replayed again last month as another group of medical marijuana users had their medicine taken from them by police. This time it happened in San Diego, and two of the providers/users were jailed overnight for exercising a right granted by the citizens of California. While this is mean-spirited and cruel, it is also darkly ironic, as the chief of police in San Diego recently suggested that police are wasting their time by investigating many routine burglary reports. He said those police efforts would be better spent arresting illegal drug users (see http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n777.a02.html). If police resources are being poorly used by investigating crimes with legitimate victims, it's time to analyze the costs and benefits of harassing law-abiding citizens and confiscating their medication. Please write a letter to the San Diego Union protesting this outrage. Thanks for your effort and support. WRITE A LETTER TODAY =Just DO it!= If not YOU who? If not NOW when? *** PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, Phone, fax etc.) Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the MAPTalk list if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is the only way we have of gauging our impact and effectiveness. CONTACT INFO Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Contact: EXTRA CREDIT Send your letter or a separate letter to the mayor of San Diego Susan Golding Mayor City of San Diego 202 C St. San Diego, CA 92101 E-mail: *** Pubdate: Wed, 28 July 1999 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 1999 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/ Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX Author: Mark Sauer, Staff Writer Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n792.a06.html GROUP QUESTIONS SEIZURE OF MARIJUANA As Michael Bartelmo moved forward to address the San Diego City Council yesterday, all that could be heard in the hushed chamber was the whir of his electric wheelchair. Left a quadriplegic by an auto accident when he was 17, Bartelmo, 35, spoke "on behalf of sick people who belong to Shelter From The Storm," an agricultural cooperative in Hillcrest. "Our garden was raided by police officers," Bartelmo said. "What we want to know is, why this happened. We were following the law. I don't understand why we're being singled out." The garden consisted of marijuana plants. The law in question is Proposition 215, the medical-marijuana initiative passed overwhelmingly by California voters in 1996 and the source of great confusion ever since. Bartelmo, backed by a dozen other "Shelter People" who use marijuana daily to help cope with pain, contended that while his group was following guidelines set by the state Attorney General's Office, San Diego police were not. Acting on "a complaint from a citizen," police visited the Fifth Avenue cooperative July 6 and encountered its founder, Steve McWilliams, who is on probation after entering a plea bargain earlier this year on a marijuana cultivation charge. He is allowed to use marijuana for chronic pain, but not distribute it. McWilliams said he invited the officers to inspect the marijuana plants, which were tagged with the names of about a dozen shelter members. Each member had a doctor's letter on file authorizing use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, McWilliams said. Those letters are now in police possession, along with about 300 pot plants - -- more than half of which were not viable -- and a variety of high-intensity lights and other growing equipment, McWilliams said. "Another member and I were arrested, taken downtown, strip-searched and forced to spend a night in jail until we made $3,000 bail," he said. "It's like we had no doctors' letters, like Prop. 215 didn't exist." Group members are "trying our darndest to follow the law," Bartelmo told the council. "But we can't if police officers, the City Council or others in authority won't tell us what the law is," Bartelmo said. McWilliams said that officers went against the Proposition 215 guidelines by confiscating the plants instead of merely photographing them and taking a sample. No charges have been filed against McWilliams or other shelter members. Lt. Carl Black of the San Diego Police Street Narcotics Team said in an interview that he could not comment specifically on McWilliams' case, but said the murky nature of Proposition 215 "puts us between a rock and a hard place." "We have to make a judgment call on how many people are involved and how many plants they're growing," Black said. Particularly galling to the shelter members is that a few blocks away in Hillcrest, the California Alternative Medical Center is buying marijuana in bulk and selling it in small quantities to patients with a doctor's letter on file. While insisting he does not want to see California Alternative Medical Center shut down, McWilliams questioned how the it is allowed to profit by selling marijuana while shelter members are prevented from growing it for their own use. Black said he could not comment on that issue other than to say his officers are aware of the center's storefront operation. Deputy District Attorney Michael Running Sr. said in an interview that he had heard of California Alternative Medical Center, "but I haven't been there, haven't talked to those people." As for McWilliams, Running said he will study the facts and circumstances before deciding if charges will be filed. He said he may wait for new Proposition 215 guidelines that the state Legislature soon could issue. City Councilman George Stevens described confiscation of the group's plants as "an urgent situation," and asked the city manager and city attorney to report back with a clarification from San Diego police regarding medical marijuana within 30 days. SAMPLE LETTER (sent) I was upset to learn another group of medical marijuana users in California was left without medication after another vindictive raid by law enforcement officers. I'm not from California, but where I live police are directed to enforce laws, not make them up as they go along. Even if medical marijuana use were still illegal in the state, stopping such use would seem to be a very low priority for police. The people associated with Shelter From the Storm hurt no one and present no risk to other citizens. Their existence may offend the sensibilities of certain law enforcement officials, but that is no reason to persecute them. The story is even more mind-boggling after hearing the San Diego police chief suggest it is a waste of police time to investigate certain burglary reports. If police have the resources to bust society's most defenseless without cause, certainly they have the resources to investigate crimes with actual victims. These incidents should serve as a startling reminder that the war on drugs is really a war on all Americans. People like members of Shelter From the Storm may bear the brunt of the attack, but when drug crimes become the main focus of police activity, anyone who really suffers at the hands of a criminal must be prepared to be treated merely as a minor inconvenience to law enforcement. Stephen Young IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone number Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work. ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts 3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm Prepared by Stephen Young - http://home.att.net/~theyoungfamily Focus Alert Specialist

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