Pubdate: Mon, 17 Aug 2015
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Authors: Joe Garofoli and Joaquin Palomino

SUNSET'S EFFORTS KEEP POT SHOPS OUT

It doesn't take a bloodhound to pick up a whiff of weed just about 
anywhere in San Francisco, where a Chronicle analysis found more 
medical marijuana ID cards have been issued than in any city in the 
state in the past six years.

Yet, even with California voters expected to decide whether to 
legalize recreational marijuana next year and polls showing strong 
support for medical marijuana, one area of the state's 
weed-friendliest city bucks the trend: the Sunset District.

The Asian American enclave is one of the last affordable places in 
San Francisco to open a small business - as long as that business 
isn't a dispensary. Even though dispensaries have boomed in 
neighborhoods with similar retail corridors since medical cannabis 
was legalized two decades ago, they've never pierced the Sunset fog. 
A knot of neighbors and community activists are currently beating 
back three more applicants who want to set up shop there to handle 
the city's booming demand.

"We are one voice on this," said Florence Kong, a Sunset resident and 
a past president of the Asian American Contractors Association. "It 
is a cultural issue and a neighborhood issue."

And one that Kong and her allies are winning. "Their batting average 
is 100 percent in the Sunset - that's pretty impressive," said David 
Lee, who teaches political science at San Francisco State University 
and is executive director of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee.

Lee, who said he does not have a position on the issue, said 
opposition in the Sunset is rooted in traditional Chinese attitudes 
toward illegal drugs and the fact that the neighborhood boasts more 
families and homeowners than other parts of San Francisco.

"It's an outlier," Lee said. Even though the neighborhood may not be 
known for its grassroots activism, he said its vociferous pushback on 
marijuana "goes to issues around family. A lot of Chinese families 
revolve around their children and their education. A lot of families 
perceive that a medical marijuana facility might be a negative 
influence on their children."

The opposition

With 28 operating dispensaries in San Francisco - most of them 
downtown or in the Outer Mission District - Sunset activists say 
there are more than enough places to acquire marijuana.

But there's also clear demand: Since 2009, roughly 20 percent of all 
California medical marijuana ID cards have been issued to San 
Francisco residents (enrollment in the program is voluntary, so it 
does not reflect the total number of medical marijuana users).

During the same time frame, San Francisco County had more cardholders 
per capita than anywhere else in the state: 1,075 for every 100,000 
residents. That's 18 times more than in Los Angeles County and 32 
times more than in Sacramento.

A report last year on medical cannabis dispensaries by San 
Francisco's Planning Commission found that dispensary advocates 
"lament that there aren't enough places to open, especially in the 
northern and western parts of the city." A study found that nearly 
half of the city's residents have to travel three or more miles to 
the dispensary of their choice. That can be difficult for patients 
who might have to travel an hour each way on public transportation to 
secure their medicine, the report found.

Delivery issues

Medical marijuana delivery services - which are booming - can be 
helpful. But the city's report found that some medical marijuana 
patients live in "government assisted housing or SROs where antidrug 
policies are strictly enforced." Other patients prefer to visit a 
dispensary so they can choose their own strain or get a consultation 
from a budtender.

And while some neighbors may complain about crime associated with 
dispensaries, the report found that "it does not appear that that 
(dispensaries) have a negative impact on crime or community safety."

Dispensary owners looking to accommodate San Francisco's demand by 
setting up shop in the sleepier parts of the Sunset District have 
slammed into neighborhood opposition.

Greg Schoepp wanted to open a dispensary called the Bay Area 
Compassion Health Care Center in an 800-square-foot former 
chiropractor's office at 2139 Taraval St. Cannabis wouldn't be 
cultivated there and on-site smoking or vaporizing would not be permitted.

But in May, opponents wearing pink badges saying "No more MCDs" 
(medical cannabis dispensaries) packed a Planning Commission meeting 
to oppose Schoepp's proposed dispensary. They were among the 
activists who successfully lobbied City Hall to require dispensaries 
to obtain a conditional use permit - a tougher hurdle to clear - 
before opening in the Sunset's business districts. Other 
neighborhoods don't have that requirement.

The commission voted against granting Schoepp a conditional use 
permit. Schoepp declined to comment.

"This is a bedroom community. We don't want that here," said 
Josephine Zhao, a 46-yearold mother of two and an organizer of 
anti-marijuana forces for the past few years. "I have no interest in 
touching or smelling or smoking any drugs - marijuana included."

Zhao said much of the opposition in the Sunset, particularly among 
older residents, is rooted in how China views narcotics. She pointed 
to the arrest last August in China of Jaycee Chan, the son of martial 
arts movie star Jackie Chan, who was a prominent antidrug 
spokesperson in the country.

Arrests in China

The younger Chan was jailed after he tested positive for marijuana 
and police found more than 100 grams of weed (roughly 3.5 ounces) in 
his possession. Caught up in a nationwide crackdown, initial reports 
predicted he could spend three years in prison or possibly be 
executed, but he was released after six months. As of last November, 
10,000 people had been arrested on drug charges in China, nearly 
double the total from the previous year.

In the U.S., Zhao said it is a constant struggle to push back against 
a media culture that glamourizes marijuana use.

Plus, it is often hard to organize her neighbors.

"That's just Chinese culture," Zhao said. "We just have our heads 
down. 'Don't protest. Just mind your own business, if you speak up 
about what you want people will target you and make your life hell.' "

And even though herbs have been used medicinally in Chinese culture 
for thousands of years, Zhao and other opponents believe cannabis is different.

Test upcoming

Those attitudes may be tested next year when marijuana legalization 
likely will be on the ballot in California. There is little polling 
data on Chinese American attitudes toward marijuana, but Ben Tulchin, 
a San Francisco pollster who has surveyed voters on the issue 
frequently, said younger U.S.born Chinese Americans "tend to be like 
their non-Chinese American peers on social issues like this" - which 
means generally more liberal.

"I don't expect them to be wildly enthusiastic about it," Tulchin 
said. "But I don't expect them to be hard core against it, either."

Peter Wong, a Sunset resident who has worked with Zhao in opposing 
dispensaries, knows public opinion is increasingly supportive of marijuana.

"I'm probably fighting a losing battle," Wong said. "But I maintain 
each neighborhood has a right to say no to (dispensaries). The 
patients who need it here are already being served.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom