cannabisnews.com: Feds' Noses Out of S.F.'s Business





Feds' Noses Out of S.F.'s Business
Posted by FoM on January 07, 2002 at 20:30:47 PT
Opinion
Source: San Francisco Examiner
It has been quite a season for the federales here out West. San Francisco has always seemed like Sodom and Gomorrah to conservatives in Washington, but now Uncle Sam is making it known that local norms and customs are worth ignoring completely.  Experiments allowing medical marijuana, protecting illegal immigrants from prosecution when victims of hate crimes, and now even AIDS prevention techniques -- all are coming under the microscope of the Bush administration.
This wouldn't seem so hypocritical if the president hadn't gone out of his way in his first year in office to peddle "local control."  Under the drumbeat of federalism, Bush undercut Clinton administration rules protecting forests, saying the local population should have a say. So how about some local control for San Francisco?     Medical Marijuana:  The DEA, under the august stewardship of former Republican Arkansas Congressman Asa Hutchinson, has cracked down on several medical-marijuana clubs across California since he took office in the early fall.  To his credit, San Francisco DA Terence Hallinan, proclaimed The City a haven for medical pot patients. But the five-year conflict between Washington and California -- which started with the so-called Compassionate Use Act -- has crescendoed in the last two months.  To the DEA purists: Lay off the sick and dying who use pot to ease their pain.   Illegal immigrants:  The City has proclaimed itself a sanctuary for witnesses and victims of crime who happen to be undocumented.  The reason is more pragmatic than ideological. If we threaten to investigate and even deport people who come forward, they will choose not to.  This has been a long-standing problem with the INS, but in the post--Sept. 11 world, when having the wrong skin color could get you shot, immigrants have been going out of their way to lay low. With the startling rise in hate crimes against people perceived as either Arab or Muslim, we should be telling the perpetrators that they, not their victims, are the terrorists.  Instead, the feds ignore San Francisco's enlightened policy of not reporting the immigration status of victims. We need more local latitude for prosecutors.    AIDS prevention: The Stop AIDS Project risks losing federal funding because some of its courses are colorfully named and instructors show up in leather. What of it? Have the Puritans ever seen the Folsom Street Fair? This is San Francisco.  The curricula already were approved by the requisite local review panel. But HHS Inspector General Janet Rehnquist (daughter of Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist) said the locals' opinions do not count.  All this suggests that Bush is manipulating the concept of local control for his own ideology. It doesn't take a San Franciscan to see that.Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)Published: January 6, 2002Copyright: 2002 San Francisco Examiner Contact: letters examiner.com Website: http://www.examiner.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmWar on Pot is a Raid on States' Rightshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11553.shtmlUS Marijuana Clinics Raided in Crackdown http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11328.shtml Proposal for Medical Pot Sanctuaryhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11266.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 08, 2002 at 15:04:45 PT
Way To Go Dr. Russo!
That's wonderful! It's way too far to drive to San Francisco and I don't like flying and even more since 9-11 but I'll listen to you speak like I did last year!
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Comment #4 posted by Ethan Russo MD on January 08, 2002 at 14:31:50 PT:
A San Francisco State of Mind
To quote the late great Herb Caen:They're so laid back, they walk on their shoulder blades!
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Comment #3 posted by Ethan Russo MD on January 08, 2002 at 14:30:03 PT:
NORML in Baghdad-by-the-Bay
This is an appropriate place to mention that the NORML Conference in April will be in San Francisco this year. Funny choice; not much interest in cannabis there ;)See details:http://www.norml.org/calendar/conf2002intro.shtmlI am pleased to have been asked to speak again, and hope that everyone will try to attend. By all means, look me up and introduce yourself.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 08, 2002 at 10:52:25 PT
QcStrt 
I just wanted to say I'm very happy that you are still with us. Take care of your health. That's the mom in me saying that. Bless You!
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Comment #1 posted by QcStrt on January 08, 2002 at 10:49:48 PT
federal Law Suite
San Francisco Examiner:
I see that you have taken the Ingeminated in this article, to your readers in as much as to 
tell them that the government is doing wrong with the "Compassionate Use Act".
with this in mind way not take it to the next Step in the game and rally the people to 
participate in a federal Law Suite against the senate and house to make it federal law.
then they will be one step closer to getting it. Take up donations of a dollar each would 
put over the top. to get this in court get the press, TV , and radio on it and see where it 
goes, it is winnable.
Art
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