cannabisnews.com: Officials: Pot Not Acceptable at Coliseum





Officials: Pot Not Acceptable at Coliseum
Posted by CN Staff on September 24, 2004 at 10:10:00 PT
By Paul T. Rosynsky, Staff Writer
Source: Oakland Tribune 
Oakland -- Busting pot-smoking fans at the Network Associates Coliseum complex in Oakland should remain a top priority for law enforcement agents regardless of how city voters feel, Coliseum officials said Thursday. Members of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority said it would be too confusing -- and dangerous -- to treat marijuana use at the complex as a low priority for law enforcement.
Measure Z, an initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot, calls for making private use of marijuana in one's own residence a low priority for local police. Initiative backers say the Coliseum Authority's focus on the issue is irrelevant, since the complex is a public place. "There needs to be no ambiguousness," said City Councilmember Danny Wan (Grand Lake-Chinatown), an authority member. "I want to make sure we still prohibit marijuana use in and around the Coliseum." Wan, along with Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, also an authority member, criticized the initiative during a Thursday meeting as security for Oakland Raiders games was being discussed. Both said allowing the initiative to cover the Coliseum complex would confuse security since it is handled by two different agencies: the Oakland Police Department and the Alameda County Sheriff's Department. Since the Sheriff's Department -- a county agency -- would not be bound to follow the initiative, both said officers and deputies at the complex could be confused, potentially following different standards. Further, both argued, making pot smoking a low priority would only invite more crime to the complex, turning the parking lot into an open drug market. Measure Z would make the "private use" of marijuana Oakland's lowest law enforcement priority. It also would set up a platform for the city to tax and regulate the sale of marijuana for adult use should the state make the drug legal. Joe DeVries, campaign manager for Yes on Measure Z, said Wan and Haggerty were wasting their time trying to draft an exemption to the law for the Coliseum complex. If passed, the law would only apply to the private use of marijuana, not public uses such as smoking pot at the Coliseum complex. "It's absolutely ridiculous that they would consider this," he said. "It is only private adult use that we are talking about. I just think they are being silly." Note: Authority members say cops must bust smokers regardless of vote result.Source: Oakland Tribune (CA)Author:  Paul T. Rosynsky, Staff WriterPublished: Friday, September 24, 2004 Copyright: 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. Contact: triblet angnewspapers.com Website: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Oakland Cannabis Initiativehttp://www.yesonz.org/Petitions in for Pot Legalization Measure http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19044.shtmlPot Initiative Backers Turn in 32,000 Signatures http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19043.shtmlOakland Pot Measure Seeks a Shift in Priorities http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19042.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by Truth on September 24, 2004 at 22:44:15 PT
boy
sorry bout that spelling...must be the drain bamage.
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Comment #3 posted by Truth on September 24, 2004 at 21:40:37 PT
bull
I've smoked litterally hundreds of joints in this venue. The police do not have the legal right to tell a person that they can't take their medication. If they steel mine they will hear about their error for Bill Panzer or if he's busy I'll go to Tony Serra's office. This is bushshit.Truth
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Comment #2 posted by TroutMask on September 24, 2004 at 13:24:48 PT
ambiguousness
"ambiguousness". My original reaction was "this person is making up a word", but I looked it up and it's a synonym for ambiguity. So obviously this person is too smart for their own good. :-)-TM
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Comment #1 posted by AgaetisByrjun on September 24, 2004 at 12:53:38 PT
"Ambiguousness"? Give me a break
"There needs to be no ambiguousness," said City Councilmember Danny Wan (Grand Lake-Chinatown), an authority member. "I want to make sure we still prohibit marijuana use in and around the Coliseum."Something tells me this guy isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. And this comes on the same day as this study:http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/09/24/drinking.deaths.reut/index.htmlLooks like the number we've been bandying around is only half of the reality. I feel sick.
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