cannabisnews.com: Leaders Vote To 'Leave The Pot Smokers Alone'





Leaders Vote To 'Leave The Pot Smokers Alone'
Posted by CN Staff on June 19, 2006 at 22:55:48 PT
By The Associated Press 
Source: Associated Press
West Hollywood, Calif. -- City leaders adopted a resolution Monday night calling on sheriff's deputies not to target certain adult marijuana users.The City Council backed the resolution 4-0, said city spokeswoman Tamara White. Councilman Jeffrey Prang, who also serves as an assistant to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, abstained from voting, she said.
The resolution directs the Sheriff's Department, which contracts with this left-leaning city, not to "target adult marijuana users who consume this drug in private and pose no danger to the community."Minors and drug dealers would still be subject to arrest, and smoking in public would still be prohibited, the resolution says.The resolution is not legally enforceable, but sends a message that law enforcement officers should "leave the pot smokers alone" and go after more serious crimes, said Councilman John Duran, the resolution's sponsor."Marijuana, you know, a joint or two is just so far down on the scale it doesn't seem worthwhile to allocate any sources to the enforcement of the marijuana laws," said Duran, who also works as an attorney.Baca had no immediate comment because he hadn't reviewed the motion, said sheriff's spokeswoman Kerri Webb.Duran initially wanted an ordinance, which would be enforceable, but instead opted for a resolution to avoid conflicts with state and federal laws that prohibit marijuana possession."We cannot do anything that contradicts state law, but what we can do is direct our local law enforcement in terms of what we want them to prioritize," he said.Though the resolution isn't binding, Duran said he expects deputies to comply."I think, deep down, they really feel the same way we do," he said.The city has a large gay population, some of whom have HIV, and Duran said some patients use medical marijuana to relieve the side effects from AIDS medication.The City Council "was unanimous earlier on in supporting medicinal use of marijuana," he said. "This goes a step further.""We cannot do anything that contradicts state law, but what we can do is direct our local law enforcement in terms of what we want them to prioritize," he said.Complete Title: West Hollywood Leaders Vote To 'Leave The Pot Smokers Alone'On the Net:City of West Hollywood: http://weho.org/Source: Associated Press (Wire)Published: June 19, 2006 Copyright: 2006 Associated Press CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by Max Flowers on June 20, 2006 at 09:40:06 PT
Jerking us around
Yes, they've been trying to have it both ways since 9/11. They spend billions of $ on alleged "antiterrorism", yet they keep telling us that the "counterterrorism experts" and even the government itself are saying that another huge attack is almost inevitable. So which is it? Are we being effectively protected, or is there huge risk? That is such manipulative, schizophrenic BS!! I don't buy it for a second, and I believe that if another attack comes, it will have been engineered by the US, just as 9/11 was!
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Comment #4 posted by SystemGoneDown on June 20, 2006 at 06:50:16 PT
FoxXxXxXxX News Alert!!!!!
This is no BS. I happended to see this news alert by Foxnews. Hannity & Colmes were telling a new story that North Korea is going to test nuclear capabilities and were capable of reaching U.S. cities. I swear to god, not 1 minute later they go to a commercial break for the "Fox News Alert" and they quote Cheney saying "There has been no attack on our soil since 9/11....this is no accident." It goes on to kiss the Administration's ass on the "efforts" of stopping terrorism........all this after the warning of the North Korea nuke that might hit U.S. soil. They must be trying to get viewers to lose their sense of reality.
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Comment #3 posted by ekim on June 20, 2006 at 06:39:46 PT
see Dean on MI book tour
Dean signed his book for over two hours in Kalamazoo before going to the reception at Bells where more book signing and much remembering of the farm took place. Dean did local radio and tv interviews. Dean was call in guest for cable access tv show with Greg Francisco of www.saferniles.org Deans book signing dates in MI.
http://cannabisnews.com/news/21/thread21908.shtml
Burning Rainbow Farm.
Dean Kuipers Deputy Editor Los Angeles CityBeat 5900 Wilshire Blvd., #2211 Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323) 938-1700 x 207 deank lacitybeat.comFor those planning to attend the Rainbow Gathering (July 1 - 7), the
site has been announced north of Steamboat Springs, CO, and a couple
hundred people are now on site. Seed Camp has now begun growing into
the full Gathering!Site photos here:  http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/sites/co2006/photos/
 
Map to the site here:
 
  http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/sites/co2006/co2006map.jpg
 
Directions here:  http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/sites/annual-site.html
http://www.minorml.org
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Comment #2 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 20, 2006 at 06:04:38 PT
Trends
If counties and cities keep passing "resolutions" like this, the state and federal laws become moot.The Federal government has and continues to fight dirty and black ball the marijuana legalization movement in the press, legislatures and enforcement venues. They are pulling out all the stops to gum up the works. Too bad it's effectively just a stall. We'll beat their ridiculous laws in the towns and counties, and finally the states. 
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Comment #1 posted by billos on June 20, 2006 at 03:55:35 PT
                Thank God
There are still SOME sane law makers.......they are getting very rare.
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