cannabisnews.com: WeHo 'Decriminalizes' Marijuana Use





WeHo 'Decriminalizes' Marijuana Use
Posted by CN Staff on June 21, 2006 at 15:01:08 PT
By Mary Francis Gurton, Staff Writer
Source: Los Angeles Independent
West Hollywood -- In a controversial move Monday night, the City of West Hollywood became the first in the Southland to decriminalize the possession and private smoking of marijuana in small amounts.The resolution, approved 4-0 as part of the City Council’s consent calender, directs the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, which polices the city, not to target adults who possess small amounts of pot or smoke it in private.
“Marijuana is not a priority for us,” said Councilman John Duran, author of the resolution. “Crystal meth is a priority. Cocaine and violent crime are priorities.” Councilman Jeffrey Prang, who works as a special assistant to Sheriff Lee Baca, abstained.The resolution also states that the city does not condone the possession of large amounts of marijuana by private individuals for sale, the sale or use of marijuana by minors, or public consumption of marijuana.“It’s time to end the policy of reefer madness,” said Duran. “It’s been proven for several generations now that marijuana, whether you inhaled it or didn’t, does not necessarily adversely affect people. To allow morphine to be had by prescription, but for marijuana to remain a federal schedule one narcotic is senseless.”But councilmembers warned that marijuana is still illegal as the resolution pits California’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996, or Proposition 215, which legalized limited medical use of marijuana, against the federal Controlled Substances Act, under which all marijuana is illegal.As federal law supersedes state law, recreational marijuana users in the city may be met with foreseeable legal snares, as have the city’s dispensaries of medical marijuana, previously approved by the council.Scott Imler, resident pastor of the Crescent Heights United Methodist Church, who owned a not-for-profit cannabis club that was shut down by the federal government in 2001, opposed the resolution.“I take exception to linking this resolution to [Proposition] 215,” he said, focusing on particular wording in the resolution, “when one doesn’t necessarily follow from the other.”Imler said he fears the move will lead to the “Amsterdamnation” of the city, with residents selling small amounts of the drug from their homes.Don Duncan, director of Safe Access Now, an advocacy and awareness raising campaign on marijuana policy, who works at one of seven local cannabis clubs, supports the resolution.“It’s a good step forward for prioritizing drug policy,” he said, “and it can only be a step in the right direction for medical users.”The council decided to take up the issue after the West Hollywood Civil Liberties Alliance, a marijuana advocacy group, began pushing for a ballot initiative regarding marijuana priority that may have ultimately cost the city thousands of dollars.The group agreed to drop the initiative if the resolution was approved.Note: City Hall: But West Hollywood’s City Council position remains in conflict with federal laws.Newshawk: Global_WarmingSource: Los Angeles Independent (CA)Author: Mary Francis Gurton, Staff WriterPublished: June 21, 2006Copyright: 2006 Los Angeles Independent Newspaper GroupContact: editor laindependent.comWebsite: http://www.laindependent.com/Related Articles:California City Lightens Up On Marijuana Users http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21930.shtmlWest Hollywood Wants To Legalize Pot Usehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21925.shtmlLeaders Vote To Leave The Pot Smokers Alonehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21922.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #17 posted by FoM on June 22, 2006 at 10:20:03 PT
Hope
Yes is is sweet.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #16 posted by Hope on June 22, 2006 at 10:09:37 PT
Extra Sweet!
Surely, this news for you must be a beautiful Grace.It's good. I'm glad and grateful, for your sake as well as others.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #15 posted by FoM on June 22, 2006 at 10:01:20 PT
Hope
You are so very right! That's where it all began!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #14 posted by Hope on June 22, 2006 at 09:46:36 PT
FoM
I just realized that West Hollywood was probably where you decided to ultimately do something about cannabis prohibition.It's extra sweet then, that this is happening there.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by afterburner on June 22, 2006 at 09:44:34 PT
Oh, Yeah? Why Do the Prohibitionists Fight Us So? 
"After all, it’s not like the law was being enforced anyway."Every little victory hastens the end of the Cruel War on Some People.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by FoM on June 22, 2006 at 09:41:02 PT
West Hollywood
I hope this spreads thru all the cities in the USA. California and mostly San Francisco and Berkeley are where everything culturally important seems to start. One thing about the Aids epidemic, and many people in West Hollywood are HIV infected, is what changes in people happened during the earlier days of Aids in society. I was treated very well when I was there. I am a country person and really mind large crowds and busy cities. I felt at home and peaceful while I was visiting. I met a couple of gay men that just reached out in love to me and I learned a lot about prejudice and how wrong it is during that visit. I am very happy for West Hollywood.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by Hope on June 22, 2006 at 09:23:42 PT
Question of morality....
Theirs nothing moral about persecuting people over the use of a plant. In fact...there is perverted morality...which is no morality at all...when that morality requires the persecution of peaceful people using a beautiful, giving, beneficial plant.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by Hope on June 22, 2006 at 09:20:35 PT
Hoping that cities and states
start scrambling to give up and shake off draconian and unjust laws before they become the last fuddy duddy, behind the times, ignorant state or city out there.Lots of power coming from Oregon, California, and Nevada. Who will be the first to lead the nation out of this hellish injustice?Who will be among the very last to come to their senses, historically? It's time to right an egregious wrong. Cannabis must be returned to the people it was created for.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by Max Flowers on June 22, 2006 at 09:09:19 PT
West Hollywood
You might say it's the Berkeley of L.A. due to its high % of gay population, making it more liberal than the rest of L.A., and like Berkeley, it often leads the way in social change. So yes, this doesn't have a huge legal impact there or other places, but I think it has a valuable psychological impact that one more place is moving to do this. That's where its real value lies.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 21, 2006 at 19:51:33 PT
 LA Weekly: Lighting Up
Cutting Through The Haze of WeHo’s Marijuana Vote ***By Mehammed MackWednesday, June 21, 2006 It's hard to figure who the real winner is in the West Hollywood City Council’s resolution that directs Sheriff’s deputies to give simple marijuana-possession cases the lowest possible priority. After all, it’s not like the law was being enforced anyway. Complete Article: http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/lighting-up/13823/
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by FoM on June 21, 2006 at 19:17:30 PT
Legalizing Marijuana Illegal 
I have been seeing this link pop up a couple times in my e-mail today. Maybe some here might want to check it out.http://www.corruptionchronicles.com/2006/06/legalizing_marijuana_illegal.html
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by rchandar on June 21, 2006 at 19:10:44 PT:
dude...
who cares? west hollywood--where the hundred-million dollar movie stars live. I'm not going to throw a party over this. If it was LA, SF, a city with people who work and suffer, maybe. WeHo?No scene, man. All it means is that some rich people don't have to worry about their asses--and we still do.--rchandar
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by Storm Crow on June 21, 2006 at 19:04:50 PT
Hmmmm....
Do I hear the sound of dominoes falling?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by billos on June 21, 2006 at 16:25:38 PT
  WoW
Enlightnening news for a change...how cool.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by FoM on June 21, 2006 at 16:19:06 PT
West Hollywood
I spent a couple weeks in West Hollywood and never spent anytime in any other area of California. I remember it so well and I can visualize the relaxed atmosphere that this will generate and it will be good.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Toker00 on June 21, 2006 at 15:31:29 PT
Well, I'll be Amsterdamned!
Great work, W.Hollywood!Toke.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by MikeC on June 21, 2006 at 15:04:27 PT
Once again...
And the beat goes on....and the beat goes on...I love this kind of news!
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment