Premier Issue FREE! Collector’s Edition The West Coast Leaf www.WestCoastLeaf.com Vol. 1 No. 1 • Spring 2008 SF adopts MMJ sanctuary, pringtime offers fresh beginnings local MCDs win extension for growing cannabis community San Francisco victory affirms intervention in local policy, and its commit- ment to the dispensary permit process support for safe access Mayor Gavin Newsom enacted in 2006. By Alex Franco Perhaps more significantly, the board’s The medical cannabis community celebrat- non-enforcement resolution states that “the ed two important pieces of legislation Feb. City vehemently condemns the Drug 26 that will help protect safe access in San Enforcement Agency (DEA) for issuing S Francisco, and, by extension, California. sensational letters to these property own- The SF Board of Supervisors passed ers threatening asset forfeiture and impris- two key resolutions. One re-establishes the onment.” This mirrors the language used city’s sanctuary status for medical canna- by the Democratic Central Committee and bis, includes landlords who lease to med- the SF Green Party in earlier resolutions. ical cannabis dispensaries (MCDs) in the These series of opinions sprouted from sanctuary, and asks the Mayor to take a Dec. 7, 2007 statement by Congressman action. The other is a non-enforcement res- John Conyers Jr., “I am deeply concerned olution allowing MCDs to stay open after about recent reports that the DEA is threat- the March 1 deadline pending an amend- ening private landlords with asset forfei- ment to the current regulatory ordinance. ture and possible imprisonment if they While resolutions are merely a state- refuse to evict organizations legally dis- ment of opinion and are not laws, they pensing medical marijuana to suffering West Coast Leaf photo. Pruning for success express the City’s support for medical patients. The Committee already has ques- See page 9 cannabis, its outrage at uninvited Federal Continued on page 12 Respected activist International NGO forum takes issue Measure B=bad vs. G=good Crucial Mendocino draws DEA fire by with UN’s intolerant drug war tactics By Deb Harper and Mikki Norris tice, human rights, alternative develop- vote on June ballot helping LA patients An international forum to discuss United ment, prohibitionist and consumer sectors By Dale Gieringer Nations drug policy, held in Vancouver, BC assembled for the two-day forum at the Director, Ca NORML Don Duncan caught in gray Canada on Feb. 4 and 5, aired sharp criti- Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. Mendocino County activists are fighting a zone between state and Feds cism of the current global Drug War. The Forum’s agenda was to highlight proposed June ballot measure that would overturn the county’s landmark Personal By William Dolphin The second of two “Beyond 2008: North achievements; review the practice and col- Use of Marijuana Initiative, Measure G. Mild-mannered and unprepossessing, Don America Regional Consultations” took Please turn to page 13 Measure B (as in Bad) would repeal G Duncan fits the part of a boy from small- place to provide the UN drug control bod- and roll back the county medical cannabis town Texas who grew up in a conservative ies, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs cultivation guidelines from 25 plants to six, religious family and spent his college days (CND) and the UN Office of Drugs and Physicians’ group calls the lowest number in the state. devoted to studying the euphonium, an Crime (UNODC), with public input on the for better MMJ access unusual type of baritone horn. He never effectiveness of international drug strate- Measure G supporters agree that better even considered smoking marijuana until gies over the last decade. By Chris Conrad measures are needed to regulate big gar- his senior year in college, when he discov- Nearly 100 delegates representing non- The general membership of the American dens, but say Measure B will undercut this. ered that his girlfriend and brother had governmental organizations (NGOs) from College of Physicians, the nation’s largest They note that Sheriff Tom Allman, though been hiding their cannabis use from him, the US and Canada and involved in the organization of doctors of internal medi- officially neutral on Measure B, last year out of fear of his disapproval. health, treatment, prevention, criminal jus- cine at 124,000 members, has urged easing warned against a proposed six-plant med- ical marijuana limit. “This is going to place But Duncan, 36, also has a quick wit, the federal ban on medical cannabis by a burden on law enforcement,” he told the wry sense of humor and talent for extem- reclassifying it out of Schedule 1, echoing a Sonoma Press-Democrat on March 17, 2007. poraneous speaking, all skills that he has Students launch new position taken 20 years ago by Admin- “If it’s lowered to the state minimum, my now put to good use as an activist for the istrative Law Judge (ALJ) Francis Young. statewide reform effort deputies this summer will not be able to reform of cannabis laws. The ACP took an important step by By Kris Krane focus on any other public safety issue.” As the operator of medical cannabis issuing its February 2008 position paper on Director, Students for Sensible Drug Policy Measure G (as in Good) was approved dispensing collectives in Berkeley, West medical marijuana. The declaration puts The nation’s largest grassroots student by 58 percent of voters in 2000. It declares Hollywood, and Los Angeles, Duncan new pressure on Washington lawmakers organization dedicated to ending the Drug county support for decriminalization and spent the past decade learning to serve the and agencies who for decades have refused War is coming to California in a big way. directs law enforcement not to arrest per- needs of patients. And despite being target- to reclassify cannabis. Position 5 states, Students for Sensible Drug Policy has sonal use growers with 25 plants or fewer. ed as part of DEA raids on LA area dispen- “ACP strongly supports exemption from undergone massive expansion in its ten saries, he’s on a mission to spread that federal criminal prosecution; civil liability; Measure B was put on the ballot by the year history, having grown from a group of knowledge so that others can learn from or professional sanctioning, such as loss of Continued on page 6 students at five campuses into a large his success — and losses. licensure or credentialing, for physicians national network of student activists, with Please turn to page 6 who prescribe or dispense medical mari- a full time staff and chapters on over 120 juana in accordance with state law. MMJ is low priority for new Duncan took the high road to comply with college campuses across North America. Similarly, ACP strongly urges protection US Attorney for Northern Cal state and local controls. Photo courtesy of ASA. To accommodate the growing number from criminal or civil penalties for patients The new US Attorney for Northern of chapters on the West Coast, SSDP is who use medical marijuana as permitted California hinted there may be fewer raids opening a San Francisco office in March. under state laws.” on medical cannabis dispensaries when he SSDP’s field director Micah Daigle is Informed as the paper is, it has a glar- met with reporters Jan. 31 to introduce relocating to San Francisco to open the ing flaw — Position 3 “ACP supports the himself and discuss his priorities. organization’s first satellite field office. He current process for obtaining federal Joseph Russoniello is against the use of will focus on expanding SSDP’s presence research-grade cannabis.” (acponline.org) cannabis for medicinal purposes, doubts it in California and the west coast in order to It is quite well known that the federal can help sick or dying patients, and build a network of campus drug policy government has a monopoly on research opposed Prop 215, but he said that govern- activists that rivals SSDP’s extensive net- material and has used it to block important ment resources may be better spent else- work in the Northeast and Midwest. research. ALJ Mary Ellen Bittner issued a where. “We could spend a lifetime closing The new west coast office will allow non-binding ruling last year in favor of dispensaries and doing other kinds of SSDP to focus more time and resources on Professor Lyle Craker’s application for a things and enforcement actions, bringing getting students involved. Student activists license to create the nation’s first privately- cases and prosecuting people, shoveling can play an important role in forming funded research-grade cannabis produc- sand against the tide, it would be terribly rapid response teams to respond to raids. tion facility at UMass-Amherst. More than unproductive and probably not an efficient Please turn to page 11 a year later, no license has been issued. use of precious federal resources.” West Coast Leaf Page 2 Spring 2008 West Coasterdam Report West Coast Leaf staff reports Herer, Lepp and others launch 2008 California hemp initiative Jack Herer, author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, Eddy Lepp, defendant in a multi-thousand plant federal medical marijuana case in Lake County CA, Michael Jolsen of the Youth Federation and others filed the comprehensive California Can- nabis Hemp and Health Initiative. It would restore industrial hemp, expand medical access, set 21 as age of consent for personal use, and regulate cannabis similar to the wine model. Lepp, left, with Herer at HempFest. West Coast Leaf photo The campaign needs to collect 750,000 signatures to qualify. Contact CCHHI08, PO Box 6733, Westlake Village CA 91359. For more info, visit www.calhemp08.org. 4/20 events, Global Marijuana Marches light up the West SEATTLE HEMPFEST — There’s no other event like the annual HempFest.