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Chevron to Turks: Bay is pristine! GOP to pot doctor: Good job! Tenants to landlords: You're illegal! Potheads to supervisors: Like, wow -- a sanctuary!

A A A Comments By Matt Smith Wednesday, Jul 18 2001

San Francisco will soon become a medical marijuana sanctuary.

No, I'm not toking. In the manner of the 1980s Sanctuary Movement, which sought to protect refugees fleeing war in Central America, the Board of Supervisors may soon consider a resolution that declares: "[T]he San Francisco District Attorney and the California Attorney General are urged not to assist in the prosecution of individual patients or cannabis providers."

Alain McLaughlin

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The measure comes on the heels of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision casting doubt on Proposition 215, a 1996 initiative allowing patients, with a doctor's recommendation, to grow and use marijuana for pain relief. The court said Congress, not California voters, has the final say in the matter of controlled substances.

The marijuana sanctuary resolution, which is being drafted by the City Attorney's Office, would essentially implore law enforcement agencies to leave San Francisco potheads alone. The resolution is tentatively backed by Supervisors Sophie Maxwell, Mark Leno, Jake McGoldrick, and Matt Gonzalez, according to fine print on a draft version of the resolution the City Attorney's Office presented to medical marijuana dealers Friday. A final proposed version will be brought to a meeting of the marijuana club directors scheduled for Oct. 5, an assistant city attorney said.

Now, it's well known that District Attorney Terence Hallinan doesn't prosecute dope dealers. And San Francisco has no say in what the state attorney general does. So the sanctuary measure would have no immediate, practical significance.

Still, even though I've never tried marijuana, there's something I find uniquely precious about living in a dope sanctuary. And unlike the unconstitutional, convoluted, complex Band-Aid laws we've been throwing at, say, housing, the sanctuary movement does absolutely no harm.

Toke on dudes! Death to Chevron!

1 http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/2001-07-11/smith.html

2 Forti called me back later to say that the Republican Congressional Committee planned to return any contributions Dr. Mikuriya might have made, if the committee indeed found he was a medical marijuana advocate.

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