POT CRIMES MAY GET LESS POLICE ATTENTION

Supervisor Proposes Making Marijuana Busts a Low Priority

Famously tolerant San Francisco could become an even friendlier place
for pot smokers if the Board of Supervisors passes legislation that
proclaims most marijuana violations "the lowest law enforcement
priority" for city police.

Supervisor Tom Ammiano introduced the legislation last month before
supervisors took a four-week late-summer break. His nonbinding
ordinance directs police to essentially ignore all marijuana crimes
except those involving minors, driving under the influence of the
drug or the sale of marijuana in a public place.

Ammiano said Monday that his legislation is consistent with
Proposition W -- a measure passed by 64 percent of city voters back
in 1978 that called for an end to marijuana arrests and prosecutions
- -- and with city policy permitting the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

"It bears a revisit," Ammiano said. "This is catching us up to what
today is bringing us. I think it's definitely worth a look."

If passed, the ordinance would commit the city to refusing federal
funds intended for the investigation or prosecution of marijuana
offenses. It also would prevent a federal agency from commissioning
or deputizing a city police officer for assistance in such cases.

Under the ordinance, an oversight committee of 11 members appointed
by supervisors would review police arrest records to determine
whether law enforcement is taking a hands-off approach to marijuana offenses.

Ammiano's ordinance has been assigned to the City Operations and
Neighborhood Services Committee of the Board of Supervisors and will
be the subject of a hearing in the coming weeks.

The legislation has the full support of groups pushing for the
decriminalization of marijuana at the federal and state level, such
as the Drug Policy Alliance and the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"The public would be better off to stop wasting money arresting,
prosecuting and imprisoning people for marijuana, and to start
collecting tax money from them instead," said Dale Gieringer of
NORML's California chapter. According to the group, San Francisco
police arrested more than 1,000 people in 2004 for marijuana-related
crimes and the city spent between $2.5 million and $8 million prosecuting them.

Ammiano said he hopes San Francisco's law enforcement community will
agree with his legislation. District Attorney Kamala Harris' office
did not respond for requests for comment about the possible
downgrading of marijuana-related crimes.

Likewise, the San Francisco Police Department declined to discuss the
proposed policy measure. A spokesman for Mayor Gavin Newsom's Office
of Criminal Justice said city officials will examine the legislation
as it nears a vote by supervisors.

Camilla Field, a spokeswoman for the Drug Policy Alliance, said
getting cities to adopt legislation like Ammiano's is the best path
to decriminalizing marijuana on a national level. With violent crime
edging up in San Francisco, a police officer's time is better spent
not worrying about marijuana use, she said.

"It's really not trying to take away any tools of police officers,"
Field said. "We just think they should focus their attention elsewhere."

Cities such as Oakland, West Hollywood, Denver and Seattle already
have adopted such policies. Voters in Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara and
Santa Monica will decide on similar initiatives in November.

"We believe that we need to move in this direction," Field said.
"Society is increasingly moving in this direction."