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US: Marijuana: West Hollywood Passes "Lowest Priority" Resolution

Drug War Chronicles

Friday 23 Jun 2006

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The West Hollywood, CA, City Council voted Monday night to approve a
resolution calling on Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies to not
"target adult marijuana users who consume this drug in private and pose
no danger to the community." Although it is nonbinding, the resolution
sends a strong message to LA County Sheriff Joe Baca about how the city
of 35,000 wants its laws enforced.

West Hollywood now becomes the first Southern California city to adopt a
"lowest law enforcement priority" measure toward marijuana similar to
Oakland's successful 2004 Proposition Z initiative. But it may not be
the last this year. Similar "lowest priority" measures are slated to go
to the voters in Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Santa Monica in November.

The resolution was introduced by Councilman John Duran, and passed on a
4-0 vote. Duran and the council acted after local activists organized in
the West Hollywood Civil Liberties Alliance filed a petition to put a
lowest priority initiative to the popular vote. Given that city
officials viewed LA County Sheriff Joe Baca as already not making
marijuana law enforcement a high priority, and fearful of costs and
"inflexibilities" associated with a ballot initiative, the council
agreed to address the issue via a resolution after consulting with the
Alliance.

The resolution says "be it resolved that the City Council of the City of
West Hollywood hereby declares that it is not the policy of the City or
its law enforcement agency to target possession of small amounts of
marijuana and the consumption of marijuana in private by adults."

"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. "We've seen that marijuana use is
certainly no more dangerous and destructive than alcohol use," Duran
said. "The whole 'reefer madness' hysteria has worn thin."

While Sheriff Baca and his deputies may not be prowling West Hollywood
for pot smokers, the agency is unsurprisingly not happy to be told how
to do its job. Some Sheriff's Office officials were among the few public
opponents of the resolution, and City Councilman Joe Prang, who is a
high Baca advisor, abstained on the vote.

But Baca was being politic Monday afternoon. "We certainly in my office
understand what pressure is," he told the Los Angeles Times, suggesting
city officials were besieged by pot legalizers. "My belief is that the
city needs to have its voice heard on the matter, and the question will
remain to what extent is this resolution binding. We will look at it for
all of our pluses and minuses and advise the City Council as to our
position."

If the department decides it will not comply with the resolution, the
city could terminate its $10 million annual contract to provide law
enforcement services and seek another department to replace the
Sheriff's Department. But that is unlikely, Duran told the Times. "That
would put us in an awkward situation," he said."
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/441/westhollywood.shtml

 

 

 

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