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A Call For Local Officials To Redirect
Pubdate: Thu, 11 Jul 2013
Source: Ventura County Reporter (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Southland Publishing, Inc.
Contact: http://www.vcreporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2952
A CALL FOR LOCAL OFFICIALS TO REDIRECT FOCUS, ENERGY ON ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES
On Monday night, the Ventura City Council voted 5-1, with Carl
Morehouse dissenting and Christy Weir absent, to direct the Ventura
City Attorney's office to craft an ordinance banning stationary and
mobile medical marijuana dispensaries, cooperatives and collectives,
along with the cultivation of the plant for commercial sale, though
growth for personal use could continue.
It is unclear what, exactly, the impetus was for the City Council to
be talking about such an ordinance now, but Mayor Mike Tracy said the
reason was "to avoid inadvertently allowing any marijuana uses
through loopholes."
This move isn't a big surprise from Tracy, Ventura's former police
chief, but in a state where medical marijuana is legal, and at a time
when 18 states and DC have legalized medical marijuana, six states
have initiatives pending to legalize medical marijuana, and two
states - Colorado and Washington - that have legalized the use and
cultivation of the plant altogether, we can't help but wonder - why,
exactly, #now#? (Some have noted, however, that it is an election
year and public safety is often the top selling point for
politicians. And we have to agree with Morehouse who dissented - the
city attorney's office has more important issues to deal with.)
Economists nationwide agree that the legalization of marijuana would
save taxpayers billions of dollars a year, an estimated $7.7 billion
annually by not having to enforce prohibition, and would raise $6
billion if taxed at rates similar to tobacco and alcohol, based on
the research of Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron. Further, crime rates
would go down if it were legalized.
For instance, according to the 2012 Center on Juvenile and Criminal
Justice study California Youth Crime Plunges to All-Time Low,
California experienced a 20 percent decrease in juvenile crime
between 2010 and 2011, hitting the lowest level since the state
started keeping records in 1954. And the study credited the decline
to the reclassification of marijuana offenses from misdemeanors to infractions.
But Ventura, as well as the rest of Ventura County, has defaulted to
banning dispensaries, giving patients as well as those who use it
recreationally fewer legal choices.
Consequently, law enforcement would have to utilize more resources
enforcing such bans. Though it is illegal to open a stationary
dispensary in Ventura (as well as the rest of Ventura County), it has
been legal for mobile dispensaries to operate and for commercial
cultivation to exist via the state's medical marijuana laws.
While Ventura Police Department Cmdr. Tim Turner stated that other
cities with dispensaries in the state have seen the violent crime
rate go up, some of those cities, such as Los Angeles and Oakland,
are more densely populated and just have more crime in general.
Looking beyond the pot debate, though, we don't understand the
apparent blind eye the city has turned to some of its legal
businesses that attract illegal activities, including one particular
business and a woman that fell victim to a horrifying crime.
In June, at the corner of Main and Fir streets, an Asian woman at a
massage business was brutally raped and beaten, and lost a tooth in
the ordeal, at the hand of a man who had been paroled from the
Ventura County Jail earlier that day. Her response to a good
Samaritan who came to her rescue: "No police," in broken English.
Because certain massage businesses have garnered illicit reputations
for sexual activity, mainly those that have tinted windows and/or
curtains blocking the view of the waiting room often with bright neon
signs, it's not a stretch of the imagination to assume that this
particular business was targeted by this man. Many of these
businesses have only women working and, unfortunately, at this
particular business, she was by herself and had no one to help her.
And after being brutally beaten and raped, her only request was no
police, which is clearly suspicious.
As we have seen over the last several years in Ventura and throughout
the county, pot is considered bad. At the county level and in various
cities in the county, the production of porn, which is legally
protected by the First Amendment, is considered bad. But the
proliferation of dozens of massage businesses - some specifically
known for illegal sexual activity - and dozens of alcohol
establishments (Ventura ranks No. 4 in the number of alcohol permits
per capita in the state of California, following San Francisco, San
Diego and Santa Barbara, as of 2009, the city has more alcohol
outlets (320) than any other city in the county, and there is only
one alcohol enforcement officer) is OK. Therefore, the City Council's
sudden focus on medical marijuana and six mobile dispensaries seems
misdirected.
We sincerely appreciate what our legitimate massage businesses offer
our community.
We also know that many Venturans enjoy their alcohol. But when the
City Council focuses on mobile dispensaries that may pose a threat
versus focusing on and regulating businesses that are known to be
directly connected with illegal activity - DUIs, alcohol-related
neighborhood crime and violence, prostitution and, at worst, sex
trafficking - the city seems to have its priorities backward. That
goes for the county and its other cities as well. While we agree with
the portion of the motion that directed city staff to explore working
with county health officials to find a way to dispense pot legally,
we urge the City Council to review the facts and reconsider its
position on medical marijuana and mobile dispensaries and redirect
its energies toward known illegal activities. F
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom