MARIJUANA OFFENSES
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
MINUTES
May 29, 2008, 10:00 am – 11:30 am
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton Goodlett Place, Rm. 278
- CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
The meeting of the Marijuana Offenses Oversight Committee was called to order at 10:15 AM. Michael Goldstein, Committee Co-Chair
Present:
Michael Goldstein, Committee Co-Chair
Mira Ingram
Aleem Raja
Cathy Smith
Absent:
Richard Rendon
[Since Patt and Camilla have resigned, 3 people make a quorum of the 5-member group. Members of the committee were aware that a quorum of 3 means that subcommittee meetings are temporarily a meeting of the full committee, must be publicly noticed, etc]
2. Discuss and Approve Minutes from March 27, 2008 and April 24, 2008
The minutes for March 27, 2008 and April 24, 2008 were discussed, corrected and approved.
a. Public Comment: There were no comments from the public on this item.
3. Where We Are/ Next Steps/ Timeline
3a. Vacancies. Patt resigned due to lack of time, Camilla had her baby Saturday. Both have submitted letters of resignation to the Clerk of the Board. Vacancy notices have been posted for positions on the Committee. The two positions open are for 1) a representative of a drug policy organization, and 2) harm reduction representative. As soon as the positions are posted people can apply.
3b. Timeline. The Committee has met for almost a year. The group has spent months on the Incident Report Form, which is now in near-final form. Once finished it can be disseminated. The group needs to file an annual report to the Board. Unfortunately there is no funding for printing it, but it can be photocopied for distribution. Richard agreed to do a draft at the last meeting. Given the lack of data from the Police Department and other sources, the Report may consist of discussing the problems with gathering information on marijuana offenses in San Francisco.
3. Committee Reports.
3a. Community Committee. Mira talked with Cathy Smith to check with the Police Department regarding certain items on the Incident Report form, namely the inclusion of the Officer's name and badge number. Mariam Morely of the City Attorney's office suggests we not ask for that due to privacy issues. Aleem will check with Ms. Morely about this.
4. The Incident Report Form. The font was enlarged and item #3 added, Did you note any officer's name or badge number? A cover sheet for Interviewee Consent is now attached to the form, which will gather the interviewee's signature giving consent to the interview, also signed by the interviewer and dated. Mira has drafted a letter / flyer explaining the lowest priority law, the work of the Committee, and the rights o those charged with marijuana offenses under the new lowest priority law. Michael Goldstein suggested that the Committee is entitled to use a City Seal on the incident report form, Aleem agreed.
4b. Data Requests. The Committee sent a formal letter to Richard authorizing a data search of people arrested or cited for marijuana possession. Not interested in other arrests where the marijuana offenses is but one of many charges, or if other drugs are involved. A review of marijuana arrests 2005-2008 revealed basically no change in marijuana arrests. The number is not large, 30 or 40 actual arrests per year for possession.
Aleem suggested the need to look at marijuana transportation charges, because in some cases the police are still arresting patients and others for transportation charges, regardless of whether they have a medical marijuana card or not, and the DA is prosecuting such cases, as Sharon Woo explained to the Committee months ago. Mira asked, Didn't the Trippett case solve that? (Pebbles Trippett was exonerated from transportation of marijuana charges once she'd proven medical need.) Transportation charges are being used as a cover for possession arrests. Aleem agreed to meet with the DA's office and court supervisors about this. Possession for sale charges and charges of resisting arrest should also be investigated if possible.
Although information on possession arrests was spotty, there was no information on how many people are CITED for marijuana possession. This info can only be obtained from the Police Department. Aleem suggested that the DA might have citation info forwarded by the police during processing. Sharon Woo may be able to help us with this data.
The Committee has been trying to get Deputy Chief Shinn to provide info, but he hasn't gotten back to us. Mira wondered if we can provide a list of the exact data we're trying to get, specifically which records do we want? Michael Goldstein volunteers to draft a letter to SFPD and the DA, whom the law asks to cooperate with us.
Beyond arrest reports, the Committee may be able to track prosecutions and court dispositions although the police do not track that.
Public comment on Committee reports. Michael Aldrich asked if we could get info on arrests for possession for sale. Aleem said the DA may be able to help with that, but selling is in the same category as transportation, hard to separate out. Aldrich also suggests changing Mira's cover letter to put the important stuff first, how people can file an incident report, and with a headline perhaps like Hassled by Police for Marijuana? Aldrich also suggested that the Committee write the annual report stating that very little data has been available from either Police or the DA, making that the substance rather than waiting endlessly for data.
5. Distribution of the Incident Report Form.
Michael Goldstein asked Mira to come back next meeting with an outline of how to distribute it, a list of contacts and distribution points is already drawn up and we can add or subtract as we see fit. Michael also pointed out that it should be available online at the Supervisors website. SFgov.org/MOOC.
5a. Public Comment There were no comments from the public on this item.
6. General Public Comment: There were no comments from the public on this item.
Mira moved to adjourn, Aleem seconded it, and meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.
