T
The420Guy
Guest
House Republicans want to drain drug enforcement money from state and local
police in states -- including California -- with medical marijuana laws,
giving
it instead to federal agents. The proposed money shift within the nation's
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs) has Bay Area police worried
their
efforts to combat methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and other drugs will be
short-changed.
San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsley chairs the executive committee of
Northern California HIDTA, including Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, San
Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara, Lake, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Sonoma
counties. The
HIDTA's mission is to "increase the safety of America's citizens by
substantially
reducing drug-related crime and violence," its Web site says.
But Horsley said the proposed reallocation illustrates "misplaced priorities
on the part of the federal government" and could dangerously strain relations
between local and federal law enforcement officials.
While he likes and respects his FBI and DEA colleagues, Horsley said, "a lot
of the information they get comes from locals. If they cut themselves off from
locals by embarking on an enforcement policy we don't agree with or have as a
priority, they're going to be left pretty empty-handed."
For his own part, he said, "I have a friend who's dying of brain cancer, and
I told him if he needed medical marijuana I'd take it out of my evidence
locker and give it to him."
San Jose Police Chief William Lansdowne, also on the HIDTA's committee,
called the proposal "a terrible mistake."
"Clearly it's methamphetamine we need to go after, not medical marijuana.
They need to readjust their priorities -- this just astounds me," he said.
Violence linked to meth
He noted recent figures showed almost seven in 10 men and almost nine in 10
women arrested for violent crimes in Santa Clara County were under the
influence of methamphetamine -- not marijuana.
The Northern California HIDTA's proposed 2004 budget is $2.7 million, of
which $242,000 is slated for the South Bay Methamphetamine Task Force, he
said --
if it's not diverted. Losing any HIDTA money would be especially hurtful now,
as cities and the state struggle with monumental budget deficits, he said:
"For California, the problem is methamphetamine, and this is going to mean
reduced enforcement."
The reallocation is part of a bill reauthorizing the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy for the next five years. Sponsored by Rep. Mark
Souder, R-Ind., the White House-backed bill diverts dollars from state and
local
police to federal law enforcement agencies "to assist in enforcement of
federal law in high intensity drug trafficking areas containing states
where state
law permits the use of marijuana in a manner inconsistent with the Controlled
Substances Act."
Despite California's 1996 medical marijuana law, Drug Enforcement
Administration agents have been raiding medical marijuana growers and
providers,
enforcing federal laws which still ban marijuana completely.
Lansdowne last October pulled his officers off a DEA task force after the DEA
raided the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana near Santa Cruz. At the
time, he said his sergeant and four officers had better things to do than
harass
people who had been operating within state law.
Diluting local programs
Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff, also on the HIDTA committee,
said he doesn't think federal agencies will hoard HIDTA money solely for
marijuana cases. But he is concerned about diluting local programs those
dollars fund
now, including the East Bay Methamphetamine/Heroin Task Force, the East Bay
Violent Crime Task Force and a regional data system that protects officers by
sharing information on investigations and undercover operations so one agency
doesn't trip over -- or shoot at -- another.
"There's a lot of local benefit to the funding that comes through the HIDTA
which I would hate to see them lose," Orloff said, adding the reallocation's
wording sounds punitive and "seems to be misguided."
Attorney General Bill Lockyer said he's "dismayed at the heavy-handed tactics
of the Bush Administration.
"Cutting federal funds desperately needed in our fight against major drug
operations is alarming," he said. "Cutting those funds simply because
Californians have shown compassion by allowing physicians to recommend
medical marijuana
treatment for critically ill and dying patients is shortsighted, retaliatory
and dangerous."
Source: Oakland Tribune (CA)
Author: Josh Richman, Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, May 25, 2003
Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Contact: triblet@angnewspapers.com
Website: East Bay Times - Contra Costa and Alameda county news, sports, entertainment, lifestyle and commentary
police in states -- including California -- with medical marijuana laws,
giving
it instead to federal agents. The proposed money shift within the nation's
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs) has Bay Area police worried
their
efforts to combat methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and other drugs will be
short-changed.
San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsley chairs the executive committee of
Northern California HIDTA, including Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, San
Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara, Lake, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Sonoma
counties. The
HIDTA's mission is to "increase the safety of America's citizens by
substantially
reducing drug-related crime and violence," its Web site says.
But Horsley said the proposed reallocation illustrates "misplaced priorities
on the part of the federal government" and could dangerously strain relations
between local and federal law enforcement officials.
While he likes and respects his FBI and DEA colleagues, Horsley said, "a lot
of the information they get comes from locals. If they cut themselves off from
locals by embarking on an enforcement policy we don't agree with or have as a
priority, they're going to be left pretty empty-handed."
For his own part, he said, "I have a friend who's dying of brain cancer, and
I told him if he needed medical marijuana I'd take it out of my evidence
locker and give it to him."
San Jose Police Chief William Lansdowne, also on the HIDTA's committee,
called the proposal "a terrible mistake."
"Clearly it's methamphetamine we need to go after, not medical marijuana.
They need to readjust their priorities -- this just astounds me," he said.
Violence linked to meth
He noted recent figures showed almost seven in 10 men and almost nine in 10
women arrested for violent crimes in Santa Clara County were under the
influence of methamphetamine -- not marijuana.
The Northern California HIDTA's proposed 2004 budget is $2.7 million, of
which $242,000 is slated for the South Bay Methamphetamine Task Force, he
said --
if it's not diverted. Losing any HIDTA money would be especially hurtful now,
as cities and the state struggle with monumental budget deficits, he said:
"For California, the problem is methamphetamine, and this is going to mean
reduced enforcement."
The reallocation is part of a bill reauthorizing the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy for the next five years. Sponsored by Rep. Mark
Souder, R-Ind., the White House-backed bill diverts dollars from state and
local
police to federal law enforcement agencies "to assist in enforcement of
federal law in high intensity drug trafficking areas containing states
where state
law permits the use of marijuana in a manner inconsistent with the Controlled
Substances Act."
Despite California's 1996 medical marijuana law, Drug Enforcement
Administration agents have been raiding medical marijuana growers and
providers,
enforcing federal laws which still ban marijuana completely.
Lansdowne last October pulled his officers off a DEA task force after the DEA
raided the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana near Santa Cruz. At the
time, he said his sergeant and four officers had better things to do than
harass
people who had been operating within state law.
Diluting local programs
Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff, also on the HIDTA committee,
said he doesn't think federal agencies will hoard HIDTA money solely for
marijuana cases. But he is concerned about diluting local programs those
dollars fund
now, including the East Bay Methamphetamine/Heroin Task Force, the East Bay
Violent Crime Task Force and a regional data system that protects officers by
sharing information on investigations and undercover operations so one agency
doesn't trip over -- or shoot at -- another.
"There's a lot of local benefit to the funding that comes through the HIDTA
which I would hate to see them lose," Orloff said, adding the reallocation's
wording sounds punitive and "seems to be misguided."
Attorney General Bill Lockyer said he's "dismayed at the heavy-handed tactics
of the Bush Administration.
"Cutting federal funds desperately needed in our fight against major drug
operations is alarming," he said. "Cutting those funds simply because
Californians have shown compassion by allowing physicians to recommend
medical marijuana
treatment for critically ill and dying patients is shortsighted, retaliatory
and dangerous."
Source: Oakland Tribune (CA)
Author: Josh Richman, Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, May 25, 2003
Copyright: 2003 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Contact: triblet@angnewspapers.com
Website: East Bay Times - Contra Costa and Alameda county news, sports, entertainment, lifestyle and commentary
