SFPD vs. The People

"The SFPD - led by zealous narcotics officer Marty Halloran...decide[s] when to destroy the garden and jail the gardener."

In 1996, San Franciscans voted overwhelmingly for Prop 215. In 2001 the state legislature passed SB420 by a margin of 176-8. It would seem that medical cannabis patients & caregivers should be free to take their medicine of choice...but the reality of the situation is much different.

Despite the best efforts of Assemblyperson Mark Leno, former District Attorney Terence Halllinan, the Dept of Public Health & committed medical cannabis activists, legitimate card-carrying patients & caregivers, most registered with DPH,are still being arrested, prosecuted, having their medicine confiscated [& never returned],& find theirfinances seized in asset forfeiture hearings. Treated like common criminals by the SFPD & other local law enforcement agencies under a kind of Napoleonic law [where the guilt of the accused is assumed] until a Medical Cannabis ID card or Dr's note is produced [usually looked at with contempt by the cops] to the court to prove they are genuine or face criminal charges. To add insult to injury, a couple of cops have turned over growers to the Feds for prosecution. Acting against the public good, ignoring the Police Chief's guidelines, these bullies mock City Hall by wasting valuable municipal resources through their overzealous methods in pursuing innocent people. Don't they have anything better to do???

Everyone employed at the Hall of Justice seems to be aiding them, either tacitly or implicitly, while the rest seem either oblivious or ignorant of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, SB 420 & local medpot guidelines to halt the needless suffering of those unlucky enough to cross paths with the law...Except pretend not to notice while excusing themselves for the failures of the criminal justice system.
Why does the SFPD treat medical cannabis patients & caregiver with such utter contempt?

Beyond politics or law, the rationale for their behavior is based in simple economics. Enforcement of cannabis law is supposed to be the lowest priority [according to Prop M], but our boys in blue get a large percentage of its budget from the federal government with the stipulation that the SFPD must meet an arrest quota of marijuana offenders or lose those funds, a grim prospect for the SFPD during these tight-fisted times. Yet, this sum is trivial compared to the dollars generated from the prosecution of cannabis users by the justice system, at least 10% of who are patients & caregivers, Narcs, detectives, judges, bailiffs, bondsmen, lawyers, clerks, deputies, make their living from this parasitic relationship. Many of them would need new jobs if medical cannabis laws were respected.

Both narcotics officers, along with Officer Kevin Martin # 24 are members of a secret fraternal police organization called the Emerald Society, which is comprised of mainly Irish-Americans cops.