This Rastafarian insists he’s no “ragamuffin.”
Robert Joseph Simmons, 33, claims he’s not a lazy hippie, or in his words, a “ragamuffin,” but rather a Rastafarian minister whose refusal to abandon his beliefs might land him behind bars for a long time.
Simmons said he’s facing up to eight years in prison over a pot bust because he did not accept a plea agreement with prosecutors last week that would have had him serving just 60 days.
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The U.S. Department of Justice is moving to seize a Mission district building that houses a city-licensed medical marijuana dispensary — the first time such an action has been taken in San Francisco.
Melinda Haag, the U.S. attorney for Northern California, filed a forfeiture proceeding May 6 against 2441 Mission St., a commercial building between 20th and 21st streets where Shambhala Healing Center has operated on and off since early 2011.
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Every little thing has not been all right for this Rastafarian.
Robert Joseph Simmons, 33, believes he doesn’t need a medical card to possess marijuana because buds are a “core tenet” of his religion. At least, that was the Belmont resident’s claim after he was busted in April 2011 with more than 2½ pounds of pot and 13 pills of hydromorphine, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
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The conversation surrounding medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco has wound its way in recent years from “should we?” to “where should we?” to “how much should we?” Now, the discussion is headed back to “where should we?”
The Board of Supervisors needs to formally reopen the topic of where dispensaries can open up in The City and serve their patients to make sure city zoning regulations do not overload the neighborhoods to which they are currently restricted.
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San Francisco will consider allowing medical marijuana dispensaries to open in more locations following controversy over one city supervisor’s proposal to make it even harder for such businesses to locate in the Outer Mission neighborhood.
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Every April 20 in San Francisco — at about 20 minutes past 4 p.m. — a giant cloud of smoke rises from the eastern end of Golden Gate Park, where thousands of people congregate to celebrate and consume their drug of choice.Cannabis, marijuana, weed.
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State lawmakers looking to reform California’s medical marijuana industry point to Colorado, which has a state agency tasked with overseeing the quasi-legal business, as an example to follow. But that state’s cannabis-control arm has squandered money and has not adequately defined its mission, according to a recent audit.
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California’s medical marijuana industry would be overseen by a Sacramento-level bureaucracy under a reform bill introduced Tuesday by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco.
Similar to how Alcoholic Beverage Control regulates California bars and liquor stores, the Division of Medical Cannabis Regulation would establish statewide standards and applicable fees for how medical cannabis is grown, transported, sold and taxed. The division would be under ABC’s control.
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Ask any small-business owner: Starting a new venture, getting in the black, growing and expanding — it’s not easy.
And that’s without the risk of federal law enforcement swooping in at any time, seizing everything, shutting down the operation and then tossing the owners in prison for good measure.
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The nation’s top drug cop advocated a “different approach” to narcotics enforcement — and stressed that there is no “war on drugs” — but had stern words Monday for the San Francisco-bred medical marijuana movement. Drug users need treatment and education rather than jail terms, according to Gil Kerlikowske, the former Seattle police chief who now heads President Barack Obama’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.
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