Medical Cannabis Is Not A Crime
There's a fire sale going over at the Market Street Coop, located at 1884 Market near Laguna, in anticipation of the medical marijuana dispensary being forced to shutter on January 9th because of harassment from federal prosecutor Melinda Haag, at the direction of the Obama administration.
(Forget a bang. The Market Street Coop is going out with a bong, and they're doing everything in their powers to end in a way that honors their long-held philosophy: affordable medical cannabis for all!)
A soon-to-be-unemployed coop worker, Matt Knoth, created this fab poster for the press conference and protest on Monday at 11 AM at the federal building on Golden Gate Avenue. Permission is granted for folks to spread and share the poster, and don't forget to show at the action.
The key reason for the pending closure is due to the coop's proximity to a school two-blocks away at the Baptist church on Waller Street. I believe the dispensary was in operation before this private school began operations, but I'm checking on that. It would be interesting to learn what the principal has to say about the dispensary, which does not allow children to just wander into the place and buy weed.
Another dispensary that was forced to shift to a delivery service was featured in a recent Bay Guardian piece about the federal prosecutor's bullying, had a great relationship with a school nearby, according to the principal. Sounds like this place was not a problem for the school. A good reason to rethink this widening attack on access to pot.
From the Bay Guardian:
The dispensary was compelled to close its doors on 1933 Mission Street after a Sept. 28 letter from Department of Justice attorney Melinda Haag threatened its landlord with jail time if Medithrive didn't cease operations in the space within 45 days. ...
The feds' given reason was Medithrive's proximity to Marshall Elementary School, located a 745-foot walk (according to Google Maps) from the dispensary door.
But Marshall's principal Peter Avila wasn't consulted on the matter. When called for comment by the Guardian, he said that he had bigger safety concerns.
"Right next door to Medithrive is a liquor store," Avila said, adding that there is also a methadone clinic across the street from his school. "We have to deal with people passed out on the property, people smoking — those are more the issues than people buying medical marijuana."
The principal says he patrols Marshall's immediate neighborhood three to four times a day, dealing with drug addicts, people with mental problems, and the Mission's homeless population. He called the dispensary "discreet" and never saw any cannabis usage by dispensary patients.
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