Save In Home Cannabis Consumption in SF
UPDATE: We did it! The Board voted 8-3 to exempt cannabis from the ban. Read more about it here.
On Tuesday December 1st, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will be considering a new ordinance that bans indoor smoking in apartment buildings with 3 or more units. This means consumption of cannabis in your home can mean fines of up to $1,000/day!
Medical cannabis consumers are exempt from this measure. However, access to MMJ cards from the Department of Public Health and even access to doctors’ offices for letters of recommendation are difficult to get due to COVID-19 shelter in place restrictions.
On top of all that, most cannabis dispensary lounges are closed because of the pandemic. This leaves the cannabis consumer in a really bad spot and even more vulnerable in an already perilous time.
At Vapor Room, we believe all cannabis use is therapeutic use and that all cannabis consumers should be exempt from this ordinance.
We’re asking you to please contact your district supervisor to let them know you’re against such an ordinance.
Here is a sample letter with some salient talking points from our good friend, David Goldman:
Dear Board of Supervisors / [Your District Supervisors Name Here],
I am writing to you in regards to legislation that would ban smoking and vaporizing in residential apartments in buildings of three or more units.
We seek an amendment for an exemption for all cannabis consumers. As written, Yee’s legislation only exempts medical cannabis patients with a valid physician’s recommendation. When Proposition 64 was implemented in 2018, most medical cannabis patients did not renew their medical cannabis recommendation. Moreover, the smoke from a medical cannabis patient is indistinguishable from the smoke from an adult consumer of cannabis. So, if a neighbor has an issue with a person’s cannabis smoke, they only have recourse if the person smoking is just an adult consumer of cannabis. They have no recourse if the person smoking is a medical cannabis patient with a valid physician’s recommendation. Thus, Yee’s legislation as written, attacks the cannabis smoker’s status, not the smoke itself. I find this to be totally irrational.
In addition, laws against public consumption have been targeted against communities of color. And most folks live in multiple unit dwellings. Only wealthier folks can afford to live in one or two unit buildings, making the law discriminatory against lower income folks.
Americans for Safe Access has made these great points as well:
• Whole flower cannabis, which is most often utilized by patients in a smokable form, is the most affordable and easily accessible form of this medicine that patients rely on.
• Many patients rely on whole flower cannabis to treat their conditions, as smoking cannabis is fast acting in treating pain, alleviating anxiety and restoring appetite.
• Smoking cannabis also enables patients to control their dose by taking small inhalations until their desired level of symptom relief is achieved.
• Many adult cannabis patients do not participate in the state’s medical cannabis program since the 2016 passage of Proposition 64, which authorized adults to purchase, possess and consume cannabis. The rights of these patients to smoke cannabis to treat their medical conditions in their private residences must be maintained, just as it should be for patients who are currently enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program.
• It is unacceptable for San Francisco cannabis patients to be authorized to buy and possess medical cannabis but have no authorized place to use it.
We’re asking for your help by sending letters and comments to our city supervisors. There are a lot of smart VRoomies out there whose thoughts and opinions might open up the conversation to solutions that work for everyone and protect those that need cannabis the most.
GET INVOLVED WITH THESE NEXT STEPS
Find out who your district supervisor is by using this map: https://sfplanninggis.org/sffind/ or using the one at the end of this post.
Contact your Supervisor by emailing or calling them with the information below.
District 1 - Sandra.Fewer@sfgov.org; (415) 554-7410
District 2 - Catherine.Stefani@sfgov.org; (415) 554-7752
District 3 - Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org; (415) 554-7450
District 4 - Gordon.Mar@sfgov.org; (415) 554-7460
District 5 - Dean.Preston@sfgov.org; (415) 554-7630
District 6 - Matt.Haney@sfgov.org; (415) 554-7970
District 7 - Norman.Yee@sfgov.org; (415) 554-6516
District 8 - Rafael.Mandelman@sfgov.org; (415) 554-6968
District 9 - Hillary.Ronen@sfgov.org; (415) 554-5144
District 10 - Shamann.Walton@sfgov.org; (415) 554-7670
District 11 - Ahsha.Safai@sfgov.org; (415) 554-6975
CC the following addresses as well:
BOS-supervisors@sfgov.org
BOS-legislative_aides@sfgov.org
board.of.supervisors@sfgov.org
John.Carroll@sfgov.org, Angela.Calvillo@sfgov.org
Be professional and courteous as letters to supervisors are public record.
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