Green Dilemma

by Juliana Severe

Despite recent crackdowns on medical marijuana dispensaries, the South of Market district continues to host many of the city’s cannabis clubs. Its prevalent industrial and non-residential location has many applicants choosing to operate in the SoMa over other districts. In April city officials began questioning whether to permit more approvals in the district due to its current concentration of dispensaries.
Of the 22 legally operating dispensaries in San Francisco,12 of them reside in the SoMa. It has become a sanctuary for merchants because of its location surrounded by office buildings, warehouses, and nightlife. Because of the limited amount of youth organization in the area it is easy for merchants to sell within the permitted zoning of 1,000 feet from schools and recreation centers.
What does lie heavily in the SoMa is its crime and homelessness. It is one of Mayor Ed Lee’s top priorities in the city’s handling. Lee officials don’t see the presence of more dispensaries as a significant part to help restore the district. Residents and officials have begun voicing concern that permitting another cannabis business does nothing to help the already drug affiliated neighborhood.
Statistics from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health show part of the decline in support of legalizing marijuana has derived from the lack of regulations enforced to ensure that patients are not just smoking marijuana for recreational use. This notion subjects medicinal marijuana patients to be seen as fakers,which associates them as drug users and abusers.
“There are so many clubs around the area already so I get why they don’t want more, but to blame the crime on weed is just stupid,” said Tony M., medicinal card holder and resident on 1st Street.
Susan Christian, assistant attorney general for San Francisco, lead a special hearing on Apr.12 by the city of San Francisco and the Human Rights Commission. The focus of the meeting was the failure of the Federal war on drugs and the effects from it that are hitting low income and crime afflicted demographics such as the SoMa.
“Tonight we are not going to take up the question of whether drugs and narcotics should be illegal or criminalized, what we want to look at tonight is the effect of the criminalization and the same issues that have been placed on narcotics use and abuse,” said Christian.
Guest speakers such as Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP, and Novella Coleman, criminal justice and drug policy fellow for the American Civil Liberties Union, urged San Francisco commissioners to continue to acknowledge the depletion of human rights given to those affected by drug use and abuse.
Huffman stressed that the Federal government’s concentration of convicting high level drug dealers and legalizing marijuana is pushing aside those in need of help and who are lacking resources. Although Huffman claimed to have never used illegal, substances she still believes a person has the choice to decide what they can and can’t have. “Eventually this right that people have is something this country is going to have to comes to term with,” said Huffman.If they are ridden with addiction or abuse there are few government outlets to help better them.The attention of drugs in the SoMa neighborhood has been directed toward the number of dispensaries, but the problem is still active on the on the street and will continue to be unless there is a change in policy.
“They found out that during the alcohol prohibition that they couldn’t tell an adult what to do with their body and they finally gave up on it.Now we are having with the use of marijuana and narcotics,” said Huffman.

Robbers Target Gay Community at Castro Bars

The LGBT community in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood has been the target of many recent robberies. This has posed a threat to the safety of nightlife in this neighborhood, which attracts a significant number of people each week. Police are advising people in the community to be careful when bringing someone home after a night out.

Older gay men have been targeted specifically. Several instances have been reported in the past few months involving straight criminals who pose as gay men. The criminals will go into bars and clubs throughout the neighborhood and look for someone who is interesting in romantic involvement. These men will flirt their way into the victim’s home, and then continue to assault and rob them.

Victims of these robberies are said to be especially vulnerable because they are usually under the influence and are not able to react as quickly, police say. In some instances, dissociative drugs have been slipped into the victims drink and they are unaware of what happened until they notice cash and credit cards missing the next day. Because the criminals act affectionately towards their targeted victims, the victim is more likely to have their guard down, thus leading to these harsh consequences.

Sgt. Chuck Limbert of the San Francisco Police Department is the LGBT representative of the police department’s Mission Police Station and is also a resident of the Castro. According to Limbert, these types of crimes can be prevented if everyone, “looks out for each other.” He has advised the community as well as bar and club managers to be aware of their surroundings and keep their eyes open for suspicious activity.

Limbert advises members of the community to avoid taking drinks from strangers and to watch your drink at all times. Jose Gomez, who is a resident of the Castro and frequents bars and clubs in the neighborhood takes his own precautions as well. “I don’t go out alone. It’s always good to have a friend around as a second set of eyes in case something goes wrong,” he says. “It’s important to have someone to look out for you, and its also good to look out for others.”

Since hearing of these incidents, some bars and clubs in the neighborhood have been taking precautions to avoid these things from occurring. It is speculated that some establishments will install security cameras to further secure their premises from suspicious people and activity. Also, many places have signs to warn patrons to be careful and aware. Employees are also being notified to look after patrons who have had too much to drink to make sure they are not being taken advantage of.

According to Limbert, crimes like these have been commonplace in the Castro for a long time. However, they have either been ignored by the public or victims are too ashamed to discuss what happened. He says that it is an important thing to address because there are things that can be done to stop what is happening if more people knew about it.

“I think it’s good that this is being addressed now,” says Gomez. “I would hate to see something worse and more violent occur in the nieghborhood, simply because people didn’t know what to look for to prevent it from happening in the first place.”

 

 

Things You Can’t See From the Bus

One night in late Janurary I was traveling back to my house late at night from the Sunset district. As usual, I waited at 19th and Taraval for Muni’s L Owl bus to swoop me up and take me to Castro Station where I would then wait for the 24 bus to take me to Castro and 24th St a few blocks from my house.

I checked the time at the bus stop, and the 24 wasn’t coming for another 40 minutes. Frustrated, I weighed my options and decided that I could easily walk the mile and a half distance to my house instead of wait for the bus. It was a beautiful night, not too cold or windy, and I figured I’d take advantage of it.

I walked down Castro St. toward 18th. I decided to stop by Escape From New York for a slice of mushroom pizza and to visit my friend Kelsey, who usually works the closing shift there. She handed me my pizza and we caught up for a little bit as the store was winding down and other employees prepared for closing.

I continued on my way, observing the quiet aftermath of the hectic Friday night. Bar and nightclub employees swept up glitter, feathers, beer cans, and discarded phone numbers as the last few patrons gathered their things and hailed cabs. It’s impossible to ignore the therapeutic value of of taking a late night stroll past sleepy Victorian houses while watching workers close down shop for the night behind the reflections in the windows.

The ten block span between Castro and Church on 18th Street is a charming stretch of homes, small shops, and bars. The stunning Victorian architecture and the quaint atmosphere of the narrow street are quintessential characteristics that are unique to San Francisco. Every time I walk down this street I can’t help but think, “What a beautiful place, I still can’t believe I live here.”

I continued up Delores Park, and always stop at the top to take in the breathtaking view of the city at night. It’s impossible not to, and seeing it in pictures just isn’t the same as standing right there with the wind in your face and the stars above your head. After that, it’s just two more blocks until I reach my apartment.

One of my literature teachers in high school would always say that San Francisco reminded him of Disneyland for adults. With it’s unusual architecture, interesting variety of people and attractions, and charming neighborhoods like the Castro confirm this statement. I’ve always kept that in mind since I had the opportunity to live here, and the longer I live here, the more I understand what he means.

Ever since that night in January, walking home from Castro Station instead of taking the bus has become a sort of ritual for me. There’s always that chance that you’ll meet someone new, or run into someone you already know. Each time I walk in the Castro, I notice something different that I would have missed from the bus.

Snapping the Tenderloin

I’m new at street photography, and I’m already addicted. The Tenderloin I’ve found is one of the best places to take pictures. The people are so full of character, and the colors are bold and bright.

A Week of Crime

Here is my crime map.

Theft, robbery, vandalism, and burglary from 4/19-4/20.

Not surprisingly, a majority of the petty thefts happened on Mission and Cortland Street, which are the main commercial streets.

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Haight Ashbury Crime in March

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Weapon Crime in the Fillmore (March, 2012)

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Mayor’s office responds to 100 Blocks coverage

Sue Piper, Assistant to Mayor Jean Quan, provided the Executive Summary for the 100 Block Community Initiative to Reduce Violence in response to KRON 4 News’ coverage (that this reporter referenced in a post last night) which, she says, “got it wrong”.

The Executive Summary was presented to the Oakland City Council, last night, April 24th, after the Mayor’s press conference. The report, released from the mayor’s office, says “after contract negotiations last year, new pension contributions by police funded the return of 32 officers. This allowed us to put more police in high crime areas. This year, a new federal grant will fund 25 new officers assigned to middle schools in the 100 blocks.”
 
It continues to say “additionally the Oakland Police Department will concentrate their efforts in high crime areas, creating Crime Reduction Teams (CRT’s), and focusing local, state, and federal investigative efforts there.”

The plan says that the City is focusing its police efforts to stop homicides and shootings in neighborhoods most impacted by violence. It also says the program is “beginning to see promising results.”

Read it in its entirety here: Oakland’s 100-Block Community Initiative to Reduce Violence under City News.

Sunset Pics

Java Beach Cafe

The spot

Future home? Pacheco Street

Green Dilema

There are 22 medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco and 12 of them reside in the SoMa district.This map shows the dispensaries in the district and reported crimes involving drugs or alcohol from the past 23 days.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=203672860185267046175.0004be5d238aa3ac04d0d&ie=UTF8&ll=37.778354,-122.409357&spn=0.020301,0.026286&t=h&output=embed
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