Stop Medical Marijuana Raids in San Diego

As a concerned citizen I am writing you today to ask that you stop all further raids and investigations into San Diego Medical Marijuana dispensaries. I would also like to request that you drop all charges associated with the raids on September 9th 2009.

In the press conference on September 10th 2009 Bonnie Dumanis clearly stated that she supported the legitimate use of medical marijuana by patients in need, however the recent raids seem to demonstrate otherwise. There were also comments by William Landsome that patients are legally allowed to grow their own medicine. Many patients in need of medical marijuana are too sick to grow their own medicine and many of them don%u2019t have a primary care-giver that they can assign to grow on their behalf. Also, because of the tumultuous political climate in San Diego around the topic of medical marijuana, many patients are too scared to grow their own medicine for fear of prosecution.

The storefront dispensaries serve an important role in the community to make the supply of medical marijuana available to the patients that need it.

Shutting them down hurts the patients and employees that need these dispensaries to exist. It also hurts the state by taking away sales tax revenue that is desperately needed at the moment. Not only does it hurt the people involved but these types of raids and investigations waste vast amounts of city and state resources that could be going to more important causes.

This petition is intended to let you know that we, the people of the United States of America will no longer tolerate this type of action. Our government is supposed to work for the people and not against us. These recent actions were a clear sign that you were working for an agenda other than that of the people of San Diego.

If you truly want to make sure that medical marijuana patients are able to have their needs met, choose to work with the dispensaries to show them how to be in compliance instead of raiding them. I%u2019m sure they would be more than willing to comply and most of them thought they already were. This would be much less expensive for the city, require fewer resources and would help to create a safer environment for everyone involved; especially the seriously ill patients that need convenient and affordable access to their medicine.

We may not have the power to directly stop you from wasting valuable time and resources to prosecute innocent individuals for crimes they didn%u2019t commit. We do, however, have the power to make our voices heard and to vote according to our value systems.

We would love to feel like you are here to support and help us instead of work against us. Please reconsider your decisions, drop the charges, stop the raids and work co-operatively together with the medical marijuana community to ensure that patients can get their medicine and to ensure that the laws are being met.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and consider the views expressed in it. I sincerely hope that you will take these words to heart and make the appropriate changes needed.

I look forward to hearing your response.