He’s not exactly San Diego’s potentate of pot. But Alex Kreit, an assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, has plenty of influence over how the city will handle medical marijuana shops.
The city has a problem. Not only is there the discrepancy between federal law, but the city wasn’t ready to regulate the shops. No one knows where medical marijuana sellers should be located. No one’s sure what’s legal or permitted and what isn’t.
Kreit chaired a task force with this tough mission: Figure out the best way to give patients access to marijuana.
In this weekend’s Q&A, we talk to Kreit about the local medi-pot boom and bust cycle, the D.A.’s refusal to take part in the process and the worst possible scenario: no local rules.
In other news:
- The long-delayed downtown library passed a big political hurdle yesterday: As we report, “the maximum price for the downtown schoobrary remains what it was in 2005, Mayor Jerry Sanders wrote in a memo to City Council.”Officials had been waiting for the cost estimate before moving ahead with construction, which is scheduled to being in no time — Aug. 1. We’re still waiting to see what’s behind the new price tag. The mayor has just released the number, not any backup.
- Smell something? Might be Rep. Duncan D. Hunter’s pants. Seems like they’re on fire.Over at the Fact Check blog, we reserve the Huckster Propaganda verdict — a step below false — for the most egregious of misstatements: ones that are not only wrong, but said by someone who should have known better. (It’s the equivalent of the phrase I like to use: “Oh, come on!”)
Hunter gets the prize for saying Arizona’s sheriffs and police chiefs are all behind the state’s new law regarding local cops and their authority to go after people they think are here illegally. That’s not true.
Elsewhere:
- The U-T called it a “brief scuffle.” A campaign manager for Assemblywoman Mary Salas, who’s running for state senate, had much stronger words, suggesting something along the lines of an actual assault.Whatever happened, an incident at a press conference held by Salas and U.S. Rep. Bob Filner yesterday is getting lots of attention. A campaign worker went to get medical care, CityBeat reports, after reportedly being injured in a fracas said to have involved workers with the campaign of Salas opponent Juan Vargas.
In a battle via press release, Vargas’ campaign responded by blaming Salas “henchman and campaign manager” for accosting Vargas workers.
“Henchman”? Sigh. Yes. Salas is playing the same lame game: her own press release refers to Vargas’ “goons.”
- Not only has Marti Emerald’s lawyer, Bob Ottilie, been taking on the Ethics Commission, but he and the Union-Tribune have been engaged in a bit of a huff over the newspaper’s coverage.The paper Friday contained a bizarre “For the Record” note saying Emerald’s attorney takes issue with coverage of an earlier hearing in the paper. But the note doesn’t say whether the reporter actually got anything wrong. The allegations should be easy to check out, but there’s no resolution.
The note also apologized for the reporter’s coverage via Twitter of the hearing because it included “tone and opinion.”
Forget the power, U-T journalists. Fight the tone!
What We’ve Learned This Week:
Um, the FBI Is Here: We had the scoop on the FBI asking questions about how San Diego school district chose a specific brand of interactive whiteboards. (The gadgets are replacing dry-erase boards, which in turn replaced chalkboards.)
Perhaps CCDC Isn’t a Sacred Cow?: The City Council balked at spending $500,000 on a study that could lead to greatly expanding the lifespan and piggybank of the downtown redevelopment agency, saying that their neighborhoods need the money more than downtown.
How Many Parolees Live Next Door? Check out this map that shows which zip codes are most (and least) likely to have parolees living in them.
Opponents May Have to Keep Bearing Cross: A U.S. Supreme Court ruling doesn’t seem to bode well for the efforts of the ACLU against the Mt. Soledad cross.
The Coffee Collection: Well-Told Stories to Enjoy over a Cup of Joe
Pine Valley’s Double Tragedy: This sensitively written story paints a picture of how a tiny East County community united when a mother and her young son were killed in a car accident.
Not-So-Strange Bedfellows: Art and science, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. We take a colorful look at how local scientific institutions are getting artsy (if not … well, you know).
Photos of the Week: Our photographer went to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery and took a series of photos capturing stillness, honor and, you could say, the fog of war. Requiescant in pace.
Number of the Week: At least 240, and possibly more than 400. While the statistics are a bit fuzzy, one thing is clear: hundreds of San Diego-area sex offenders agreed to be castrated during the middle of the last century. Judges gave them the option to avoid prison. The latest Dispatch from History Man (that’s me!) looks back at this primitive but possibly effective practice.
Definition of the Week: “Yuck factor” — a term referring to the heebie-jeebies (that’s a technical term) that people get when they consider the idea of drinking purified sewage.
Quote of the Week: “This is like heaven.” — Albert Ragoschk, a cemetery representative at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Nature, stone and silence? Maybe he’s right.