Pot Bust at the Harvest Dance

[Goldilocks]

Sad to see the undercover agents hanging out at the medical marijuana celebration. They busted, Chet Jenkins, a medical marijuana patient, who is a veteran with disabilities. I heard he took compensation for a brownie. He probably felt safe at a gathering for patients, very naive on his part. Where is the PEACE in medicine? As far as the Sebastopol PD goes, don't they have better things to do than putting medical patients behind bars? Very disappointing, I bet attendance next year will be way down for this event!

[Barry]

I'm actually OK with this bust. The Harvest Dance is a cutting edge event that is forging the way in normalizing (medical) marijuana use in public.

While there was a small "medication" tent set up in the back, but I'm sure there was plenty of "medication" going on all around, all without incident. I'm sure many pipes, joints and brownies were shared without compensation.

I fine with drawing the line at informal/unregulated sales. In order for society to be comfortable with marijuana use, it needs to be controlled, similar to alcohol sales. Not only is this safer for all, but it also makes the event more pleasant.

That said, I didn't notice any regulated sales at the event. Seems like that would it be similarly appropriate. Perhaps that is too difficult to manage on a ad-hoc basis, as opposed to Peace in Medicine's tightly controlled storefront. If everybody is cool (and there is money to be made for both the vendor and the government), perhaps that day will come too!

Sad to see the undercover agents hanging out at the medical marijuana celebration. They busted, Chet Jenkins, a medical marijuana patient, who is a veteran with disabilities. I heard he took compensation for a brownie. He probably felt safe at a gathering for patients, very naive on his part. Where is the PEACE in medicine? As far as the Sebastopol PD goes, don't they have better things to do than putting medical patients behind bars? Very disappointing, I bet attendance next year will be way down for this event!

[Valley Oak]

Do you know if the people who did the arrest were local police, sheriff, state, or federal authorities?

Thanks,

Edward

Sad to see the undercover agents hanging out at the medical marijuana celebration. They busted, Chet Jenkins, a medical marijuana patient, who is a veteran with disabilities. I heard he took compensation for a brownie. He probably felt safe at a gathering for patients, very naive on his part. Where is the PEACE in medicine? As far as the Sebastopol PD goes, don't they have better things to do than putting medical patients behind bars? Very disappointing, I bet attendance next year will be way down for this event!

[Tars]

Sorry that the vet is disabled. But it was really unwise to sell marijuana at a pro-marijuana fest. Of course undercover cops would be there. A prudent, thinking person would act accordingly, as the huge majority of attendees did. I spent a good amount of time at the expo portion - not even a whiff of marijuana smell. no products containing processed pot evident at all. The vet was really arrested for not using good sense.

During a big pro-pot election year, I bet next year's event will be even bigger.

[bodegahead]

Here is the Press Demo link

Santa Rosa man accused of selling pot at Sebastopol festival | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA-

I was a Peace in Medicine Volunteer on Saturday and I think with just one arrest (and that was for sales), with all of those people medicating I think it went very well. If the Police would have been in harassment mode, they could have hassled people for the medical recommendation id`s but I did`nt see anything like that happen.

Do you know if the people who did the arrest were local police, sheriff, state, or federal authorities?

Thanks,

Edward

[Valley Oak]

Thanks!

For some strange reason, it makes me feel a tiny bit better that it was our locals who did the bust rather than the feds.

And I agree with previous posters that this was very poor judgment on the part of the arrestee and I am also okay with this bust. I just wanted to get clear on who was doing the busting. ...kind of like letting local folks take care of their own issues instead of outsiders. I don't always feel that way, such as with the old Jim Crow laws in the southern states.

Edward

Here is the Press Demo link

Santa Rosa man accused of selling pot at Sebastopol festival | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA-

I was a Peace in Medicine Volunteer on Saturday and I think with just one arrest (and that was for sales), with all of those people medicating I think it went very well. If the Police would have been in harassment mode, they could have hassled people for the medical recommendation id`s but I did`nt see anything like that happen.