Step up your game

So, there will never be pot clubs in Sacramento County after last week’s California Supreme Court ruling, right?

—Despondent Dave

Nil desperandum, Dave! It’s not as bad as you may think. Yes, the California Supreme Court ruled that cities and counties are allowed to ban medical-marijuana dispensaries, stating that while Proposition 215 does indeed “remove state-level criminal and civil sanctions from specified medical marijuana activities, [it does] not establish a comprehensive state system of legalized medical marijuana; or grant a … right of convenient access to marijuana for medicinal use; or override the zoning, licensing, and police powers of local jurisdictions; or mandate local accommodation of medical marijuana cooperatives, collectives, or dispensaries.”

So, cities and counties are allowed to ban clubs.

But the supremes also said: “Of course, nothing prevents future efforts by the Legislature, or by the People, to adopt a different approach.” So that means we (“the People”) can do two things: The first is to vote. Every single member of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors needs to be called out on their lack of support for medical cannabis. If they aren’t on board, we need to vote them out. Do whatever you have to do. This is the only way they will learn. And it will be a challenge. No Sac County supe has ever been voted out of office. Ever. That’s why they are so comfortable being on the wrong side of history. We need to make them understand that their actions have consequences.

We can also support Assembly Bill 473, which would put the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in charge of statewide medical-cannabis regulation.

One thing, though: Some medical-cannabis collectives need to do better. There was a raid on a San Bernardino club shortly after the Supreme Court ruling. A fully loaded 12-gauge shotgun was one of the items seized in the raid. Not cool. While I firmly believe that no one should ever go to jail for pot, having a fully loaded shotgun on the premises of your club does nothing to further the cause, and only makes us look bad. Please step your game up.

Where’s your favorite place to get high in Sacramento?

—Tommy the Tourist

Short answer: Wherever I happen to be. Longer answer: It depends.

Smoking a jay while walking around the Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area (www.yolobasin.org/wildlife.cfm) that’s located between Sac and Davis is especially great during springtime. Since I generally use cannabis as an activity enhancer (weed is the umami of doing stuff), you will find me enjoying a puff around the corner from, or on the patio of different nightclubs all over the greater-Sacramento region. There really aren’t any well-known places for people to gather and puff, like San Francisco’s “Hippie Hill,” the Oakland Coliseum’s “weed ramp” or New Orleans’ “Smoking Hole.” We should add that category to SN&R’s Best of Sacramento. Where do you good people like to puff? Send me your favorite spots, and I will print them here.