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Rules Committee establishes city oversight committee seats for marijuana enforcement, endorses long-standing patient operator
Summary
The committee considered seven seats on a new community oversight committee for enforcement of marijuana offenses, heard extensive public testimony, and the chair signaled a recommendation for Kathy (Catherine) Smith to represent dispensaries amid broad patient-group endorsement.
The Rules Committee on Tuesday advanced multiple appointments to a newly created Community Oversight Committee on enforcement of marijuana offenses, taking public testimony from dispensary operators, patient advocates and civil-rights groups.
For the medical-dispensary representative seat, three candidates — Michael Nolan (owner of The Green Door), Kathy (Catherine) Smith (operator of Hope Net Co-op) and Kevin Reed (The Green Cross) — presented statements about patient services, compliance and safety standards. Public commenters representing patient groups, veterans’ advocates and disability-rights organizations repeatedly urged the committee to appoint Kathy Smith, citing years of service to patients and neighborhood outreach. "Kathy has demonstrated her commitment to the patient community as a whole," said Shona Gokener of Access of LoveSF.
Committee members also heard candidates for civil-liberties, harm-reduction, drug-policy reform and other seats; several applicants noted prior advocacy and policy experience. The chair said he would recommend Kathy Smith for the dispensary seat and moved forward other nominees with recommendation or to future meetings where applications were incomplete or required residency waivers.
Next steps: nominations will be forwarded as recommended to the full board where final confirmation will occur.
