“State Senator Introduces Bill to Restrict Law Enforcement’s Use of Faulty Drug Tests”

Accident – Death – Obituary News : State Senator Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, has introduced Senate Bill 912, also known as the Requiring Objective and Accurate Drug Testing Act (ROAD Testing), which aims to prohibit law enforcement from making arrests or filing charges solely based on certain field tests that assess the legality of suspected substances. The bill specifically targets colorimetric drug tests, which are used by officers in the field to determine the presence of illegal substances like heroin, methamphetamine, or cannabis.

Wiener argues that these tests have alarmingly high error rates and are a leading cause of wrongful convictions. His legislation does not seek to ban the tests altogether, but rather to prevent law enforcement from using them as the sole basis for an arrest or booking decision without further verification from more accurate tests. To support his argument, Wiener references a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, which found that colorimetric tests can have a false positive rate of up to 38 percent in certain contexts. Wiener also notes that substances like cotton candy, powdered milk, sugar, lidocaine, folic acid vitamins, bird feces, and even loved ones’ ashes have produced positive results on these tests.

In other news, an unhoused man in Santa Rosa has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a stranger with a machete. The incident occurred when a 34-year-old man was sitting on a bench and got into a verbal argument with the suspect, who allegedly struck him in the head with a machete before fleeing the scene. The victim was found alone in a parking lot with a stab wound and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Additionally, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to pass a resolution calling for a sustained ceasefire in Gaza. This resolution aligns with similar resolutions passed by over a dozen U.S. city councils, including Richmond, Oakland, and Seattle. However, Supervisors Matt Dorsey, Catherine Stefani, and Rafael Mandelman voted against the resolution.

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors narrowly approved changes to its outdoor cannabis cultivation pilot program. These changes allow growers to double their canopy size and eliminate a requirement that applicants prove cannabis was cultivated on the property prior to legalization in 2016. The board hopes these changes will revitalize the local cannabis industry, which has seen a contraction due to falling prices and competition from unregulated sales.

In San Rafael, a woman was arrested after allegedly fatally stabbing her mother and broadcasting the act on social media. Police responded to reports of a physical fight and stabbing at an apartment complex, where they found the suspect holding a knife and the victim with extensive injuries. The victim was sent to the hospital but ultimately died. The suspect, Tonantzyn Oris Beltran, was taken into custody, and authorities successfully had the footage removed from Facebook Live.

A fire in Rohnert Park displaced two residents and their cat. The fire started in the garage and quickly spread to the attic, causing significant damage. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze and assist the residents, who were unharmed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but authorities suspect it may have originated from hot ashes discarded into a garbage can.

In San Francisco, Thomas Crandell was found guilty of assaulting a woman outside her home. Crandell violently kicked the woman’s door and proceeded to call her an anti-Asian slur before shoving her into the glass door. He then struck her with a metal scooter and physically assaulted her before fleeing the scene. Crandell was arrested ten days later and now faces four years in state prison.

Finally, the Sausalito Police Department is searching for suspects who stole a safe from a business in the city. Two unidentified individuals broke into the establishment and took the safe, loading it into a nearby vehicle before fleeing the scene. The police are asking anyone with information about the burglary to come forward.

This is the latest news from the greater San Francisco Bay Area..