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In 2008
WIKI From 2005-12, he served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 5. Mirkarimi is a marijuana legalization advocate, and co-founder of the Green Party of California. He left the Green Party in March 2010 to become a Democrat. Mirkarimi garnered national attention when he introduced the first legislation prohibiting the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags by large supermarkets and drugstores in 2007, making San Francisco the first city to do so. Later, other cities around the US and the world took up similar bans.
Mirkarimi, of Iranian (father) Russian Jewish (mother) descent, served on the California Coastal Commission from 2009 to 2011. On April 20, 2006, he was awarded NORML'sRufus King award, given annually for leadership in the reform of marijuana laws.
On January 13, 2012, Mirkarimi was charged with domestic violence battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness in connection with a New Year's Eve altercation with his wife, a Venezuelan immigrant. While jury selection was underway, Mirkarimi entered into a plea agreement with the DA, pleading guilty to one count of misdemeanor false imprisonment. On March 20, 2012, Mayor Ed Lee suspended Mirkarimi pending an ethics investigation.