DEA

For Immediate Release: January 29, 2008 Contact: ASA Media Liaison Kris Hermes (510) 681-6361 or ASA Director of Government Affairs Caren Woodson (510) 388-0546 Advocates Urge Presidential Candidates to End DEA Raids by Executive Order Nationwide campaign launched today to end federal enforcement against medical marijuana Washington, D.C. -- With only a week left until Super Tuesday, medical marijuana advocates launched a nationwide campaign today to urge presidential candidates to end federal raids in states with medical marijuana laws. The campaign urges candidates to issue an Executive Order upon taking office that would end federal interference in state-sanctioned medical marijuana laws. The proposed Executive Order would deny funds to the Department of Justice for federal enforcement efforts against patients and providers in states that have adopted medical marijuana laws. "To match the increased level of federal interference in states with medical marijuana laws, we're asking candidates to clearly state their opposition by pledging to issue an Executive Order, if elected." said Caren Woodson, Director of Government Affairs at Americans for Safe Access, the advocacy group that launched the campaign. "We're spending millions of dollars on law enforcement actions that harm our most vulnerable citizens," continued Woodson. "And, the President wields the power to stop it at any time." Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v. Raich (2005), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has stepped up its enforcement actions against medial marijuana patients and providers. While federal interference has occurred in multiple medical marijuana states, some have been hit harder than others. In California, the DEA has conducted more than 100 raids and threatened more than 300 landlords with criminal prosecution and asset forfeiture if they continue to lease to medical marijuana dispensing collectives (dispensaries). In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently prosecuting more than 100 medical marijuana-related cases. The campaign focuses on candidates that have already made supportive statements on medical marijuana: Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, former Senator John Edwards, and Representative Ron Paul. These candidates are being asked to officiate their support by pledging to issue an Executive Order, which states that: "No funds made available to the Department of Justice shall be used to prevent States from implementing adopted laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana. In particular, no funds shall be used to investigate, seize, arrest or prosecute in association with the distribution of medical marijuana, unless such distribution has been found by adjudication to violate state or local law." DEA actions have already garnered opposition from both local and federal lawmakers, including Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and House Judiciary Chair John Conyers. In December, Mayor Dellums made a public statement condemning DEA tactics. The same month, Chairman Conyers publicly voiced his "deep concern" over DEA "efforts to undermine California state law," and he committed to sharply question these tactics in oversight hearings. Further information: ASA Executive Order Campaign Page: http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/ExecutiveOrder Proposed Executive Order: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/Proposed_Executive_Order.pdf Background Information on Increased DEA Actions: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/dea_escalation.pdf Video footage of Candidates' Position on Medical Marijuana: http://safeaccessnow.org/blog/?p=48 Statement by House Judiciary Chair John Conyers: http://judiciary.house.gov/newscenter.aspx?A=889 # # #

[Courtesy of Americans for Safe Access] Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers Opposes DEA Tactics Pledges to Question DEA During Oversight Hearings Dear Friend, As many of you know, DEA recently launched an entirely new tactic in their continued efforts to undermine the effective implementation of medical marijuana laws in California. They have sent hundreds of letters threatening prosecution and asset forfeiture against property owners who rent to legal medical cannabis collectives – a strategy that could have ramifications for medical marijuana programs nationwide. ASA Government Affairs Director Caren Woodson has been talking to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers’ (D-MI) staff and other Democratic leadership to encourage them to oppose these tactics and stand up for patients in states where medical cannabis is legal. Today, Chairman Conyers issued at a statement saying: “I am deeply concerned about recent reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration is threatening private landlords with asset forfeiture and possible imprisonment if they refuse to evict organizations legally dispensing medical marijuana to suffering patients. The Committee has already questioned the DEA about its efforts to undermine California state law on this subject, and we intend to sharply question this specific tactic as part of our oversight efforts.” In conjunction with more than fifty raids at medical cannabis collectives in California this year, the asset forfeiture threats against property owners represent the most serious challenge to patients’ access in the United States today. Conyers’ support signals the first significant Congressional opposition to the DEA’s attempted end run around voters and state lawmakers. ASA welcomes this statement and we look forward to working with Chairman Conyers to finally end DEA interference in state medical marijuana laws. Congratulations to the hundreds of ASA members who helped put grassroots strength behind our work! Keep your eyes open for an Action Alert next week to put even more support behind Conyers’ initiative, and visit www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Donate to make a contribution to support our effective advocacy today. Thank you, Steph Sherer Executive Director Americans for Safe Access -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Americans for Safe Access is the nation's largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 17, 2007 The DEA announced several indictments of medical cannabis operators in Southern California today. There was less to them than meets the eye, however, as they involved outstanding cases against dispensaries that had been previously raided or warned. Indicted were operators of: (1) Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers in Morro Bay, which had been raided last March; (2) Compassionate Caregivers, once the largest chain of dispensaries in California, closed by federal action in 2005-6 (one former CC employee was also arrested for having opened a new facility); (3) Healing Nations Collective in Corona, which had been fighting efforts by local authorities to close it, and (in a raid yesterday) (4) Nature's Medicinal in Bakersfield, a popular, high-traffic facility that was raided in May. None of the arrestees had been targets of the LA DEA's recent landlord warning letter, nor were any forfeiture actions announced against landlords of the arrestees. One twist was that the charges named a doctor, who allegedly wrote recommendations for the Morro Bay store's patrons. Significantly, the doctor was said to have received a finders' fee for referrals, which would exempt him from the federal Conant injunction that protects doctors so long as they don't help patients procure cannabis illegally. Although the Morro Bay dispensary was alleged to have sold cannabis to minors, sources close to the case say all the minors were either over 18 or accompanied by parents. Although the Bakersfield dispensary was charged with making millions of dollars, DEA did not mention that it was paying payroll and sales taxes like other legal businesses. Today's announcements were obviously timed to "send a message" along with the landlord warning letters. That does not mean that the government is about to send forfeiture notices to all the landlords. To do so would invite more backlash than this bankrupt administration can afford. The DEA is picking off a few ripe targets in a desperate attempt to slow down the medical marijuana stampede. Every day brings more scientific evidence for the medical efficacy of cannabis. When the dust settles, the government will be forced to concede Americans' right to medicine. In the next week or two, Congress is expected to vote on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment to halt federal funding for medical marijuana raids. TELL YOUR CONGRESS MEMBER TO END THE FEDERAL WAR ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA: http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=9998376 - D. Gieringer, Cal NORML

Would you please take one minute to call your member of Congress and ask him or her to vote in favor of the medical marijuana amendment that the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on next week? Rep. Dennis Moore is the only Kansas Representative to vote last year in favor of the Hinchey amendment [pronounced HIN-chee]. If he is your Representative please let him know you appreciate his vote to prohibit the DEA from wasting taxpayer money to arrest medical marijuana patients in the 12 states where it is legal, and hope he will vote Yea again. Please call now: (202) 224-3121 Give the operator your zip code and ask to be connected to your representative’s office or call them directly: Rep. Jerry Moran 202-225-2715, fax 202-225-5124 Rep. Nancy Boyda 202-225-6601, fax 202-225-7986 Rep. Dennis Moore 202-225-2865, fax 202-225-2807 Rep. Todd Tiahrt 202-225-6216, fax 202-225-3489 When the receptionist for the congressperson — not the Capitol switchboard operator — answers, say something like: "Hi, this is [name]. I live in [city], and I'm calling to ask that my representative vote for Rep. Maurice Hinchey's [HIN-chee's] medical marijuana amendment to the Justice Department's spending bill, which I understand will be considered on the House floor next week. The amendment would prohibit the Justice Department from spending taxpayer money to arrest medical marijuana patients in the 12 states where medical marijuana is legal." Then, please follow up by using the Marijuana Policy Project’s easy online legislative system to e-mail your member of Congress. Calling and e-mailing take only one minute each. The House of Representatives has voted on this amendment the last four consecutive summers, but — since last November’s midterm elections provided the most favorable conditions for passing federal medical marijuana legislation — this year the amendment has the best chance it has ever had of passing. Would you please take one minute to call your congressperson today? Doing so could have a huge impact on the outcome of next week's medical marijuana vote. Please help us promote innovative drug policies by sending your tax-deductible donation today. Become a member -- add yourself to our mailing list by going to our web site www.dpfks.org.

Dear ASA Supporters, My name is Toby. In 2005, my partner David Harde, a patient and caregiver, and I were raided by local authorities in an investigation. In light of the fact that case could not successfully be prosecuted given California state law, our case was turned over to the federal government. The reason I am sharing my story with you now is because the U.S. House of Representatives will soon debate the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment. This amendment could have prevented the devastating story I want to share with you. A few days prior to July 4, 2006, eight federal agents arrived at our door. We were handcuffed and carted off to the Federal Court House in Sacramento. The only thing this experience has taught me is that the federal government will use fear and intimidation to tear families apart. The details of this experience are still overwhelming. We are not dangerous people, or are we a threat to anyone. It's estimated that the federal government spent nearly $200,000 on the eight agents and other resources used to conduct this “sting” operation. This is why the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment is so important to both taxpayers and patients alike. Knowing that the federal government does not recognize state protection of medical marijuana patients and providers, David and I, like so many others made the difficult decision to resolve the case against him as quickly as possible. We chose to take a plea bargain. To my devastated surprise, David was sentenced to years of prison time, will have to serve a lengthy probation, pay astronomical fines. It feels like an eternity will pass before we will have our lives back. To David’s credit, his friends, relatives and local community members sent letters to the judge, appealing for a more lenient sentence. As a result, the judge issued a sentence for David well below the minimum sentencing guideline - the first time the judge had taken such action during his tenure on the federal bench. Still, 30 months is a long time to be away from those you love. Sadly, our story is only one of dozens of cases (http://www.safeaccessnow.org/section.php?id=184) that could have been prevented by the passage of the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment. It is up to compassionate people like you to educate your representatives on this amendment. On behalf of David, myself and all the victims of the federal attack on medical cannabis, I ask you to contact your representative today. We are under a time constraint so I am asking you to take action now. Here are two ways to contact your representative: 1. E-mail Your Member of Congress. Visit ASA’s action page (http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3471) to send your Congressional Representative an e-mail urging him/her to support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment. 2) Call Your Member of Congress. Every single phone call counts! Call your Congressional Representative and tell them if adopted this amendment will do two things: (a) Conserve taxpayers’ money by blocking funding for DEA raids in legal medical cannabis states against state certified medical cannabis patients and caregivers. (b) Protect legal medical cannabis patients from having their homes and workspaces unnecessarily raided by the DEA. For phone numbers of your representatives, visit www.house.gov or call the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Give the operator your zip code and ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative. This experience has changed our lives, broken our hearts, mended our love and taught us to be open with our needs and know that family, friends, and community will respond with abundance and love. Please help prevent further stories like mine from happening to other patients and providers. Please do the compassionate thing and contact your representative today (http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3471). Thank you, Toby

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 18, 2007 CONTACT: Adam Eidinger, T: 202-744-2671 or E: [email protected], or Tom Murphy, T: 207-542-4998, E: [email protected] North Dakota Farmers File Lawsuit Against DEA to Grow Industrial Hemp Plaintiffs Seek Federal Recognition of State-Issued Hemp Farming Licenses BISMARCK, ND – Two North Dakota farmers filed a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota in an effort to end the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) obstruction of commercial hemp farming in the United States. If successful, the legal action would result in licensed hemp farmers receiving assurances that no federal agency could hold them criminally liable under the Controlled Substances Act. Vote Hemp’s grassroots supporters are funding the legal action. A copy of the complaint is available online at: http://www.votehemp.com/legal_cases_ND.html. The farmers – State Rep. David Monson from Osnabrock and Wayne Hauge from Ray – were issued their state licenses to grow industrial hemp from North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson in February 2007. At that time the farmers applied for a DEA permit to grow industrial hemp and import live seed. Over the next few months, however, the agency’s inaction on the applications fueled frustration in North Dakota’s legislature. When lawmakers concluded that DEA had no intention of working cooperatively with the state’s first-in-the-nation hemp farming rules, the North Dakota legislature voted overwhelmingly to drop the DEA licensing requirement from the statute. “I applied for my North Dakota state license in January and was hopeful that DEA would act quickly and affirm my right to plant industrial hemp this year. Unfortunately, DEA has not responded in any way other than to state that it would take them a lot more time than the window of time I have to import seed and plant the crop,” said Rep. David Monson, who is the Assistant Majority (Republican) Leader. “It appears that DEA really doesn’t want to work with anyone to resolve the issue,” Monson added. One of the central arguments in the litigation is that industrial hemp is defined to be those varieties of Cannabis that have no drug value and are cultivated exclusively for fiber and seed. Although useless as a drug crop, industrial hemp plants are distinct varieties of Cannabis sativa L., the same species from which marijuana varieties come. DEA considers industrial hemp plants to be “marihuana,” a controlled substance under Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 U.S.C. §§ 801 et seq., the possession or production of which is subject to severe criminal penalties under that law, including property forfeiture. “We are asking that DEA to do nothing, exactly what they have done for ten years,” says Tim Purdon one of the attorneys working for Monson and Hauge. “North Dakota’s rules no longer require a DEA permit so we are basically asking the court to tell DEA to leave our farmers alone.” The express language of the CSA has specifically provided that hemp fiber, seed oil and seed incapable of germination are exempt from the definition of “marihuana” and are thus not controlled substances under that law. By virtue of this exemption, it is currently lawful under federal law – and has been for almost 70 years – to import into the U.S., sell within the U.S., and make and sell products made from, the excluded parts of the Cannabis plant (i.e., hemp fiber, stalk, seed oil and seed incapable of germination). The farmers seek a declaration that the CSA does not apply to the industrial hemp plants they seek to cultivate pursuant to state law because: (1) only hemp fiber, stalk, sterilized seed and seed oil, items expressly exempted from the CSA, will enter the marketplace; and (2) the industrial hemp to be grown will be useless as a drug crop due to North Dakota legal requirements for extremely low THC levels. Further, to the extent the DEA attempts to argue that, despite these facts, the CSA does apply to hemp farming under North Dakota law, this would be an unconstitutional federal restraint on commerce occurring purely within the borders of North Dakota. “I want to grow hemp because it will fill a niche market in numerous areas,” says fourth generation farmer and certified public accountant Wayne Hauge. “In recent years there has been strong growth in demand for hemp seeds in the U.S., but the American farmer is being left out while Canadian, European and Chinese farmers are filling the void created by our outdated federal policy.” Last year, just over 48,000 acres of hemp were grown in Canada, primarily in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, provinces that border North Dakota. Hemp farmers in Canada averaged $250 CDN per acre in profit in 2006, according to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, an association of businesses, farmers and researchers. Hemp is a good rotational crop with the ability to reduce weeds in future cereal crops. Very few chemicals, if any, are required to grow the crop which is considered a good alternative to those with harmful environmental impacts such as cotton, tobacco and soy. In the largest hemp producing country, China, which grows 2 million acres, hemp hurds are processed into lightweight boards, and hemp fibers, already used in the paper and automotive industries, are finding new uses as reinforcement in plastics for products such as window frames and floor coverings. (In fact, some of these innovative products will be used on a large scale at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, according to news reports.) In Sweden, companies including IKEA, Volvo and Saab have shown interest in hemp fibers and hurds for use in vehicle interiors and furniture. In the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, considerable investments are being made to develop utilize hemp fiber in composites which are used to manufacture auto parts for BMW, Chrysler and Mercedes. In Canada, Germany and Japan, businesses are investigating reinforcing Polylactide (PLA) plastic with hemp fibers in order to widen the technology’s field of applications. # # # Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow the crop. More information about hemp legislation and the crop's many uses may be found at www.VoteHemp.com or www.HempIndustries.org. BETA SP or DVD Video News Releases featuring footage of hemp farming in other countries are available upon request by contacting Adam Eidinger at 202-744-2671.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, April 30, 200& CONTACT: Adam Eidinger Tel: 202-744-2671, E: [email protected] or Tom Murphy Tel: 207-542-4998, E: [email protected] North Dakota to DEA: Out of Our Hemp Fields

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 CONTACT: Adam Eidinger T: 202-744-2671, E: [email protected] or Tom Murphy T: 207-542-4998, E: [email protected] Eleven Farming States Introduce Hemp Legislation in 2007