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Press Release: Hundreds to Rally in LA, Urge Governor to End Federal Medical Marijuana Raids

MEDIA ADVISORY from Americans for Safe Access For Immediate Release: October 9, 2007 Hundreds to Rally in LA, Urge Governor to End Federal Medical Marijuana Raids Republican elected officials speak out against federal attempts to undermine state law Los Angeles, CA -- Hundreds of patients and advocates are expected to rally in front of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Los Angeles office on Thursday, October 11, calling on him to stand up for patients' rights and defend the state's medical marijuana law by urging the Bush Administration to end the raids on patients and providers. The rally is being organized by Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a national medical cannabis (marijuana) advocacy organization. What: Hundreds rally to call on Governor to "Stand Up for Patients' Rights" When: Thursday, October 11 at Noon Where: Los Angeles office of Governor Schwarzenegger, 300 South Spring St. Who: Statements from Los Angeles City Councilmember and former LAPD officer Dennis Zine, and Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby; as well as the following speakers: medical marijuana patient and U.S. Supreme Court plaintiff Angel Raich; raided dispensary operator and advocate Don Duncan; recently raided edible-producer Michael Martin. ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer will MC the event Responding to recent federal enforcement of medical marijuana, Los Angeles Councilmember and former police officer Dennis Zine said in a July 2007 letter to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Karen Tandy that, "Voters in California and in Los Angeles support the medical use of cannabis and want safe, well-regulated access. Medical cannabis facilities are a community based response to the need for safe access and represent the State of California's effort to fully implement California's medical cannabis law." Patients and advocates, angered by increased federal attacks on medical marijuana patients and providers, are calling on Governor Schwarzenegger to take action to end interference by the federal government in the state's medical marijuana law. Paramilitary-style raids by the DEA have become routine since the June 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gonzales v. Raich, which gave the federal government the discretion to arrest and prosecute patients. However, this year the DEA has conducted at least 44 separate raids of patients and providers, more than twice that of the prior two years. Illustrating the breadth of these attacks, the DEA has conducted raids in no less than 10 counties across the state and has shut down entire regions of access to medical marijuana. Bringing a new dimension to the federal effort to undermine state law, letters were recently sent to more than 150 landlords in California, threatening asset forfeiture and criminal prosecution if they continued to lease to medical marijuana providers. By contrast, the state has had its share of success in implementing Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act. After Governor Davis signed SB 420, the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMPA), into law in 2003, Governor Schwarzenegger allocated more than $1 million to establish a statewide ID card program. In addition, more than 30 California cities and counties have adopted ordinances regulating medical cannabis dispensaries, which are now required to pay sales tax to the State Board of Equalization. "We cannot continue to effectively implement state law with this level of federal interference," said ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer. "It is time for the Governor to hold the Bush Administration accountable for its actions and to fend off federal attacks so that we can avert further harm to patients." The October 11 rally will culminate weeks of advocacy that resulted in more than 40,000 postcards sent to the Governor, as well as hundreds of phone calls and emails, all urging him to take action to defend patients' rights. In addition to calling on the Governor to end the federal raids on patients and providers, advocates are seeking a directive from the Governor to local law enforcement discouraging cooperation with federal raids. Advocates are also urging Schwarzenegger to solicit support from Governors of other medical marijuana states in order to ward off federal interference. In August, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson sent a letter to President Bush after the DEA threatened state officials with criminal prosecution if they implemented the state-mandated medical cannabis distribution system.

Marijuana "decrim" campaign launches in Massachusetts

I’m pleased to announce that the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP) has launched its long-awaited campaign to pass a statewide marijuana “decriminalization” initiative in Massachusetts in November 2008.
 
With your help, CSMP plans to reduce the penalties in Massachusetts so that the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana will be punishable by only a small fine — like a parking ticket — with no arrest, no additional penalties, no lawyer’s fees, and no court appearances. Click here to read a news story about the campaign.

MPP is currently assisting CSMP in collecting signatures to put the initiative on the November 2008 ballot, and we need you to be part of the campaign. Will you please visit www.SensibleMarijuanaPolicy.org to donate $10 or more today?
 
And if you live in Massachusetts, CSMP needs you to volunteer to collect signatures or to make a particularly sizable donation. If you don’t live in Massachusetts, CSMP needs you to donate money to support the signature-gathering effort.
 
Massachusetts law requires that CSMP collect 66,593 valid signatures between September 15 and November 21, 2007. CSMP will then have to collect an additional 11,099 signatures in the spring of 2008 in order to place the decriminalization initiative on the November 2008 ballot. Because validity rates for signatures hover around 55%, this means the committee actually needs to collect about 140,000 raw signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot. And because it costs us $3 to gather each signature, CSMP needs the help of both generous donors and committed volunteers to make this $420,000 project happen.
 
Signature-gathering can be a very difficult process, but the momentum is clearly on our side. Since 2000, Massachusetts residents have approved 41 out of 41 local marijuana-related initiatives by an average of 63% of the vote. Of these, 30 urged state legislators to support legislation to make the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana punishable by a citation and a small fine, as opposed to arrest and jail. This string of local victories — as well as growing support for such legislation in the state legislature and in the news media, including the Boston Globe — means that Massachusetts is ready for this statewide initiative.
 
MPP, the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, and a coalition of Massachusetts advocates, legislators, and other policy makers are excited to move forward with this campaign. Would you please lend your support today?
 
I’m grateful for anything you can do to help.
 
Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

ASA’s Medical Marijuana in the News: 10/05/07

FEDERAL: Medical Marijuana Provider Turns Himself In

About 50 ASA activists and other supporters of medical marijuana provider Mickey Martin protested at the federal court house when he turned himself in to authorities. Last week, DEA agents raided food-preparation locations they allege are connected to Martin and arrested three others. Martin, who was on vacation with his wife and two young sons, surrendered Thursday and was released on bond. Martin has been a leader in developing alternatives to smokeable forms of medicinal cannabis.

Pot Candy Maker Out On $300,000 Bail
KTVU TV2 (San Francisco)
The founder of an Oakland food factory that laces everything from cookies to barbecue sauce with marijuana surrendered Thursday to face a federal drug charge.

Owner of pot-candy factory surrenders on federal drug charges
by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle
The owner of an Oakland marijuana candy factory surrendered Thursday to face federal drug charges, but not before blasting the U.S. government for what he called an unfair attack by federal bullies on ailing patients who rely on medical marijuana.

Pot Candy Dealer Turns Himself In
by Katie Hammer, ABC7/KGO-TV
A man who makes edible marijuana products for medical patients turned himself in this morning to federal authorities after they raided his Oakland factory. He had a lot of supporters today at the federal courthouse in Oakland.

ASA ACTION: Defending Democracy

The victory in ASA’s legal challenge to the electronic voting machines used in a local California election got more attention this week not because the questionable recount was of a medical marijuana measure but because of widespread concerns about the integrity of votes cast without a “paper trail.” The ruling makes clear to election officials that voters have a right to verifiable recounts.

Judge orders Berkeley medical marijuana measure back on ballot
Associated Press
A judge ordered a failed 2004 city initiative on medical marijuana returned to the ballot next year because county election officials failed to hand over data from voting machines.

Judge Orders Sanctions, New Election in Measure R Case
by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor, Berkeley Daily Planet
In what would appear to be the most stinging rebuke possible to the conduct of the Alameda County Registrar of Voters Office in the November 2004 Berkeley Measure R Medical Marijuana initiative election, a California Superior Court judge has ordered that a new Measure R election be held in November of next year, and that Measure R proponents be reimbursed for litigation and recount costs.

Berkeley pot bill put on 2008 ballot after judge nullifies results
by Chris Metinko, Contra Costa Times (CA)
An Alameda County Superior Court judge has nullified the results of a hotly contested 2004 election because of mishandling of a recount by Alameda County election officials, and she ordered Berkeley's Measure R -- a citizen-sponsored medical marijuana initiative -- back on the ballot for a re-vote in 2008.

Election Results Tossed in E-Voting Case
by Catherine Pickavet, InternetNews
Electronic voting has promised security, accuracy, expediency and fairness since its advent. But amid continued controversy, a new ruling in California may add yet another mark in the tally against it.

FedCURE Report: Mass Incarceration in the United States: At What Cost?

Mass Incarceration in the United States: At What Cost?

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 

Julia M. Fantacone, of Kimmitt, Senter, Coates, & Weinfurter, Inc, Washington, DC attended this meeting and filed report on behalf of FedCURE.

Witnesses:

Glenn C. Loury (Brown University)

Bruce Western (Harvard University)

Alphonso Albert (Second Chances Program)

Michael Jacobson (Vera Institute of Justice)

Pat Nolan (Prison Fellowship)

This was a joint committee hearing focusing primarily on the economic effects of mass incarceration in the United States with consideration of racial disparities, drug sentencing, and prisoner reentry. Congressional members present included Sen. James Web (D-VA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), Rep. Robert Scott (D-VA), Rep. Phil English (R-PA), Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY).

Members of the committee voiced concerns about the rise of the incarceration rate in the United States over the past decade. Senator Casey called it, “a human tragedy, and a fiscal nightmare.” One main concern is that there have been enormous economic costs associated with prison construction and operation as well as productivity and wage loss for prisoners upon reentry. Senator Scott stated that, “the cradle to prison pipeline has many more economic costs than the cradle to college pipeline.” A second issue discussed was the disproportionate impact incarceration has had on minority communities. Much of the growth in the prison population is due to changes in legislation, mainly drug policy, not an increase in crime.  Prisoner reentry was a top concern and all members agreed that the Second Chance Act was on the right path to alleviate prisoner reentry problems. Senator Brownback stated, “It’s a bipartisan bill with a lot of support. It is ready to go to the floor. I think we can get a signature on it from President Bush.”

Glenn C. Loury, Professor of Social Sciences, Brown University

Background/Concerns

·        The United States imprisons at a far higher rate than any industrialized democracy in the entire world

·        A high level of imprisonment is not a rational response to high levels of crime

·        The extent of racial disparity among those imprisoned is greater than in any other major area of American social life

·        The war on drugs has not been successful and has had a disparaging affect on the African American community

Recommendations

·        Repeal mandatory minimum drug sentencing and release non-violent drug offenders

Bruce Western, Department of Sociology, Harvard University

Background/Concerns

·        The rise in incarceration rates today is five times higher than in 1972 with the highest increases in uneducated African American males

·        The economic opportunities for those released from prison have been greatly diminished due to erratic work histories and little education

Recommendations

·        Reexamine consequences that limit ex-felons to benefits and employment

·        Support prisoner reentry programs that provide transitional employment and other services

·        Support the establishment of local social impact panels to evaluate unwarranted disparities between juvenile and adult incarceration

Americans for Safe Access Monthly Activist Newsletter

Win for Collective Cultivation Case in Butte

Superior Court Rules in Favor of ASA Suit Challenging Ban on Patient Collectives

The legal team for Americans for Safe Access won the first round this month in their fight to protect the right of California patients to organize as collectives for cultivation.

A strongly worded ruling from Superior Court Judge Barbara Roberts on September 6 found that that seriously ill patients cultivating collectively "should not be required to risk criminal penalties and the stress and expense of a criminal trial in order to assert their rights."

The ruling came in response to an attempt by Butte County to stop the lawsuit ASA filed in May 2006 on behalf of a seven-person private patient collective.

"The court has sent a clear message to local law enforcement in California that they must respect the rights of patients to cultivate collectively." said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford.

At issue is a September 2005 warrantless search of a patient's home by the Butte County Sheriff's Department, during which David Williams, 54, was forced to uproot and destroy more than two dozen plants or face arrest and prosecution.
"We were told that it was not lawful to grow collectively for multiple patients," said Williams.

Judge Roberts' ruling also rejected Butte County's policy of requiring all members to physically participate in the cultivation, thereby allowing collective members to "contribute financially."

"The next step is to show that Williams was running a valid collective," said Elford. "At that point, the court is expected to make a final determination consistent with yesterday's ruling, which strongly vindicates the right of medical marijuana patients to associate together to grow the medicine they need."

ASA's intervention came after repeated reports of unlawful behavior by Butte County sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies.

For more information:
Butte County Superior Court ruling from September 6, 2007
ASA's lawsuit challenging Butte County's ban on collective cultivation

Activists Persuade Congress to Intervene with DEA

45 Reps Sign Letter Urging Research Cultivation License

ASA lobbying was part of a successful, many-month effort by medical marijuana activists to get Congress to support research into cannabis therapeutics. On September 19, a letter signed by 45 members of the U.S. House of Representatives was delivered to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging the DEA to allow a UMass-Amherst professor to grow marijuana for approved research studies.

Over the past four months, ASA National Office staff, led by Governmental Affairs Director Caren Woodson, have been part of a campaign to get members of the House to sign the bi-partisan letter to DEA Adminstrator Karen Tandy. ASA members across the country contributed to a national grassroots campaign, contacting their representatives to ask them to sign on.

The letter, which was authored by U.S. Representatives John Olver (D-MA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), asks Tandy to accept DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner's February 2007 Opinion and Recommended Ruling in support of the UMass-Amherst Medical Marijuana Research Production Facility. The law judge's ruling is non-binding and DEA has no deadline to decide whether to accept or reject it. The ruling is the result of legal action sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and supported by the American Civil Liberties Union and other drug policy reform groups.

The DEA's handling of the UMass application to cultivate marijuana for research studies has already elicited congressional questioning. A DEA deputy administrator faced criticism on the subject during hearings this summer.

"The DEA is ignoring the vast scientific evidence that clearly shows medicinal use of marijuana benefits patients who are extremely ill," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who sits on one of the committees charged with oversight. "When it comes to providing the best treatment options to sick Americans, we should trust doctors and medical researchers and not federal bureaucrats."

Lyle Craker, who is the director of the Medicinal Plant Program in the Department of Plant, Insect and Soil Sciences at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, submitted his initial application to DEA in June 2001. Craker plans to cultivate marijuana that would be used in clinical trials to determine whether marijuana meets FDA standards for medical safety and efficacy.

Since 1968, the federal National Institute on Drug Abuse has maintained a monopoly on the supply of research marijuana. Judge Bittner found that NIDA has repeatedly refused to supply marijuana for FDA-approved studies that could develop marijuana as a prescription medicine. Federal law requires adequate competition in the production of such Schedule I drugs as marijuana, to ensure a supply for approved research.

ENCOD's Letter to Bill Clinton

On Wednesday, Bill Clinton visited the city of Rotterdam (the Netherlands) to hold a speech for CEO's, NGOs and authorities concerning the topic of global warming and the need for innovative solutions. On this occasion, ENCOD (European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies) and the Rotterdam based company HEMPFLAX (specialised in the manufacturing of hemp products) personally handed over a public letter to Clinton We also tried to give him a bottle of hemp oil, but the security would not let us. Read the letter at http://www.encod.org/info/ENCOD-WRITES-LETTER-TO-BILL.html Rotterdam is the first city in the Netherlands where the policy of the new Dutch government will be put in practice to close coffeeshops that are situated less than 250 meters of schools. On October 1st, the city announced a plan to close 18 of the 62 existing coffeeshops by June 2009. All of the shops involved are considering legal steps to counter this decision, which is seen as the first concrete move to end tolerant policy concerning cannabis in the Netherlands. Best wishes, Joep Oomen

Two New Features for ASA’s Online Community

Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is excited to announce that we have added two brand new features to our online community designed to allow patients and advocates to communicate more directly and effectively with each other. Please read on for more information on ASA’s new blog and our new discussion forums.

Sign Up for ASA's Discussion Forums
www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/ASAForum

ASA is building an online community for activists and supporters to discuss the latest news, actions, and research around medical cannabis issues. More than 200 people have already signed up for the forums and have engaged in discussions in state, regional, media, legal, activist, and condition-based forums.

To check out our forums and sign-up to participate, visit www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/ASAForum and get involved today!

Introducing ASA's New Blog -
Medical Cannabis: Voices from the Frontlines
www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/blog

Last week, ASA launched our blog, Medical Cannabis: Voices from the Frontlines. ASA staff and guest bloggers will be posting here regularly with the latest news and analysis of medical cannabis issues.

Here is a sampling of what we have blogged about so far:

Visit www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/blog today to read our posts and to share your comments.

Thanks for your continued support for safe access. We look forward to meeting you online!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Saltzman
Chief of Staff
Americans for Safe Access

Job Listing: Executive Director, Access Works!

Access Works! is a nonprofit organization providing harm reduction services including a syringe exchange. AW's mission is to improve the health and reduce the harm to people impacted by the use of drugs through support, intervention, education, and disease prevention. Access Works! provides services to individuals in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan Area and is based in an inner city Minneapolis neighborhood. The organization is comprised of five staff plus volunteers. The executive director is responsible for the overall direction and leadership of the staff and agency, and for the planning and implementation of all programs.

ASA’s Media Summary for the Week Ending 9/28/07

ASA ACTION: New Election for Medical Marijuana Measure

Three years after election officials said a local medical marijuana measure narrowly failed, a judge has ordered a new election. At issue are electronic voting machines that election officials did not properly maintain to ensure data was available for the recount requested by Americans for Safe Access. Whatever the outcome of the new election, ASA has won a victory for the democratic process.

Judge voids results of Berkeley measure on medical pot
by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle
An Alameda County judge has voided election results for a failed 2004 Berkeley medical marijuana measure, ordering it returned to the ballot next year because county election officials failed to hand over data from voting machines, attorneys in the case said Thursday.

Berkeley Election Nullified Based on Misconduct by Officials
Bay City News Service
A judge has nullified the results of a Berkeley medical marijuana ballot measure in 2004 because of what she said was misconduct by Alameda County election officials. Smith also ordered that the county refund $22,000 that Americans for Safe Access had to pay for a recount of the election results as well as some legal fees for the group's lawyers.

FEDERAL: Raid on Maker of Medicinal Edibles

DEA agents staged another paramilitary-style raid in Northern California, kicking down doors at locations allegedly related to a maker of medicinal edibles, arresting three people, and even killing an employee’s dog. Despite hysterical language from the DEA about mistaking the edibles for regular candy, all the products in question are clearly labeled as medicinal and are available only to qualified patients in dispensary settings. Like the other raids around the state, the DEA appears intent on disrupting patient access as much as possible before the next election cycle. See ASA’s press release on this situation at http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=5084

Feds Raid Pot-Laced-Candy Factory
by Paul Elias, Associated Press
Federal agents said Thursday they shut down a factory that made marijuana-laced barbecue sauce, chocolate-covered pretzels and other "enhanced" snacks intended for medical users of the drug.

Oakland company raided for allegedly selling pot-laced foods
by Leslie Griffy, Mercury News (CA)
Federal drug agents busted an Oakland company that allegedly distributed pot-laced treats to medical marijuana clubs across the state, officials said today.

NEW MEXICO: New State Law Close to Implementation

Thanks to the intervention of Governor and Presidential-candidate Bill Richardson, patients in New Mexico are now being afforded a measure of protection. The state may be the first to provide medical marijuana directly to patients, though the state attorney general has expressed concerns about the federal government going after state employees who are implementing the law.

Medical Marijuana Rules Close To Final
by Vanessa Reyes, KFOX TV - Las Cruces
The rules of the medicinal marijuana law in New Mexico are close to becoming final after a public hearing with the New Mexico Department of Health and a medical board.

FEDERAL: Dispensary Landlords Threatened in Santa Barbara

One of the latest tactics being used by the DEA to thwart patient access in California is the intimidation of the landlords whose buildings dispensaries are renting. The DEA has been sending letters to the landlords, telling them that the government may seize their buildings, even if they have nothing to do with the operation of the dispensaries. After the DEA raided the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center in West Hollywood several years ago, they even used asset forfeiture to seize the building the city had provided for the collective’s use.

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Risk Eviction
KEYT TV Santa Barbara
Federal Drug Enforcement agents are pressuring Santa Barbara Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to close their doors for good. The owner of one shop on Victoria Street says his landlord received a strongly worded letter from the DEA threatening to take their property if they don't comply.

Feds Target S.B. Medical Marijuana Shops
Santa Barbara Independent
After enjoying years of relatively hassle-free business, Santa Barbara’s medical marijuana scene is feeling the heat this week, with a distinctly ganja-scented cloud of uncertainty hanging over its future in the wake of a federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) letter-writing campaign.

Free viewing/download of the October edition of Art for Justice online (or buy it on Monday)

We are pleased to announce that the October edition of the Prison Art Gallery art catalog, Art for Justice, is now online at http://prisonsfoundation.org/octafj.pdf You can also purchase a hard copy of it on Monday, October 1, when it is published (as usual) as a full-color special section of Street Sense, the nationally recognized progressive periodical published in Washington, DC for socially conscious people. Get your copy of Street Sense from the more than 50 Street Sense vendors in Washington wearing the bright-colored Street Sense vests. To view/download the October edition of Art for Justice online, please visit http://prisonsfoundation.org/octafj.pdf. All of the art featured in Art for Justice can be purchased at the Prison Art Gallery, 1600 K Street NW in downtown Washington, DC (open every day until 5:30pm) or by email at [email protected] or phone at 202-393-1511. Thank you for your interest in these superb, reasonably-priced works produced by imprisoned artists from across America. For more information, please call 202-393-1511.
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