State & Local Legislatures

Please join us!

S1801, "An Act to Tax and Regulate the Cannabis Industry," will be heard by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.

Advocates and patients with the group Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana (PA4MMJ) will testify before the PA House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee during hearings on HB 1393,

Rally, Concert and Lobby Day to demand an End To The Prohibition of Marijuana! Lobby Noon - 2 p.m.*, Rally & Concert 2 p.m. - 6 p.m., Dead show doors 6 p.m.

Don Tabor, on behalf of the Tidewater Libertarian Party, will address the city council to request a citizen review of police procedures used in the investigation and the raid on Ryan's home. Dr.

On January 29, the Berkeley City Council will be considering a very important resolution. Co-sponsored by Kriss Worthington and Darryl Moore, this item would: 1. declare Berkeley a "sanctuary city" for medical cannabis in the event that the DEA raids any of our dispensaries, 2. call on the Berkeley Police Department, the County District Attorney, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, and the State Attorney General not to cooperate with the DEA in its efforts to undermine state and local medical cannabis laws, 3. urge Governor Schwarzenegger to publicly stand with the more than 200,000 medical cannabis patients in the state and to let Congress and the Bush Administration know that DEA interference is uncalled for and will be resisted by local and state government, and 4. encourage the City to plan for continued safe access in Berkeley in the event of a DEA raid on one or more of our dispensaries. See the draft text at: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil/agenda-committee/agendaindex.htm. Click on the pdf for the 1/22 meeting, and look for Item 22. ASA and others have worked extensively with Councilmembers Moore and Worthington, and with many other supportive city staff, to craft this resolution, and we expect the full support of the Council, the City Manager and the City Attorney. Obviously this is a VERY important moment for medical cannabis patients, and I want to encourage you to attend tomorrow's City Council meeting if at all possible. We plan to have a rally at 6:45 p.m., before the Council meeting, on the steps of Old City Hall. Wear your ASA shirt, sport a medical marijuana pin, and let's fill the hall with supporters to celebrate the moment--and thank our Berkeley elected officials for taking this significant step to defend patients' rights! For more information, contact Becky DeKeuster at 510-540-6013 ext. 0.

This is an exploratory event to determine if activists and donors in Massachusetts are willing to invest the necessary time and money to put a possible initiative on the November 2008 ballot. Such a measure would eliminate the threat of arrest and jail for adults in possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. Instead, this offense would be punishable by a citation and a $100 fine. MPP’s Rob Kampia will be the guest speaker for this event. There will be a cash bar.

On Tuesday, Nov. 28, the House Committee on Government Operations will hold a hearing on HB 5470, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, introduced by Rep. Lamar Lemmons III (D-Wayne County). The measure, similar to laws now in effect in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, would protect seriously ill patients using medical marijuana with their physician's recommendation from arrest and jail.

Washington, DC, "Race to Incarcerate," book talk with The Sentencing Project's Marc Mauer. At Politics & Prose bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW, visit http://www.politics-prose.com for further information.