The week started off with a bang, as Americans for Safe Access (ASA) Chief Counsel Joe Elford threatened to file a lawsuit against Los Angeles if the city banned medical marijuana “sales.” The threat was in response to public statements made by City Attorney Carmen Trutanich that over-the-counter sales of medical marijuana are illegal under state law. Trutanich had been urging the Los Angeles City Council to adopt his proposed ordinance banning over-the-counter sales.
ASA is confident that Trutanich has a flawed interpretation of state law. The Medical Marijuana Program Act, landmark court decisions, California Attorney General guidelines, and a sales tax policy by the State Board of Equalization provide ample evidence that medical marijuana sales are legal. So, ASA decided to fight Trutanich using his own public relations strategy. The Friday before ASA threatened to file suit against the City of Los Angeles, Elford went on Air Talk, broadcast by KPCC, the NPR affiliate, to debate the issue of sales with Special Assistant City Attorney David Berger. Read the rest of this entry »
The American Medical Association’s reversal of its 72 year old position supporting marijuana as a Schedule I substance with no medical value, is a remarkable breakthrough. Sunil Aggarwal, Ph.D., who is part of the Medical & Scientific Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), was the primary leader in initiating this change. He deserves a great deal of appreciation from us.
Over and over again in the past the previous AMA position was used as a justification to prevent progress for safe access to needed medicine. Now with both the AMA and the US Department of Justice changing their policies, there is a profound shift in the landscape for gaining safe access for medical cannabis patients. A big thank you goes to Dr. Sunil Aggarwal for his successful leadership in this!
U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello expressed his desire yesterday for medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco to be run as “communes” rather than as “candy stores.” Russoniello’s reference to “candy stores” is confusing enough, but the Bush-appointed federal prosecutor’s shift from conservative free-market thinking to Marxist communism was a surprise to many in the medical marijuana movement, not to mention the public at large. Read the rest of this entry »
Dennis Gammon is paralyzed from the neck down. He requires 24-hour assistance with daily tasks, and lives every day in pain. And now, he’s being evicted from his Buckfield apartment for using medical marijuana.
Your emails to Congress are paying off! The “Truth in Trials” Act has new bi-partisan support, including backing from two members who serve on the committee with jurisdiction over HR 3939. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI/14) and U.S. Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY/8), Tom McClintock (R-CA/4), and Ed Pastor (D-AZ/4) have officially added their names to the growing list of co-sponsors. The bill was introduced last week and immediately referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
“Truth in Trials” needs a lot of support in the US House of Representatives if it is to succeed. TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO SUPPORT HR 3939! Your calls and emails do make a difference, so please encourage your network to take action today!
Last week, I spoke to the San Diego Medical Marijuana Task Force about their efforts to create sensible regulations for medical cannabis dispensing collectives and cooperatives in the city. The task force is charged with making recommendations to the City Council, which will use their input to craft an ordinance. Input from stakeholders early in the process is important, and San Diego ASA is working with allies to be sure patients’ voices help shape the city’s policy.
I spoke to the task force about the benefits of regulations, and cautioned them not to be misled by faulty legal analysis aimed at rolling back safe access.
Improving local regulations is a high priority for ASA’s California campaign. We must work diligently in cities and counties to be sure that local ordinances fulfill the voters’ mandate in Proposition 215 – “…To encourage the federal and state governments to implement a plan for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana.”
Last week the Department of Justice issued new guidelines to U.S. Attorneys concerning investigations and prosecutions in states that have authorized the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. These guidelines are a positive step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to ensure real and lasting protection for patients and their providers in medical cannabis states. In particular, individuals accused of violating federal marijuana laws must be permitted to use evidence in federal court to demonstrate that their use of medical marijuana followed state law and was used to alleviate suffering. To that end, U.S. Representative Sam Farr (D-CA), and a bipartisan group of his colleagues, re-introduced the “Truth in Trials” bill in the U.S. House of Representatives today.
Today’s Washington Post features another great article on the subject of medical marijuana. It’s a particularly good article in that it features an interview with Dr. Piomelli, a professor of pharmacology who for the past 10 years has lead a research project for the National Institutes of Health concerning the the impact of marijuana and other drugs on the brain.
As the Obama administration attempts to steer federal agents away from prosecuting marijuana dispensaries, the LA District Attorney and City Attorney’s Office are attempting to undermine that shift by articulating a deceitfully narrow view of the state law.
Despite reports of trillion dollar deficits nationally and a collapsing state economy, District Attorney Steve Cooley says his office is committed to closing down revenue-generating medical marijuana dispensaries and the LA district attorney’s office continues to take prisoners of war in their fight against safe access to medical marijuana.
In doing so, LA City is threatening to plunge the state’s economy into further collapse by taking potential tax revenues that could be going to the state treasury. Moreover, the City’s position threatens to generate crime by forcing the huge demand for marijuana back to the street. If the free market has allowed for the proliferation of dispensaries, that demand is not going away. The avenue for its fulfillment will simply change and could go from safe to entrenched in the poly-drug trafficking black market economy. Read the rest of this entry »
Your emails to Congress are paying off! The 
