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.”

Jerry Brown

A spokesperson for California Attorney General Jerry Brown told the New York Times that the nonprofit sales of medical cannabis in storefront patients’ collectives are legal. The Attorney General is speaking up in response to a growing controversy about how to regulate hundreds of collectives and cooperatives in Los Angeles. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich told City Councilmembers in September that storefront collectives and nonprofit sales of cannabis are illegal, despite guidelines issued by the Attorney General last year that indicate otherwise.

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(This is a guest blog by Resipsa from the Landa Prison Outreach Project)

Stephanie Landa

Nearly three years ago, I drove veteran medical marijuana cultivator and activist Stephanie Landa to San Francisco to surrender herself to federal authorities. Her attorney, Allison Margolin, had managed to stall the court for an extraordinarily long time, but Stephanie’s luck had run out, and it she’d been ordered to present herself at the federal building to begin a 41-month sentence.

Americans for Safe Access (ASA) had really been there for Stephanie. Among other things, they helped make her last press conference a great success. Executive Director Steph Sheer and California Director Don Duncan personally walked her through the jailhouse door. I was crying and distraught. But I did manage to promise my friend that I would be there for her while she was inside and I would drive her home, just as I had driven her to the jail.

Keeping my promise to bring her home involved detailed negotiations with the prison and three pages of instructions. But in the end, the warden himself signed off on the paperwork.
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You might think the job of law enforcement is enforcing the law, but that’s not the way some California officers and organizations see it when it comes to the state’s medical cannabis statute. The latest disturbing evidence of this is an upcoming “training luncheon” on “The Eradication of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County,” hosted by the California Narcotic Officers Association (CNOA).

What’s shocking is not that the CNOA would resist state law – the organization is one of the oldest and most virulent opponents of medical cannabis in the state – but who will be joining them in the effort. Headlining the training on how to close down medical cannabis collectives are Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley and Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, and police officers from Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Alhambra. (more…)

The California Assembly will consider Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 14 after the legislature reconvenes on January 4. The ASA-sponsored resolution passed the Senate in August, but the clock ran out on the legislative calendar on September 11 – just before the Assembly Committee on Health was ready to vote on the measure. ASA will be back in Sacramento in January to finish the campaign to pass SJR 14.

Earlier this year, the White House and US Attorney General signaled a willingness to develop a new federal policy. It is still unclear what that policy will look like. SJR 14, which is authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), calls for very specific changes to federal medical cannabis policy. (more…)

The Los Angeles City Council voted today to endorse Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 14, an ASA-sponsored resolution authored by California Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), which calls on the President and US Congress to make important changes in federal medical cannabis policies. The city’s endorsement comes just after SJR 14 was approved by the California Senate and is moving to the Assembly Committee on Health.

City Councilmembers Jose Huizar, Dennis Zine, and Janice Hahn made the motion in July, after we talked about what the city could do help finally harmonize federal law with California law. Los Angeles has more medical cannabis collectives and cooperatives than any other city in the state, and has struggled with how best to regulate safe access in the midst of the former Bush Administration’s campaign of interference and intimidation. Angelinos and their elected officials hope the regulatory process will be easier if the President and US Congress implement the recommendations in SJR 14.

Thank you, LA Councilmembers, for supporting medical cannabis patients and SJR 14!

The National MS Society is “in the process of gathering information that will help us understand what needs to happen and what needs to  change to help people affected by MS keep moving their lives forward. This data will help guide the Society’s direction for the next five years.”

Do you or someone you know use cannabis to control the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis? If so, we invite you to complete the National MS Society survey and use the opportunity to highlight your experiences with medical cannabis.

Last year, the National MS Society issued an opinion paper concerning the Society’s Recommendations regarding the use of cannabis in MS. The report suggests that cannabis may have the potential to treat the symptoms of MS and limit the progression of the disease, but stopped short of recommending that MS patients use the drug.

The MS Society wants to hear from you. Be sure to make your voices heard! It’s important for our readers living with MS to participate in the NMSS survey, and, when possible, please share your knowledge of or experiences with the therapeutic use of cannabis.

Recent Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) activity in Lake County, Los Angeles, and Colorado is cause for concern for medical cannabis patients and advocates. We hoped that federal raids were over when the White House and US Attorney General Eric Holder signaled a willingness to develop a new policy on medical cannabis earlier this year. The circumstances for each of the recent raids differ, but each illustrates a need for the Administration to move more quickly in crafting and implementing that new policy.

This week, the California Senate approved Senate Joint Resolution 14 (SJR 14), a resolution authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) that calls for specific changes in federal law. SJR 14 calls for an end to federal interference and intimidation, an affirmative defense for medical cannabis defendants in federal court, and an end to barriers to scientific research. The resolution also calls on the President and Congress to develop a comprehensive federal policy to protect every patient in the United States who uses cannabis to treat HIV/AIDS, cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, chronic pain, or other serious illness.

SJR 14 is part of a strategic plan at ASA to coordinate state and federal advocacy at an historic moment in history. We are far from finished with this work, and we can expect more DEA raids and other federal intimidation before we succeed in harmonizing federal law with state law. But we should not be discouraged that the promise of the new federal policy is still unfulfilled. We are making progress. DEA raids have diminished dramatically from the dark days of the Bush Administration, federal threats against property owners in California have stopped altogether, and we are even seeing movement in Congress.

After the California Assembly approves SJR 14, ASA staff and members will work hard to be sure that Democratic leaders in the US Congress have the California legislature’s instruction in mind when they consider new legislation like US Representative Barney Frank’s HR 2835. That bill will would provide federal legal protections for all qualified patients and caregivers in states that have legalized the use of medical cannabis, as well as any entity authorized under local or state law to distribute medical cannabis.

SJR 14 is one example of how ASA’s strategic coordination can make a difference nationwide. Do not be discouraged when medical cannabis opponents push back. Our persistent work is paying off, and you are helping to make a difference.

The mark of a stellar advocate is knowing how (and when) to seize the right moment.

Consider the following exchange between a medical marijuana advocate who attended Congresswoman Susan Davis’ Healthcare Town Hall meeting, and asked the following question:

Kudos to ASA advocate Seth Aronson for your excellent work.  Taking advantage of timing and opportunity is a lesson every advocate can learn from this video.  It is vital that advocates use the opportunities available to publicly highlight and confirm their elected officials’ positions on the issues that matter most -  in this case medical marijuana.   Keep up the great work Seth!

Many thanks, also, to Congresswoman Davis for her continued support on medical marijuana and the the courage to answer the question.