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. (more…)

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!

ASA is encouraged to learn that the Obama Administration has taken a major step forward in defining its policy on medical cannabis today, when the U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo giving new instructions to federal prosecutors and law enforcement.  This memo has been expected since we learned that the Committee report to accompany the Justice appropriations legislation would include specific language requiring a written policy.

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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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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 “shock and awe” tactics used by local and federal law enforcement yesterday to raid several medical marijuana providers were indefensible. One would have thought that such paramilitary-style raids were a thing of the past, a remnant of the Bush Administration. And, yet, videos like this one indicate that not only is law enforcement still trying to undermine California’s medical marijuana law, it’s being done with a vengeance. Where else would you see wheelchair-bound people being thrown into police squad cars?

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!

Kudos to the Los Angeles Times for publishing an editorial today on medical marijuana that gets at the heart of the federal obstruction of meaningful research into one of the most promising therapeutic substances.

Despite a press release recently issued by Americans for Safe Access on the federal solicitation of proposals for the production and distribution of medical marijuana, and a report published in April highlighting the government’s monopoly on marijuana research, mainstream media coverage has been scant. (more…)

I can’t resist commenting on what is otherwise a decent front page Washington Post article. In particular, the ridiculous quote offered by Leonard C. Collins Jr., a prosecutor in Charles County, Maryland.

First, had Mr. Collins conducted a simple internet search, he would have learned that studies in the United States, backed up by countless studies around the world, have clearly demonstrated that marijuana is efficacious for a number of serious and chronic illnesses.  In fact, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, reported on the research that clearly demonstrates the efficacy of cannabis to relieve hard to treat nueropathic pain.  Moreover, safe access to cannabis for patients and research has been endorsed by a growing number of professional health care organizations, including the American Public Health Association, the American Nurses Association, the American College of Physicians, and most recently, the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association.

Apparently, Charles County’s top prosecutor is abandoning any sense of a rational (or compassionate) approach to the issue, in favor of nonsense reminiscent of “reefer madness” days.

Second, I would invite Mr. Collins to do a little bit more research to understand the specific and unnecessary barriers that block the normal FDA-approval process for cannabis.  For starters, he might consider reading ASA’s report on the matter.

And, finally, I invite all Charles County medical cannabis advocates to get involved with the Maryland chapters of Americans for Safe Access. The only way to beat the law (and guys like Mr. Collins) is to  change the law!

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.