ASA’s Employment Rights Bill Passes the California Senate Judiciary Committee

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved AB 2279. This ASA sponsored bill, authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno, would protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana patients in California from employment discrimination. AB 2279, which is being co-authored by Assemblymembers Patty Berg (D-Eureka), Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego), is in response to a January decision by the California Supreme Court in Ross v. RagingWire.

The bill will be heard by the full senate after they return from recess on August 4th. If AB 2279 passes the full senate, it will then be sent to the Governor’s desk. We will be sending out an alert in late July asking you to contact your senator to ensure the passage of this bill. We cannot pass this important civil rights bill without your help!

The Press-Telegram published an editorial in support of AB 2279 this week, which urges the Governor to sign the bill. Please visit their website to read this excellent editorial.

For a detailed account of the hearing, please visit ASA’s discussion forums.

Local Medical Marijuana Regulation Updates: Arcata & Claremont

Arcata Extends Moratorium on Medical Cannabis Dispensaries

This week, the Arcata City Council voted to extend its moratorium on new medical cannabis dispensaries for 10 months and 15 days. Several advocates, including members of ASA’s Humboldt chapter, spoke out in support of safe access at the hearing. Existing dispensaries will not be effected by the moratorium, and the council plans to work on long term regulations for dispensaries in the coming months.

Please read the Arcata Eye article on the hearing for more information.

Claremont Bans Medical Cannabis Dispensaries

On Tuesday, the Claremont City Council voted to ban medical cannabis dispensaries. This vote was a reversal of the council’s previous position, since they had voted several months ago to draft an ordinance to regulate dispensaries.

Please read the Daily Bulletin article on the hearing for more information.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Activism, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), California, Dispensaries, Medical Cannabis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.