Poet Advocate Richard Kearns

December 1 is World AIDS Day, an international day set aside by individuals and organizations to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. The theme this year is “Human Rights and Access to Treatment.” Among other political and personal messages, patient advocates all over the world today will be talking to their friends, loved ones, media, and elected officials about the challenges HIV/AIDS patients face in access the health care they need. Let’s hope their voices will be heard.

The medical cannabis movement is intimately intertwined with the demand for safe access to medicine to treat the symptoms of HIV/AIDS. If it were not for the tireless crusading of men like Dennis Peron, a figurehead for medical cannabis and GLBT rights, Proposition 215 may never have been adopted. His desire to see safe and affordable access for loved ones truly changed the world.

Los Angeles medical cannabis and HIV/AIDS advocate Richard Kearns is one of many who joined Dennis in this compassionate work. Richard is a poet, prolific blogger, and outspoken advocate. He serves on the Board of Directors of one of the oldest legally organized and operated medical cannabis collectives in the Los Angeles area. He is also one of the most frequent speakers about medical cannabis before the Los Angeles City Council – something that matters as the city’s largest city struggles to adopt regulations for safe access.

Let’s not let World AIDS Day pass without honoring the commitment and sacrifices of patient advocates like Richard. More importantly, let’s take the opportunity to recognize our roots and stand in solidarity with the men, women, and trans-gendered people with HIV/AIDS who helped build the nationwide movement for safe access to medical cannabis.

(Read Richard’s moving World AIDS Day poem at AIDS-Write.com)

This story would be amusing if it wasn’t so tragic.

The Answerdam Alternative Care Collective (AACC) was a medical marijuana dispensary in San Diego. It was doing the best it could to comply with the law: it was collectively run, it did not make a profit, it verified its member patients, and it paid sales tax to the State Board of Equalization. So, what was the problem? San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and the lack of a local ordinance with which to regulate dispensaries like AACC.

In September, Dumanis oversaw raids on more than a dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego simply because they “appear[ed] to be run by drug dealers.” Despite her lack of evidence, Dumanis arrested 31 people, one of which was Jovan Jackson of AACC. Dumanis chose to prosecute Jackson for possession and sale of medical marijuana, claiming that he sold it for profit. Unfortunately for Dumanis, Jackson’s case was a poor choice and would turn out to be an embarrassment to her office. (more…)

The process that started with a motion by Los Angeles City Councilmember Dennis Zine in 2005 may reach a milestone on Tuesday, when the City Council is scheduled to vote on a draft ordinance regulating hundreds of medical cannabis collectives in the city. That vote will do little to quell controversy in the city. Advocates and neighborhood groups are both unsatisfied with the proposal. The advocate community is buzzing about lawsuits, voter initiatives, and recall campaigns. The media wants to know whom to blame, and everyone is pointing fingers.

In this milieu, Councilmembers have a lot to do if they plan to adopt the ordinance before the Thanksgiving break. At joint committee and City Council meetings last week, the Councilmembers proposed more than forty sometimes contradictory amendments to the ordinance; and in a rebuke to City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, sent instructions to staff to research other regulatory models and alternative legal interpretations. (You can download the various amendments from the Council File Management System by searching for documents related to Council File. No. 08-0923.)

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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. (more…)

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!

Don Morgan

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!

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.”