CA Gov. Jerry Brown

I am happy to report that California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed SB 847, a bill by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) that would have required medical cannabis cooperatives and collectives be located at least 600 feet from residential zones! The Governor’s veto comes after a groundswell of opposition from members of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and other medical cannabis advocates. I want to say a special thank you to everyone who visited legislative offices, made phone calls, wrote letters, and sent emails. Well done!

(more…)

UPDATE October 11 – The RAND Corporation bowed to politcal pressure for the LA City Attorney’s Office and removed this study “until the review is complete.” Ironically, the RAND Corporation’s wen site says that “RAND is widely respected for operating independent of political and commercial pressures.” Apparently not in every case!

The RAND Corporation, an influential public policy think tank, issued a report today debunking the commonly-held misperception that medical cannabis dispensing centers (MCDCs) attract crime to the neighborhoods in which they are located. In what the authors call “the first systematic analysis of the link between medical marijuana dispensaries and crime,” the right-leaning RAND Corporation found no evidence that hundreds of MCDCs in Los Angeles caused an increase in crime. The report echoes research conducted by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the experience in communities nationwide. Policy makers should see this groundbreaking report as a green light to adopt sensible regulations to protect legal patients and communities – while preserving safe access to medicine.

(more…)

In 1988, DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young ruled that, “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.” And, although the DEA ignored Judge Young’s recommendation to reclassify the plant from its federal status as a dangerous drug with no medical value, smoking cannabis remains relatively benign with little-to-no side effects.

That said, it’s important to understand certain safety consequences with regard to cultivating cannabis, especially in light of its increased commercialization in medical marijuana states. As an example, in May the States of California and Oregon removed from the retail hydroponic market several popular flowering additives after the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) found them to contain high levels of long-banned Daminozide (Alar), a known “probable” human carcinogen.

(more…)

Earlier this month, two medical marijuana patients were acquitted of all charges in a case that is likely to affect numerous other similar pending cases. Deip Paul and Steven Brown were found “not guilty” of several felonies after only two hours of jury deliberation. The September 7th verdict finished off a two-week trial, which Superior Court Judge John Trice called:

[a]n historic ruling for San Luis Obispo County, the first of its kind I believe, that I’m sure will have a large repercussions on currently ongoing trials.

(more…)

A Nevada trial court judge threw out an indictment Monday against Leonard Schwingdorf and Nathan Hamilton, two medical marijuana dispensary operators arrested in federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and local law enforcement raids on several Las Vegas facilities last year. This was the first legal disposition since the Obama DEA raided at least 5 area dispensaries on September 8, 2010, indicting 15 people as a result.

When dismissing the indictments, Nevada District Judge Donald Mosley called the state’s law “mind boggling.” Judge Mosley further questioned the legislature’s failure to craft a law that benefits patients:

[W]hy don’t they (the Legislature) make up their mind if they want to make it legal or not…I can’t make any sense out of this law.

(more…)

After a lengthy approval process, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  has granted research to study the effects of medical marijuana on people living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This summer, the research group MAPS was given the go-ahead by FDA to conduct a:

Placebo-Controlled, Triple-Blind, Randomized Crossover Pilot Study of the Safety and Efficacy of Five Different Potencies of Smoked or Vaporized Marijuana in 50 Veterans with Chronic, Treatment-Resistant [PTSD].

(more…)

Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) wrote a letter to Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske on Monday, urging a change to the country’s drug policy with regard to marijuana. In addition to calling the federal policy on medical marijuana “misguided,” Cohen said, “Marijuana does not belong on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.”

There is no evidence that marijuana has the same addictive qualities or damaging consequences as these harder drugs and it should not be treated as such.

(more…)

This was a tough year for medical cannabis in California. The state legislature failed to adopt a measure protecting patients’ employment rights, but they did adopt two bills that will present new hurdles for patients, providers, and growers. Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has a plan to take back the momentum in California and pass legislation in 2012 to protect patients’ rights, community-based access, and medical cannabis growers. But we need your help to do it!

Can you please take a minute right now to donate $20, $50, $100… or whatever amount you can afford to support ASA?

(more…)

By: Eugene Davidovich

The month of September has eternally been etched into memories of medical marijuana patients in San Diego. September 9^th, marks the second anniversary of District Attorney (DA) Bonnie Dumanis’ Operation Green Rx raids; the largest one day swat style assault against medical marijuana access in San Diego County’s history.

In the early hours of Wednesday, September 9, 2009, Dumanis’ underlings, in collaboration with local DEA agents all part of the County’s cross-jurisdictional Narcotic Task Force (NTF), were set loose on the San Diego patient community. (more…)