Medical Marijuana Activists to Protest Obama's DOJ Crackdown Thursday in 9 Cities, 6 States
Coordinated day of action calls attention to unprecedented attack on medical marijuana community
San Francisco, CA -- Medical marijuana activists are planning
to protest the Obama Administration's attack on medical marijuana
states this Thursday by staging protests in 9 cities and 6 states.
Rallies are planned to take place at an Obama fundraiser in San
Francisco, as well as at the president's campaign headquarters in
Sacramento (CA) and San Diego (CA), and at federal buildings in
several cities, including Trenton (NJ), Phoenix (AZ), Seattle (WA),
Eugene (OR), and Portland (ME).
For detailed information on Thursday (2/16) rally times and
locations, see: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/MMWRallyLocations
The rallies are an attempt to draw attention to Obama's failure at
keeping his promise not to "circumvent" state medical marijuana laws
and to highlight the unprecedented attack on patients and their
providers across the country. During Obama's tenure in office, his
Justice Department has conducted nearly 200 SWAT-style raids on
legitimate dispensaries and growers, resulting in more than 60
federal indictments, costing the taxpayers tens of millions of
dollars at a time of fiscal crisis.
The Obama Administration has also employed numerous federal
agencies, including the DEA, FBI, ATF, VA, and IRS to shut down
access to medical marijuana, and cut-off services for, or otherwise
discriminate against, literally hundreds of thousands of patients
across the country. "President Obama's most widespread and cynical
attack so far has been direct threats from more than a dozen of his
U.S. Attorneys against elected officials in at least 10 medical
marijuana states," said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of
Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country's leading medical
marijuana advocacy group, which is organizing Thursday's protests.
"The literal and figurative assault on medical marijuana patients
currently underway by the Obama Administration is unprecedented in
this country's history, despite hollow proclamations to the
contrary," continued Sherer. "The intensity and breadth of the
attacks has far surpassed anything we saw under the Bush
Administration and has resulted in the roll-back of numerous local
and state laws." The latest attack came this week from the U.S.
Attorney for Delaware whose threats have suspended that state's
medical marijuana program.
Patient advocates are calling on Obama to end his attacks on the
medical marijuana community and begin to address this issue from a
public health standpoint. In addition to keeping his pledge of
deprioritizing enforcement, advocates are encouraging Obama to
reschedule marijuana for medical use. ASA is currently litigating
the rescheduling issue in the D.C. Circuit and has also filed a
separate lawsuit challenging the Obama Administration's violation of
the Tenth Amendment by derailing state medical marijuana laws.
Further information:
Rally locations and times: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/MMWRallyLocations
Rally signs:
http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/MMJProtest_Signs.pdf
