Blog

California Senator Barbara Boxer is supporting the CARERS Act in Congress. It is great to see one of our state Senators standing up for our voter-approved medical cannabis laws! I will be with hundreds of other advocates in Washington, DC, this week to talk about the CARERS Act and much more at the National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference and Citizen Lobby Day. Check FaceBook and Twitter for updates if you cannot make it.

Here in California, the City of Malibu is stalling on approving a dispensary permit, while Ocenside is pushing to close all of its facilities. And Fresno County keeps imposing exorbitant fines for cultivators. Not all the news is bad this week. Tulare County backed off a plan to toughen its medical cannabis regulations, and San Diego’s first legally permitted facility is finally open. Patients in Clearlake are fighting back against a cultivation ban in court.

Mark your calendar for important city council and legislative dates coming up in Vallejo and Sacramento. Get all the medical cannabis news, events, and court support dates in ASA’s California Weekly Roundup for Monday, March 23.

ASA California Weekly Roundup: March 16, 2015

Contents:

News

• Sen. Boxer quietly backs bipartisan medical marijuana bill (National)
• City Council stalls marijuana dispensary approval (Malibu)
• County cool with marijuana ordinance (Tulare County)
• Clearlake Medical Marijuana Cultivation Ban Challenged in Court (Clearlake)
• SD's first legal pot shop opens quietly (San Diego)
• Burglary suspect shot, killed by security guard at Anaheim medical marijuana business (Anaheim)
• Fresno County supervisors deny medical marijuana appeals, issue fines totaling $477,000 (Fresno County)
• Oceanside kicks dispensaries to curb (Oceanside)

Events

• March 23, 2015 - Marijuana Compassion and Common Sense (Online)
• March 24, 2015 – Vallejo City Council Meeting (Vallejo)
• March 27-31, 2015 – ASA’s National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference 2015 (Washington, DC)
• March 31, 2015 - Santa Rosa City Council Meeting (Santa Rosa)
• April 7, 2015 - Assembly Health Committee Hearing on AB 258 (Sacramento)
• April 7, 2015 – Senate Health Committee Hearing on SB 165 (Sacramento)
• April 8, 2015 – Senate Health Committee Hearing on SB 140 (Sacramento)
• April 15, 2015 – Assembly Agriculture Committee Hearing on AB 243 (Sacramento)

Court Support

• March 26, 2015 – Arraignment for Bart Clanton, Gerald Mize, and Tina Maria (Oroville)
• March 26, 2015 – Court Support for Jacob and Sierra Macias (Oroville)
• And more

Take Action Now

• Support the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act
• Don’t Waste Millions Closing Dispensaries in Vallejo
• ASA-CCSA Email Discussion List

ASA Website Spotlight

• National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference

Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

• March 24, 2015 – San Diego ASA (San Diego)

News

Sen. Boxer quietly backs bipartisan medical marijuana bill (National)
Niraj Chokshi, Washington Post

With little fanfare, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has thrown her support behind a historic Senate bill to comprehensively reform medical marijuana at the federal level.
Read more here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/03/18/sen-boxer-quietly-backs-bipartisan-medical-marijuana-bill/

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City Council stalls marijuana dispensary approval (Malibu)
Chris Bradshaw, Malibu Surfside News

Although members of the Malibu Planning Commission voted to deny a marijuana dispensary to the Malibu Community Collective (MCC), members of the Malibu City Council left the issue in limbo at its meeting March 9.
Read more here:
http://www.malibusurfsidenews.com/city/city-council-stalls-marijuana-dispensary-approval#sthash.kb34eytM.dpuf

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County cool with marijuana ordinance (Tulare County)
Kelli Ballard, Porterville Recorder

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors will maintain the status quo as far as pot goes. A county ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana collectives, cooperatives and dispensaries established two years ago will remain in effect without being strengthened.
Read more here:
http://www.recorderonline.com/news/county-cool-with-marijuana-ordinance/article_3af7bd9e-c8cc-11e4-8eb1-1b5f5b7a6ab8.html

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Clearlake Medical Marijuana Cultivation Ban Challenged in Court (Clearlake)
CA NORML

A lawsuit supported by California NORML is being filed today against the recently enacted ban on medical marijuana cultivation in Clearlake, California.
Read more here:
http://www.canorml.org/news/Clearlake_medical_marijuana_cultivation_ban_challenged

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SD's first legal pot shop opens quietly (San Diego)
David Garrick, U-T San Diego

San Diego’s first permitted medical marijuana dispensary opened relatively quietly Wednesday morning in an Otay Mesa strip mall near the international border.
Read more here:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/mar/18/marijuana-dispensary-legal-open-otay-first/

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Burglary suspect shot, killed by security guard at Anaheim medical marijuana business (Anaheim)
Louis Casiano, Jr., Orange County Register

A man was shot and killed early Sunday morning during an attempted burglary at an Anaheim medical marijuana dispensary, police said.
Read more here:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-654431--.html

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Fresno County supervisors deny medical marijuana appeals, issue fines totaling $477,000 (Fresno County)
Marc Benjamin, Fresno Bee

Fresno County supervisors held an abbreviated version of their medical marijuana appeals hearings Tuesday morning, but they are still getting push back from advocates and lawyers about the county’s enforcement.
Read more here:
http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/03/17/4432445_fresno-county-supervisors-deny.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

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Oceanside kicks dispensaries to curb (Oceanside)
Ken Leighton, San Diego Reader

The North County toke board tally changed today, March 18. It’s now City of Oceanside, 3. Pot dispensaries, 0. Oceanside city attorney John Mullen said last week that the future for the two remaining medical marijuana dispensaries in town, Chronic Pain Releaf and So Cal Holistic Health, would be short.
Read more here:
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/mar/18/stringers-oceanside-kicks-dispensaries-curb/#

 Public Meetings & Events

March 23, 2015 - Marijuana Compassion and Common Sense (Online)
6:00 PM at www.blogtalkradio.com/marijuananews Tune in for this weekly live Internet broadcast about cannabis and medical cannabis issues. You can call in to participate. 

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March 24, 2015 – Vallejo City Council Meeting (Vallejo)
7:00 PM at City Hall, 555 Santa Clara St., Vallejo, CA 94590. The City Council will vote to spend $2 million dollars closing medical cannabis patients’ associations. Public comments in opposition to the plan are needed. Get more information and find out what you can do to help here: https://mcdlawyer.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/vallejo-set-to-waste-millions-fighting-medical-marijuana/

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March 27-31, 2015 – ASA’s National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference 2015 (Washington, DC)
Join us March 27th – 31stfor the biggest and most important medical cannabis conference yet. Early bird and ASA member discounts are now available. Save money on registration, travel, and lodging by registering now. For more information: http://www.nationalmedicalcannabisunityconference.org 

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March 31, 2015 - Santa Rosa City Council Meeting (Santa Rosa)
4:00 PM in Council Chambers at 100 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95404. The City Council will consider a measure banning indoor smoking in multiple unit housing. This could adversely affect legal patients who smoke cannabis at home. Details to follow. 

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April 7, 2015 - Assembly Health Committee Hearing on AB 258 (Sacramento)
1:30 PM in Room 4202 in the State Capitol Building on 10th Street between L & N Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814. The committee will hear testimony on AB 258 (Levine), which will prevent discrimination against legal medical cannabis patients in the organ transplant process. See http://www.safeaccessnow.org/2015_legislation for more information.

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April 7, 2015 – Senate Health Committee Hearing on SB 165 (Sacramento)
9:30 AM in Room 4203 in the State Capitol Building on 10th Street between L & N Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814. The committee will hear testimony on SB 165 (Mooning), which will increase civil penalties for some cannabis cultivation. See http://www.safeaccessnow.org/2015_legislation for more information.

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April 8, 2015 – Senate Health Committee Hearing on SB 140 (Sacramento)
1:30 PM in Room 4203 in the State Capitol Building on 10th Street between L & N Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814. The committee will hear testimony on SB 140 (Leno), which will regulate e-cigarettes and vaporizer pens. See http://www.safeaccessnow.org/2015_legislation for more information.

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April 15, 2015 – Assembly Agriculture Committee Hearing on AB 243 (Sacramento)
1:30 PM in Room 126 in the State Capitol Building on 10th Street between L & N Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814. The committee will hear testimony on AB 243 (Woods), which will require that indoor and outdoor medical cannabis cultivation to be conducted in accordance with state and local laws and best practices related to land conversion, grading, electricity use, etc. See http://www.safeaccessnow.org/2015_legislation for more information.

Court Support

What is Court Support and how do I get involved?

March 26, 2015 – Arraignment for Bart Clanton, Gerald Mize, and Tina Maria (Oroville)
8:30 AM at 1 Court St, Oroville, CA 95965. Dress in a professional manner and obey all courtroom rules to best help the defendants.

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March 26, 2015 – Court Support for Jacob and Sierra Macias (Oroville)
1:30 PM at 1 Court St, Oroville, CA 95965. Dress in a professional manner and obey all courtroom rules to best help the defendants. 

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Find more information and additional listings on The Human Solution Calendar: http://www.thsintl.org/calendar

Take Action Now

Support the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act (California)
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/support_the_ca_medical_marijuana_organ_transplant_act

A patient in California can be denied a life-saving organ transplant solely based on the fact that he or she uses medical cannabis! Legal patients have died after being removed from the organ transplant list, and others are in jeopardy right now. Americans for Safe Access, the nation's leading medical cannabis patients' advocacy organization, proposes legislation to prevent anyone from being denied a transplant because of medical cannabis. Sign this petition to let lawmakers know you support AB 258, the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act, to provide equal access to health care for legal patients.

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Don’t Waste Millions Closing Dispensaries in Vallejo
https://mcdlawyer.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/vallejo-set-to-waste-millions-fighting-medical-marijuana/

Contact the City Council now and tell them to be sensible: leave a few of the dispensaries open and enact reasonable regulations. They could start by respecting the dispensaries that are well-managed and pay their taxes–that would eliminate over half of them. It’s time for peace with marijuana, not an expensive and unwinnable war.

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ASA-CCSA Email Discussion List
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/asa_ccsa_email_discussion_list

There are thirteen medical cannabis bills in the state legislature this year, cities and counties are moving to regulate or ban collectives, and there are big battles for medical cannabis in the courts right now. Sign up for the California Campaign for Safe Access email discussion list to talk with patients, advocates, industry workers, and other stakeholders about what’s happening at the local, state, and federal level. This email discussion list is the primary place that ASA publishes information about state legislation, including bills about organ transplants, commercial regulations, vape pens, and cultivation rules.

ASA Website Spotlight

National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference
http://www.nationalmedicalcannabisunityconference.org

The National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference is the largest conference for medical marijuana patients, activists, lawyers and medical professionals promoting safe and legal access to marijuana for therapeutic uses and research.  The Unity conference is your place to learn best practices, exchange ideas and learn how to navigate medical marijuana in this new political landscape. This conference will also provide professional development and leadership training to patients and concerned citizens in all areas of advocacy including federal, state and local government relations, public affairs, community relations, public policy, legislation, Congressional relations, community activism, political engagement and campaigns. Attendees will hear from successful lobbyists and communicators, elected officials, professional staff, industry experts, and public policy specialists on a wide variety of how-to topics relevant to legislative and regulatory advocacy.

ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

March 24, 2015 – San Diego ASA (San Diego)
6:30 – 7:30 networking, 7:30 meeting starts at Giovanni's Restaurant at 9353 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92123. Email [email protected] for more information.

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See all California ASA Chapter Meetings here:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/california_advocacy 

Have something to share?

The “California Weekly Roundup” is a once-a-week email for ASA Members and Friends that focuses on relevant news and important updates, action alerts, meetings and special events. Send items for the California Weekly Roundup to [email protected] before 12:00 PM on Friday to be included in Monday's distribution.