2007: ASA's Year in Review

In the January edition of ASA's monthly newsletter, we review much of what we accomplished in 2007, including:

• Winning a legal victory that forces law enforcement to return medical marijuana to valid California patients


• Co-sponsoring the largest HIV/AIDS lobby day in DC


• Launching a grassroots campaign to pressure Gov. Schwarzenegger to stand up for patients' rights


• Protecting state laws by defeating the Coburn Amendment


• And much, much more... 

Thanks to Alex at Drug Law Blog for including some of ASA's accomplishments in his top 10 drug law stories of 2007. Here's how we ranked:

8. ASA Sues the Feds for Putting Out Pseudo-Scientific Gobbledygook.

One of the intriguing things about law is the way formalized and seemingly very "square" tactics can sometimes accomplish surprisingly progressive goals. This year, Americans for Safe Access brought a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA based on a law called the Data Quality Act.  The basic argument is that under the DQA, these federal agencies have to rely on accurate science in setting their policies, and that their position on medical marijuana manifestly fails to do that. This suit is still working its way through the courts, so we'll see what comes of it....

4. Medical Marijuana:  The Feds Push, and California Pushes Back

... In November, the Fourth District Court of Appeal decided City of Garden Grove v. Superior Court, a case that was all about whether an individual should be able to get back medical marijuana that was seized by police if the marijuana was legally possessed under California law. We also saw the oral argument in the California Supreme Court in the employment law case of Ross v. RagingWire, which was about whether an employee could be fired for using physician-approved medical marijuana. Though it's tough to know how that one will ultimately come out, at least some of the comments from the justices suggested that they were sympathetic to the state's position on medical marijuana. [Both of these cases were argued by ASA Chief Counsel, Joe Elford.]

Check out the rest of his top 10 to see how we matched up.