Blog

Contents:

Message from the CA Director - Hello from Washington, DC

California News

• Obama Says Easing Marijuana Restrictions a Job for Congress (National)
• Banks Still Won't Touch Medical Marijuana Dispensaries (California)
• Why California Weed Is Still the Best (California)
• Tough medical marijuana cultivation rules again backed by Butte board (Butte County)
• Fake Letters Aim to Convince San Jose Marijuana Clubs to Close (San Jose)
• San Jose Wants Out of the Medical Marijuana Industry, But Weed Won't Leave Without a Fight (San Jose)
• Bay Area's medical marijuana pioneer caught in jaws of federal drug laws (Marin)
• Pot vs Fish: Can We Grow Salmon-Friendly Weed? (The Emerald Triangle)
• Arts District Residents Abuzz Over Pot Clinic (Los Angeles)
• Lake County Regional Planning Commission reviews medical marijuana rules (Lake County)
• Fremont ban on outdoor medical marijuana gardens debated (Fremont)
• Shasta County Board of Supervisors votes to ban all outdoor pot grows (Shasta County)

Events

• Monday, February 3, 2014 – Trial for Patricia Albright (Sacramento) - POSTPONED
• Monday, February 3, 2014 – Trial for Daniel Levine (Oroville)
• Tuesday, February 4 – Friday, February 7, 2014 – CA Medical Board Hearing for Dr. David Allen (Sacramento)
• Saturday, February 15, 2014 – San Diego 215 Party (Ocean Beach)
• Saturday, February 15, 2014 – Sonoma 215 Party (Santa Rosa)
• April 5-7, 2014 - The 2nd Annual National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference (Washington, DC)

Take Action

• Support the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act
• Join Americans for Safe Access (ASA)

ASA Website Spotlight

• Find an Attorney: ASA Legal Team
• Free Online Services

ASA Merchandise

• ASA Cloud Vaporizer Pen
• ASA Condition-Specific Booklets for Kindle

ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

• Tuesday, February 4, 2014 – San Francisco ASA (San Francisco)
• Wednesday, February 5, 2014 – Yuba County ASA (Marysville)
• Thursday, February 6, 2014 – Sonoma ASA (Santa Rosa)

Message from the CA Director

Good morning from Washington, DC! I am visiting ASA’s office here to help get ready for the National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference, April 5-7. Please register today and book your room at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel. This promises to be the most important medical cannabis event of the year, so don’t miss out!

Can you also take a minute to sign the petition supporting legislation to protect medical cannabis patients in California who need organ transplants? Scroll down to the “Take Action” section and sign right now, and then forward a link you your friends. We need to show lawmakers this is something people support in every legislative district in the state. Thanks for helping!

California News

Obama Says Easing Marijuana Restrictions a Job for Congress
By Zeke J. Miller in Time

President Barack Obama says in a new interview that that it’s up to Congress to remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of the most serious narcotics, implying but not explicitly saying that he might support such a move…
Read more here.

---
Banks Still Won't Touch Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
By Ken Broder on AllGov.com

When President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, a couple years ago, assured medical marijuana dispensary owners in states where their business was legal that they wouldn’t get busted, they thought they could take that pledge, as the saying goes, to the bank. But as subsequent numerous arrests and prosecutions attest, those promises could not be taken to the bank and neither could money used in running the businesses. Holder said in an interview last week that the federal government will revisit regulations that make it way too dangerous for banks to accept deposits or make loans tied to medical marijuana because of fear they will be prosecuted…
Read more here.

---
Why California Weed Is Still the Best
By David Downs in the East Bay Express

Proponents of reforming California's marijuana law appear to be a bit jealous of the wildly successful launch of legal pot sales in Colorado this year — and you can't blame them. Any adult over 21 in Colorado can walk into one of more than fifty state-sanctioned stores and legally buy weed — no medical card necessary. The state of Washington plans to follow this spring…
Read more here.

---
Tough medical marijuana cultivation rules again backed by Butte board
By Staff in OrovilleMR

Strict rules on medical marijuana cultivation were backed again today in a second reading before the Butte County Board of Supervisors. The rules would limit the size of medical marijuana grows to 150 square-feet on properties 10 acres or larger, 100 square-feet on properties five to 10 acres, and 50 square-feet on properties from a half-acre to five acres. On lots smaller than a half-acre, only indoor grows of less than 120 square-feet would be allowed in a building dedicated to the crop…
Read more here.

---
Fake Letters Aim to Convince San Jose Marijuana Clubs to Close
By Chris Roberts on NBC Bay Area

Letters are being sent to certain San Jose medical marijuana dispensaries, instructing those businesses to shut down or face consequences. And not all of the letters are real. As many as 14 medical marijuana dispensaries in Northern California's largest city have received the fake letters that appear to be from city code enforcement officers, according to local radio reports...
Read more here.

---
San Jose Wants Out of the Medical Marijuana Industry, But Weed Won't Leave Without a Fight
By Chris Roberts in the SF Weekly Blog

Kicking and screaming,San Jose has been dragged into the California medical marijuana industry, something the de facto Silicon Valley capital now wants to rid itself of entirely.  Northern California's largest city was the last big city in the Bay Area to have cannabis clubs, and the least willing to implement rules for legal weed. Regulations weren't even suggested until the city had as many as100 clubs of varying degrees of scrupulousness operating under the vagaries of state law…
Read more here.

---
Bay Area's medical marijuana pioneer caught in jaws of federal drug laws
By Richard Halstead in the Marin Independent Journal

Although the legalization of marijuana use, both for recreational and medical purposes, is sweeping the country, the woman who founded the nation's first locally sanctioned medical marijuana dispensary in Fairfax some 18 years ago is struggling to avoid homelessness. When Lynnette Shaw opened the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana in 1996, it was the first medical marijuana dispensary in the state to operate under the auspices of Proposition 215, California's Compassionate Use Act. But in 2011, a crackdown launched by Melinda Haag, the San Francisco-based U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, shut down the Marin Alliance…
Read more here.

---
Pot vs Fish: Can We Grow Salmon-Friendly Weed?
By Liam Moriarty on Jefferson Public Radio

As marijuana has become more mainstream, the business of cultivating the plant has boomed. That’s true nowhere more than in coastal northern California. There, the so-called Emerald Triangle of Mendocino, Trinity and Humboldt counties is believed to be the largest cannabis-growing region in the US. But as the hills have sprouted thousands of new grow operations, haphazard cultivation is threatening the recovery of endangered west coast salmon and steelhead populations…
Read more and listen to the broadcast here.

---
Arts District Residents Abuzz Over Pot Clinic
By Donna Evans in the DT News

In late 2012, Boyle Heights-based Ramirez Liquors announced plans to open a store in the Arts District. The second outpost of the family-run business was slated for a 7,081-square-foot space at Fifth and Seaton streets (near Alameda Street)… Fast forward to December when, to area residents’ surprise, a medical marijuana clinic, Grateful Meds, suddenly opened one block south of where Ramirez sought to locate. “The dispensary seemed to sneak in under the radar,” said Russell Roney, a resident of the nearby Barker Block and one of those strongly opposed to Ramirez Liquor’s permit application. “No one that I know of was aware of its opening until after it was operational…”
Read more here.

---
Lake County Regional Planning Commission reviews medical marijuana rules
By Dan Moran in the Mundelein Review

The first policy debate over regulations for medical marijuana operations in unincorporated areas found members of the Lake County Regional Planning Commission questioning this week whether some of the proposed rules would be too strict. For example, during a discussion of suggested measures on Tuesday, Jan. 28, members voted 6-5 against recommending a provision that would prohibit cannabis dispensaries or cultivation sites from sitting within 500 feet of residential areas, parks, forest preserves or places of worship. Commission member Marie Lyons was among those voting against that concept, saying “I think we’re running into crossing a line where we’re making it too restrictive. I’m troubled by adding these other protected uses” to similar limits related to schools and daycare centers…
Read more here.

---
Fremont ban on outdoor medical marijuana gardens debated
By Chris De Benedetti in the San Jose Mercury News

Police and city planners had hoped to ban publicly visible outdoor medical marijuana gardens to ease residents' concerns about crime, but the Planning Commission, worried about the hazards of increased indoor cultivation, asked city staffers to find another solution. While trying to reduce the burglaries and robberies that outdoor cultivation invites, a narrow majority of commissioners said last week that sending more growers indoors might increase the environmental and safety problems associated with that method…
Read more here.

---
Shasta County Board of Supervisors votes to ban all outdoor pot grows
By Staff in the Record Searchlight

Shasta County Supervisors voted unanimously this afternoon to ban all outdoor medical marijuana grows and restrict indoor grows to 12 or fewer plants. The law will go into effect in 30 days. The panel reached the decision after a marathon meeting today that also touched on issues important to the east county…
Read more here.

Events

Monday, February 3, 2014 – Trial for Patricia Albright (Sacramento) - POSTPONED
Patricia Albright is a 60-year old medical cannabis patient facing federal charges. The start of her trial has been continued (postponed to a future date). Check next week’s Roundup for news about the new date.

Monday, February 3, 2014 – Trial for Daniel Levine (Oroville)
Medical cannabis defendant Daniel Levine is on trial in Oroville on Monday. The trial starts at 8:30 AM in the Butte County Courthouse located at 1 Court Street, Oroville, CA 95968. Thanks you to The Human Solution http://the-human-solution.org for tracking this case.

Tuesday, February 4 – Friday, February 7, 2014 – CA Medical Board Hearing for Dr. David Allen (Sacramento)
This is likely to be an important week in Dr. David Allen’s ongoing hearing before the CA Medical Board. The Board will decide whether or not to penalize Dr. Allen, including the loss of his medical license. Thousands of patients count on Dr. Allen. Show you support by attending the hearing at 9:00 AM in the Office of Administrative Hearings, 2349 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 200 Sacramento, CA 95833. Dress and behave in a professional manner to help Dr. Allen.

Saturday, February 15, 2014 – San Diego 215 Party (Ocean Beach)
Join San Diego ASA from 2:15 to 10:00 PM to celebrate 18 years of safe access in California with music, food, and fun! Tickets are $20. You must be at least 21 years old and have a valid medical cannabis recommendation to attend. The party is at the Seedless Compound at 2229 Bacon St., Ocean Beach, CA 92107.

Saturday, February 15, 2014 – Sonoma ASA 215 Party (Santa Rosa)
Join Sonoma ASA from 2:00 to 10:00 PM at Arlene Francis Center, 99 West 6th Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95401. Look for more details later, or email [email protected] for more information.

April 5-7, 2014- The 2nd Annual National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference (Washington, DC)
We are pleased to announce the 2nd Annual National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference, Navigating Medical Cannabis in the Mainstream, taking place April 5 – 7th at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. Americans for Safe Access and our allies will fight even harder for safe access in 2014. This is our chance to show the Obama Administration and Congress our strength in unity – and to make our voice heard like never before in the nation’s capitol! The conference is your chance to network with other activists from around the country, attend panels and workshops to improve your skills and increase your knowledge, and to engage in direct citizen-lobbying efforts in the halls of Congress. Last year we had over 300 patients, providers, activist, medical and legal professional march on Washington on our lobby day. This was the largest march on Washington for safe access. Dont miss your chance to be apart of history.
Read more, register for the conference, and book your room at the Mayflower Inn today.

Do you have a medical cannabis event to share? Send items for the California Weekly Roundup to [email protected] before 12:00 PM on Friday to be included in Monday's distribution.

Take Action

Support the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act

Patients in California can be denied a life-saving organ transplant based solely on their legal medical cannabis use. Some patients have already died after being denied equal access to health care, and others are in jeopardy. Sign the petition calling on California lawmakers to pass a bill protecting legal medical cannabis patients this year – and then share the link with your friends and loved ones.

---
Join Americans for Safe Access (ASA)

ASA is the nation’s leading medical cannabis patients’ advocacy organization. The patients, medical professionals, scientists, concerned citizens, and other who comprise ASA are committed to promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works in partnership with state, local and national legislators to overcome barriers and create policies that improve access to cannabis for patients and researchers. ASA provides legal training for and medical information to patients, attorneys, health and medical professionals and policymakers throughout the United States. We also organize media support for court cases, rapid response to law enforcement raids, and capacity-building for advocates. Your support makes it all possible. Join ASA or renew your membership today.

ASA Website Spotlight

Find an Attorney: ASA Legal Team

ASA’s website offer a lot of free legal information, resources, briefs, and much more. But sometimes medical cannabis patients, providers, or cultivators need a lawyer. You can find lawyers who support ASA and the cause of medical cannabis in the Legal Section of our website.

---
Free Online Services:

• Legal Support - Legal information for patients, lawyers, and other about medical cannabis laws the legal system.
• Publications - Education literature and training for patients, activists, and others.
• Raid Center - Be prepared for a law enforcement encounter, let ASA help you in case of a federal raid, and get text alerts regarding local law enforcement activity.
• Medical Cannabis Advocate's Training Center - Learn how to be a more effective advocate for medical cannabis and how to build the movement in your community.

ASA Merchandise

ASA Cloud Vaporizer Pen

Medicate and advocate! The ASA Cloud Vaporizer Pen is perfect for patients who want to show their support for the medical cannabis movement. The pen has an ASA logo, comes in our signature color, and has a lifetime guarantee. 30% of every sale goes to support ASA.

ASA Condition-Specific Booklets for Kindle
 
ASA’s condition-specific booklets are the go-to reference for doctors and researchers when it comes to medical cannabis and cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, and other common conditions. These science-based booklets are also a great tool for patients who want to talk to their health care provider, family members, or others about medical cannabis. Download your now.

ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

Tuesday, February 4, 2014 – San Francisco ASA (San Francisco)
The meeting starts at 7:30 PM at Lounge 847, 847 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94103. Email [email protected] for more information.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014 – Yuba County ASA (Marysville)
The meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Rivers Edge Pub, 1 E. 12th Street, Marysville, CA 95901. Email [email protected] for more information.

Thursday, February 6, 2014 – Sonoma ASA (Santa Rosa)
The meeting starts at 5:00 PM at Arlene Francis Center, 99 West 6th Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95401. Email [email protected] for more information.

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.