ASA California Roundup: January 27, 2014

Posted by 21pc on January 27, 2014

Contents:

Message from the CA Director - Unfinished Business

California News

  • Eric Holder Just Announced A Major Shift On U.S. Marijuana Policy (National)
  • Roger Goodell: NFL may allow medical marijuana if it helps with concussions (National)
  • California police have no interest in setting pot rules (California)
  • Weed War: Cali Cops Take Home $181 Million in Loot (California)
  • Another View: Blowing smoke about e-cigarettes (California)
  • Pot collective operating on church property in City Heights (City Heights)
  • Stockton entrepreneur saw future in pot, now eyes prison (Stockton)
  • Urgency Ordinance Prohibits Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Diamond Bar (Diamond Bar)

Events

  • Monday, January 27, 2014 – Continuing Medical Board Hearing for Dr. David Allen (Sacramento)
  • April 5-7, 2014 - The 2nd Annual National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference (Washington, DC)

Take Action

  • Take the National Survey on Medical Cannabis Policy
  • Join Americans for Safe Access (ASA)

ASA Website Spotlight

  • Resources for Patients
  • Free Online Services

ASA Merchandise

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

ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

  • Tuesday, January 28, 2014 – North County ASA (San Diego)
  • Thursday, January 30, 2014 – Sacramento ASA (Sacramento)

Message from the CA Director

More than seventeen years have passed since California voters approved Proposition 215, but we still have a lot of unfinished business. Legal patients face pervasive discrimination in employment, housing, parental rights, and equal access to health care. Most voters would be shocked to learn that the courts have taken an unreasonably narrow view of Proposition 215, holding that voters only intended to protect patients from criminal sanctions – not discrimination – when they approved the ballot measure. That is why law abiding medical cannabis patients can be fired, denied employment or housing, lose custody of their children, or even be denied access to life-saving health care.

The solution lies in the state legislature, which has the power to end discrimination against legal medical cannabis patients. Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has been working to adopt legislation like that every year since 2008. We need your help this year to stop one of the most heartbreaking forms of discrimination against medical cannabis patients – denial or organ transplants. Nothing in our state law protects patients who need organ transplants from being denied a place on the waiting list based solely on their legal medical cannabis use. Patients have died as a result of this policy, and others are in jeopardy right now. Lawmakers must act to prevent more tragedies.

Were you or a loved one denied access to the organ transplant list based on medical cannabis use? If so, ASA wants to help you tell your story so that we can end this discrimination once and for all. Email me at [email protected] if you can help out.

California News

Eric Holder Just Announced A Major Shift On U.S. Marijuana Policy
By David Ingram on Huffington Post

U.S. treasury and law enforcement agencies will soon issue regulations opening banking services to state-sanctioned marijuana businesses even though cannabis remains classified an illegal narcotic under federal law, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Thursday. Holder said the new rules would address problems faced by newly licensed recreational pot retailers in Colorado, and medical marijuana dispensaries in other states, in operating on a cash-only basis, without access to banking services or credit…
Read more here.

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Roger Goodell: NFL may allow medical marijuana if it helps with concussions
By Chris Burke on Sports Illustrated

Commissioner Roger Goodell might be willing to think outside the box when it comes to helping NFL players deal with head injuries. During a panel Thursday for the league’s “Head Health Challenge”, Goodell said that the league would continue looking for ways to improve its players’ health, including the possible use of medical marijuana. “I’m not a medical expert,” Goodell said, according to USA Today. “We will obviously follow signs. We will follow medicine and if they determine this could be a proper usage in any context, we will consider that. Our medical experts are not saying that right now…”
Read more here.

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California police have no interest in setting pot rules
By Peter Hecht in the Sacramento Bee

In 2010, as Colorado lawmakers were creating America’s first state-licensed and regulated medical marijuana industry, fellow police officers at a Colorado Drug Investigators Association conference jeered a state law enforcement official assigned to draft the legislation. Some of the sharpest barbs came from visiting narcotics officers from California. ..
Read more here.

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Weed War: Cali Cops Take Home $181 Million in Loot
By David Downs in the East Bay Express

Anger with police chiefs over their continued obstruction of reasonable medical marijuana regulations is boiling over in California this year.
As Colorado and Washington blaze new trails in regulated access to legal pot, California’s police chiefs continue to block any legislation to regulate the state’s multibillion-dollar medical marijuana industry, which has been around since 1996. Instead, police chiefs want to end medical marijuana in California, calling it a fraud and a sham…
Read more here.

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Another View: Blowing smoke about e-cigarettes
By Dale H. Gieringer, Ph.D. in the Sacramento Bee

Misguided anti-tobacco advocates are trying to rally Californians against an important new weapon in the war against smoking: smokeless e-cigarettes and vaporizers. Despite compelling evidence that e-cigs present no public health hazard and greatly reduce the risk of smoking-related disease, advocates have been lobbying legislators across the state to prohibit e-cig use in nonsmoking areas…
Read more here.

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Pot collective operating on church property in City Heights
By David Gotfredson and Richard Allyn on CBS 8

A local medical marijuana dispensary will soon be shutting its doors after CBS News 8 received a tip that the collective was not only operating without a city permit, but was also renting office space on church property. For the past three months, the Green Urban medical marijuana dispensary has been open for business at 3054 Fairmount Avenue in City Heights. The property is owned by Grace Evangelical Methodist Church next door.
Read more and watch a video here.

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Stockton entrepreneur saw future in pot, now eyes prison
By Peter Hecht in the Modesto Bee

Matthew Davies, a freshly minted MBA graduate from Santa Clara University, was a fast achiever in business. He launched an online jewelry importing company, moved on to open a property management firm and then an upscale French restaurant, Le Bistro, that served fine wines and Grand Marnier soufflés. On March 3, Davies, 35, of Stockton, will begin serving a five-year federal prison term for his most ambitious, and ill-fated, venture: becoming a medical marijuana entrepreneur in California…
Read more here.

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Urgency Ordinance Prohibits Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Diamond Bar
By Melaine C. Johnson in the Diamond Bar-Walnut Patch

The city of Diamond Bar has taken steps to make sure no medical marijuana dispensaries open up in town. The Diamond Bar City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday night to approve a 45-day urgency ordinance prohibiting the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries. Ryan McLean, the assistant to the city manager, said the urgency ordinance was needed so that the city can have time to draft a permanent one…
Read more here.

Events

Monday, January 27, 2014 – Ongoing Medical Board Hearing for Dr. David Allen
Medical cannabis doctor and advocate Dr. David Allen hearing before the CA Medical Board continues on Monday, January 27, and perhaps, throughout the week. 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.

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

Take the National Survey on Medical Cannabis Policy

We know that the best outcomes for our constituents come when they have a seat at the table when laws affecting their welfare are debated. Help ASA better represent your voice in the local, state, and federal conversation about medical cannabis regulations. Take this short survey to help us better understand your priorities when it comes to medical cannabis guidelines.

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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

Resources for Patients

ASA offers a wealth of free and accurate information for patients in the Resources for Patients section of our website. Learn about how to become a legal patient, what science says about medical cannabis, information about growing your own medicine, and much more. Be sure to check out all the links in the Resources for Patients section!

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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, January 28, 2014 – North County ASA (San Diego)
The meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Captain Keno's - 158 N Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024. Email [email protected] for more information.

Thursday, January 30, 2014 – Sacramento ASA
The meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Sugar Plum Café located at 2315 K St, Sacramento, CA 95816. 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.