CA Unity Conference: You Can Still Be a Part of History

Posted by 21pc on May 30, 2012
ASA’s California Unity Conference was a huge success. For two days, 200 advocates learned about the steps our movement needs to take to be successful, met and networked with advocates from their regions, and trained in a variety of tools to advance our cause. On the third day, an unprecedented 300 patient advocates stormed the Sacramento Capitol to bring our message directly to the lawmakers. It was an inspiring moment.


If you couldn’t attend our conference, you can participate virtually. Below you can watch the video by lawmakers encouraging us to lobby our representatives. You can download our workbook as a PDF, and use it to learn how to speak effectively to your elected representatives - in California and beyond.

The crowning achievement of the conference was our mass lobby day, when 300 activists from across the state lobbied their representatives in support of AB2312 and SB1182. We had constituents from 70 of the 80 Assembly Districts and 36 of the 40 Senate districts - a statewide turnout that in the past has only been matched by California’s heaviest-hitting interest groups. Our medical cannabis advocates were well-trained and well-informed, and we showed Sacramento that patients are a political force to be reckoned with!

You can multiply our efforts

Even if you could not be there to talk to your representatives in person, you can lobby for sensible statewide regulation from the comfort of your own home. Go to ASA’s Online Action Center to look up your California Assemblymember and Senator, and email and call them to ask them to support AB2312 and SB1182. Please do so this week, as the vote will happen by Friday night. It is your support that will multiply the work of the advocates at the conference, and bring safe access to California.

Thanks to everyone who attended and supported the conference, our movement has made a giant step forward. We will be building on this success in other parts of the country as the struggle for safe access continues. Stay tuned, and thanks for your support!