California Weekly Round Up

January 18, 2008

Medical Marijuana and the 2008 Presidential Candidates Next Tuesday, January 22, marks the deadline for Californians to register to vote in the 2008 Presidential Primaries, which will be held on February 5, 2008. The California Primaries will give voters the chance to choose which candidate they want to have represent their party in the 2008 general elections. Over the past several months, the medical marijuana community has interacted with many of the candidates in both the Republican and Democratic parties. Activists, patients,and supporters throughout the country have targeted the candidates, asking them to take a stand for patients and support safe access and an end to DEA raids. While ASA has not endorsed a candidate, ASA activists, chapters, and affiliates participated in bird-dogging events throughout the country, asking the candidates the tough questions about medical marijuana, DEA raids, and research. Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana out in New Hampshire spent the majority of 2007 focusing on the candidates' positions on medical marijuana and educating voters, with the culminating event being the New Hampshire primaries two weeks ago. Several organizations including the Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana and Pro/Con.org released report cards on the primary candidates and medical marijuana. The website 10 Questions.com went so far as to include a question about medical marijuana and the DEA raids in their presidential forum. ASA's Chief of Staff, Rebecca Saltzman wrote up a review on the candidates' answers to the 10 Questions forum. Rebecca Saltzman's blog features video answers from several candidates and highlights the strongest positions. Check out Rebecca's blog at: www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/CandidateBlog With the deadline to register to vote less than a week away, we encourage you to consider registering to vote in time for the primary elections. All registration applications must be postmarked by Jan. 22nd to qualify in time for the primaries. As many of the reports mentioned above point out, the candidates' policies on medical marijuana vary greatly and it is up to us, the medical marijuana community, to vote for who we consider is the strongest candidate. To register to vote visit: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm To find out where your polling place is visit: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_ppl.htm For general information about the primary elections visit: http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov