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Hello from Washington, DC. ASA’s National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference is underway! I am going to the US Capitol Building with almost 100 Californians tomorrow for our third annual Citizen Lobby Day to support the CARERS Act – an unprecedented bill that would finally end federal interference and intimidation in California.

While we lobby Congress tomorrow, our state and local lawmakers will still be trying to figure out what to do with medical cannabis in California. Sacramento Bee reporter Jim Araby argues it is time to regulate the state’s “Wild West” approach to medical cannabis, and a new study on water use and cannabis cultivation will pressure lawmakers to crack down. The state legislature has scheduled four hearings on medical cannabis bills – and more are on the way! Meanwhile, cities and counties all over the state continue the nineteen-year old debate about how to handle to medical cannabis.

Read about all the medical cannabis news, events, meetings, and court support requests in ASA’s California Weekly Roundup for Monday, March 30, 2015.

ASA California Weekly Roundup: March 30, 2015

Contents:

News

• Opinion: California legislators should lasso ‘Wild West’ of medical marijuana (California)
• Study: Impacts of Surface Water Diversions for Marijuana Cultivation on Aquatic Habitat in Four Northwestern California Watersheds (California)
• Lawsuit challenges Clearlake grow ban (Clearlake)
• Bay Area Medical Pot Takes One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (San Francisco Bay Area)
• Judge denies request to hold special vote on marijuana (Costa Mesa)
• New Cannabis Prohibitions in Santa Cruz County (Santa Cruz County)
• Pot Delivery Firm Crowdfunds for Legal Defense (Los Angeles)
• Medical marijuana delivery services make way for new dispensary (Monterey County)
• West Coachella Valley set for marijuana 'green rush' (Desert Hot Springs)

Events

• March 31, 2015 - Santa Rosa City Council Meeting (Santa Rosa)
• April 7, 2015 - Assembly Health Committee Hearing on AB 258 (Sacramento)
• April 7, 2015 – Senate Health Committee Hearing on SB 165 (Sacramento)
• April 8, 2015 – Senate Health Committee Hearing on SB 140 (Sacramento)
• April 15, 2015 – Assembly Agriculture Committee Hearing on AB 243 (Sacramento)

Court Support

• April 1, 2015 – Return of Property Hearing (Placerville)
• April 2, 2015 – Court Support for Rick and Laprill Motions (Pomona)
• And more

Take Action Now

• Support the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act
• Don’t Waste Millions Closing Dispensaries in Vallejo
• ASA-CCSA Email Discussion List

ASA Website Spotlight

• The Medical Cannabis Advocate's Training Center

Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

• April 2, 2015 - Sonoma ASA (Santa Rosa)

News

Opinion: California legislators should lasso ‘Wild West’ of medical marijuana (California)
Jim Araby, Sacramento Bee

With the passage of Proposition 215, California became the first state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana. Nearly two decades later, it has fallen behind. As other states have moved to regulate the cannabis industry, California’s industry remains the Wild West.
Read more here:
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article16312133.html#storylink=cpy

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Study: Impacts of Surface Water Diversions for Marijuana Cultivation on Aquatic Habitat in Four Northwestern California Watersheds (California)
Scott Bauer, et. al.; PLOS Online

Marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.) cultivation has proliferated in northwestern California since at least the mid-1990s. The environmental impacts associated with marijuana cultivation appear substantial, yet have been difficult to quantify, in part because cultivation is clandestine and often occurs on private property.
Read more here:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0120016

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Lawsuit challenges Clearlake grow ban (Clearlake)
Dave Faries, Record-Bee

A lawsuit against Clearlake’s ban on marijuana cultivation within city has been filed in Lake County Superior Court.
Read more here:
http://www.record-bee.com/general-news/20150326/lawsuit-challenges-clearlake-grow-ban

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Bay Area Medical Pot Takes One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (San Francisco Bay Area)
David Downs, East Bay Express

Berkeley could add a fourth licensed brick-and-mortar dispensary by the end of the year, now that the March 20 deadline to apply for such a business license has passed.
Read more here:
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/bay-area-medical-pot-takes-one-step-forward-two-steps-back/Content?oid=4229704

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Judge denies request to hold special vote on marijuana (Costa Mesa)
Bradley Zint, Daily Pilot

An Orange County Superior Court judge this week denied an emergency request to force Costa Mesa to hold a special election regarding whether to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
Read more here:
http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-me-0320-medical-marijuana-20150319,0,267858.story

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New Cannabis Prohibitions in Santa Cruz County (Santa Cruz County)
Bradley Allen, Indybay

On March 24, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 before an overflowing room to ban the cultivation of cannabis in all unincorporated territories of the county, with limited exceptions.
Read more here:
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/03/25/18770413.php

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Pot Delivery Firm Crowdfunds for Legal Defense (Los Angeles)
Mari Usheroff

Hollywood startup Nestdrop has launched a fundraising campaign. But unlike most fledgling technology firms, the app-based provider of alcohol and medical marijuana delivery services isn’t trying to fund a new project or expansion plans: It’s soliciting cash to pay its legal fees.
Read more here:
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2015/mar/25/pot-delivery-firm-crowdfunds-legal-defense/

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Medical marijuana delivery services make way for new dispensary (Monterey County)
James Herra, Monterey Herald

Next week’s opening of Monterey County’s only medical marijuana dispensary doesn’t seem to worry local marijuana delivery services.
Read more here:
http://www.montereyherald.com/health/20150326/medical-marijuana-delivery-services-make-way-for-new-dispensary

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West Coachella Valley set for marijuana 'green rush' (Desert Hot Springs)
Barrett Newark, The Desert Sun

On a recent Thursday morning, a crowd gathered in the parking lot of a Desert Hot Springs gas station to welcome the latest new business to the struggling city.
Read more here:
http://www.desertsun.com/story/money/business/2015/03/28/coachealla-valley-marijuana-palm-springs-money/70553374/

 Public Meetings & Events

March 31, 2015 - Santa Rosa City Council Meeting (Santa Rosa)
4:00 PM in Council Chambers at 100 Santa Rosa Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95404. The City Council will consider a measure banning indoor smoking in multiple unit housing. This could adversely affect legal patients who smoke cannabis at home. Details to follow. 

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April 7, 2015 - Assembly Health Committee Hearing on AB 258 (Sacramento)
1:30 PM in Room 4202 in the State Capitol Building on 10th Street between L & N Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814. The committee will hear testimony on AB 258 (Levine), which will prevent discrimination against legal medical cannabis patients in the organ transplant process. See http://www.safeaccessnow.org/2015_legislation for more information.

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April 7, 2015 – Senate Health Committee Hearing on SB 165 (Sacramento)
9:30 AM in Room 4203 in the State Capitol Building on 10th Street between L & N Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814. The committee will hear testimony on SB 165 (Mooning), which will increase civil penalties for some cannabis cultivation. See http://www.safeaccessnow.org/2015_legislation for more information.

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April 8, 2015 – Senate Health Committee Hearing on SB 140 (Sacramento)
1:30 PM in Room 4203 in the State Capitol Building on 10th Street between L & N Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814. The committee will hear testimony on SB 140 (Leno), which will regulate e-cigarettes and vaporizer pens. See http://www.safeaccessnow.org/2015_legislation for more information.

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April 15, 2015 – Assembly Agriculture Committee Hearing on AB 243 (Sacramento)
1:30 PM in Room 126 in the State Capitol Building on 10th Street between L & N Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814. The committee will hear testimony on AB 243 (Woods), which will require that indoor and outdoor medical cannabis cultivation to be conducted in accordance with state and local laws and best practices related to land conversion, grading, electricity use, etc. See http://www.safeaccessnow.org/2015_legislation for more information.

Court Support

What is Court Support and how do I get involved?

April 1, 2015 – Return of Property Hearing (Placerville)
1:00 PM at 2850 Fairlane Ct., Placerville, CA 95667. Dress in an appropriate manner and obey all courtroom rules to best help the defendants.

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April 2, 2015 – Court Support for Rick and Laprill Motions (Pomona)
8:30 AM in Department N at 400 Civic Center Plz, Pomona, CA 91766. Dress in an appropriate manner and obey all courtroom rules to best help the defendants.

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Find more information and additional listings on The Human Solution Calendar: http://www.thsintl.org/calendar

Take Action Now

Support the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act (California)
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/support_the_ca_medical_marijuana_organ_transplant_act

A patient in California can be denied a life-saving organ transplant solely based on the fact that he or she uses medical cannabis! Legal patients have died after being removed from the organ transplant list, and others are in jeopardy right now. Americans for Safe Access, the nation's leading medical cannabis patients' advocacy organization, proposes legislation to prevent anyone from being denied a transplant because of medical cannabis. Sign this petition to let lawmakers know you support AB 258, the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act, to provide equal access to health care for legal patients.

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Don’t Waste Millions Closing Dispensaries in Vallejo
https://mcdlawyer.wordpress.com/2015/03/16/vallejo-set-to-waste-millions-fighting-medical-marijuana/

Contact the City Council now and tell them to be sensible: leave a few of the dispensaries open and enact reasonable regulations. They could start by respecting the dispensaries that are well-managed and pay their taxes–that would eliminate over half of them. It’s time for peace with marijuana, not an expensive and unwinnable war.

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ASA-CCSA Email Discussion List
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/asa_ccsa_email_discussion_list

There are thirteen medical cannabis bills in the state legislature this year, cities and counties are moving to regulate or ban collectives, and there are big battles for medical cannabis in the courts right now. Sign up for the California Campaign for Safe Access email discussion list to talk with patients, advocates, industry workers, and other stakeholders about what’s happening at the local, state, and federal level. This email discussion list is the primary place that ASA publishes information about state legislation, including bills about organ transplants, commercial regulations, vape pens, and cultivation rules.

ASA Website Spotlight

The Medical Cannabis Advocate's Training Center
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/advocate_training_center

ASA believes that good policy is created when those who are most affected are at the table. Just because you are medical cannabis patient, it doesn't mean that you automatically have a degree in public policy. ASA has always been committed to demystifying political systems and providing advocates the tools they need to participate in the processes in a meaningful way. Learn all about grassroots organizing, citizen lobbying, media spokesperson training, and much more.

ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

April 2, 2015 - 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.

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See all California ASA Chapter Meetings here:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/california_advocacy 

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.