Blog

Ventura’s Americans for Safe Access Action Group will host a community event “Patients, Not Criminals” on Sunday, October 20th from 5pm-8pm at the E.P. Foster Library’s Topping Room at Main Street in downtown Ventura.

What: Community Education Event for Medical Cannabis
When: Sunday, October 20th from 5pm-8pm PST
Where: E.P. Foster Library, 651 E Main St., Ventura, California 93001
Check out the Facebook event page for more information ...

Interested members of the community are encouraged to attend.  Topics will include benefits of medical marijuana, how it can be used, and what “safe access” means.  The necessity of regulated dispensaries, the current climate in Ventura, and some guidelines that could help the city to protect patients’ rights will also be discussed. Ventura’s local ASA Action Group hopes to educate the public that medical marijuana patients are not criminals.  They are members of the community, choosing a safe alternative to harmful drugs for relief from a wide variety of maladies. 

ASA hopes to work with the city’s government and law enforcement, along with patients and providers to draft policy that will ensure safe access to medicine.  This includes avoiding close proximity to the community’s schools or youth centers and takes into consideration ways to prevent impact on city services, property values and businesses.

Ventura’s Mayor Mike Tracy’s proposed blanket ban on all medical marijuana except personal cultivation doesn’t recognize the financial costs involved with a safe, medical grade growing operation.  Most patients, as individuals, simply do not have the means to set up a proper facility including clean rooms to prevent unwanted pollination, ventilation to help control odor and security to protect patients and providers.  It’s important to remember, many in the community of patients often lack the physical ability provide their own medicine, many are struggling to maintain a quality life despite chronic and serious health issues.  Encouraging patients to “grow their own” as a solution, will impact neighborhoods and burden city services with an inevitable rise in fires, floods and theft, as aging buildings are unable to support the additional load on electricity and utilities, endangering the patients and the public.

Hope you can attend this amazing event! Please email [email protected] with any questions.