Last-minute amendments turned a good medical cannabis bill into a bad one, and ASA needs your help today to stop SB 1193. Patients and advocates have supported this bill all year, because it required law enforcement to pay reasonable compensation if they damaged or destroyed lawfully-possessed medical cannabis or plants. But the Assembly Appropriations Committee quietly deleted those provisions last week and sent a bill devoid of patient benefits to the Assembly for a final vote.

That is not fair, and we need to speak up now to be sure that lawmakers know that this bill is not what we have supported for months. Can you do two things to help stop SB 1193 today?

1. Call the bill’s author, Senator Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), at 916-651-4002 and tell her to withdraw SB 1193. The bill was supposed to be a compromise. It relaxed the rules for handling cannabis seized as medicine, but protected property rights for legal patients. Tell the Senator that it is not fair to change the nature of the bill after patients and advocates spent months supporting it. Remember that you are most effective when you are brief and courteous.

2. Send an email to your state Assembly Member and ask him or her to oppose SB 1193 in the Assembly. They could vote on the amended bill any day now, so please do this today.

Law enforcement should not confiscate legal medical cannabis and plants. If they do, they should have to give it back. And if they damaged or destroyed it, they should have to pay for it.

If you don’t speak up against this unfair and unannounced change, no one else will. This is what grassroots activism is all about. Don’t let your Assembly Member think we still support a bill that does nothing to help legal patients. Make one call and send one email today, so they know the truth before they vote on SB 1193.

ASA is committed to bringing the voice of patients and other stakeholders to the table in local, state, and federal conversations about medical cannabis. If you appreciate the chance to participate, please support our work today.

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