Press Releases

Contact: Hilary McQuie 510.251.1856

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San Francisco, CA – Lawsuits over local bans on medical marijuana dispensaries will greet some of the elected officials gathering in San Francisco for the annual League of California Cities conference. Americans for Safe Access (ASA), an Oakland-based medical marijuana patient-advocacy group, will be announcing legal action against three California cities on the opening day of the convention. The ASA press conference will be held at 12:30 pm on Thursday, October 6, in front of the convention at Moscone Center West, 800 Howard St.

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CALIFORNIA -- The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is unveiling new procedures for handling medical cannabis, thanks to action by Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana patient advocacy organization. ASA research has shown that one-quarter of all medical cannabis arrests and seizures in California have been at the hands of CHP officers, but a suit filed against them by ASA for failure to uphold state law has resulted in a fundamental change in how officers are to treat patients and caregivers.

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Nationwide --- On Tuesday, July 19, medical marijuana patients, doctors and
advocates will be memorializing the life of a well-known patient - activist
who committed suicide by demanding Congress take immediate action to avert
such tragedies.

On Monday, July 11, San Diego medical marijuana patient and advocate, Steve
McWilliams, committed suicide while awaiting federal sentencing. Read more

OAKLAND – Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana patient advocacy group, today filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The injunction seeks an accelerated decision from the court in putting an end to the CHP's policy of seizing marijuana from qualified patients. The injunction is a follow-up to ASA’s lawsuit filed against the CHP on February 15, 2005.

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CALIFORNIA – In the past 6 weeks, California law enforcement agencies
have participated in or spearheaded raids on medical marijuana
dispensing collectives in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and
Sacramento. Advocates are concerned that state and local law enforcement
are making a habit of ignoring the Compassionate Use Act by notifying
the DEA when marijuana is implicated in a state or local investigation,
thereby nullifying a medical defense in federal court. Read more

California – Medical marijuana patients and supporters across the state
called in protest to Governor Schwarzenegger, after learning that the
California Department of Health Services (DHS) suspended implementation
of the long-awaited voluntary ID program for patients and caregivers. Read more

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FRESNO, CA – Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana
patient-advocacy group, served a lawsuit today against the city of Fresno
for restricting medical marijuana dispensing collectives from operating as
enumerated in California law. (To read the lawsuit, go to
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article. Read more