Today, the Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (S. 3269) was introduced in the United States Senate, which would ease research barriers and create exemptions from federal law for certain medical cannabis patients. The bill was introduced by four members of the Senate Judiciary Committee - Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Tom Tillis (R-NC). Much of the bill is focused on allowing for institutions of higher education or manufacturers to register with the federal government in order to conduct research on cannabis (marijuana) or cannabidiol (CBD), but it’s the “Safe Harbor” provision that is drawing the attention of medical cannabis patients.

In the news: US Representative Dana Rohrabacher (pictured)

Contents (Scroll down for details and links):

News

• National
• California
• Local

Events

• March 18-22, 2015 - National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference (Washington, DC)

Court Support

• August 14, 2015 – Court Support for Lynette Shaw (San Francisco)
• More

Take Action Now

• Sign the Petition to Ask Your Representative and Senators to Sign on to the CARERS Act!  (National)
• 5 Things People Can Do to Help Create Safe Access (National)
• Medical Marijuana: A Patient Survey (California)

ASA Website Spotlight

• The Truth About Medical Marijuana Educational Campaign

Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

• August 4, 2015 - San Francisco ASA (San Francisco)
• August 6, 2015 - Sonoma ASA (Santa Rosa)

In a landslide vote, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations voted to the add the Veterans Equal Access Amendment (VEAA) to the FY2016 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilConVA) Appropriations bill, which sets the budget for the Veterans Administration (VA). The VEAA would end the current  gag order preventing VA physicians from recommending or even discussing medical cannabis to veterans in states where medical cannabis programs exist. The bi-partisan amendment was introduced by Senators Steve Daines (R-MT) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and succeeded by a vote margin of 18-12.

The victorious vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee is nothing short of historic for medical marijuana patients. Although states have been implementing their own medical marijuana programs since 1996, the Senate has never officially weighed in on the subject. Now the Senate Appropriation Committee has done so by affirming that the gag order on V.A. physicians should be lifted. 

California Senator Barbara Boxer is supporting the CARERS Act in Congress. It is great to see one of our state Senators standing up for our voter-approved medical cannabis laws! I will be with hundreds of other advocates in Washington, DC, this week to talk about the CARERS Act and much more at the National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference and Citizen Lobby Day. Check FaceBook and Twitter for updates if you cannot make it.

Here in California, the City of Malibu is stalling on approving a dispensary permit, while Ocenside is pushing to close all of its facilities. And Fresno County keeps imposing exorbitant fines for cultivators. Not all the news is bad this week. Tulare County backed off a plan to toughen its medical cannabis regulations, and San Diego’s first legally permitted facility is finally open. Patients in Clearlake are fighting back against a cultivation ban in court.

Mark your calendar for important city council and legislative dates coming up in Vallejo and Sacramento. Get all the medical cannabis news, events, and court support dates in ASA’s California Weekly Roundup for Monday, March 23.