Contents:

• Message from the CA Director: California has a lot on the line tomorrow
• State & Local News: California, Lake County, San Diego, Humboldt County, Nevada County, Del Rey Oaks, Oceanside, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Malibu
• Public Meetings & Events: Berkeley, Online, Washington DC
• Court Support: Redding, Norwalk, and more
• Take Action Now: Pardon Dr. Mollie Fry, Support the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act, and more
• ASA Website Spotlight: Vote Medical Marijuana 2014
• Chapter & Affiliate Meetings: San Francisco, Yuba County, Sonoma County, Sacramento

Tomorrow is Election Day, and there is a lot on the line in California. We will elect 53 members to the US House of Representatives, 80 State Assembly Members, 20 State Senators, 8 Statewide Officers, and numerous city and county officials. Voters in 10 different cities and counties will also decide on 12 different medical cannabis ballot measures that will affect if and how legal patients get their medicine.  Locate your polling place and help make a difference by casting a ballot tomorrow between 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM. 

Ballot measures are not the only time you cast a vote for medical marijuana. But very vote you will cast this election, will be a vote in favor or against. From the floor of Congress, to your State house to City Hall, politicians are making decisions on medical marijuana policy on your behalf everyday.  

Check out ASA's new video on how to use VoteMedicalMarijuana.org to be an informed voter!

This month we revamped VoteMedicalMarijuana.org to educate the public and help voters choose the candidates who best represent their interests. The multi-pronged campaign includes television and web ads, surveys distributed to candidates to gauge their support or opposition to sensible cannabis regulations, and a new Election Center, where voters can see the records of incumbents and the positions of candidates from all U.S. House and Senate races, all gubernatorial candidates, all state attorney general candidates, as well as more than 360 state legislative races in California, Florida, and Washington stand on medical marijuana. 

Contents:

• Message from the CA Director: Do you know what's at stake in November?
• State & Local News: California, Fresno County, San Jose, Shasta County, Calaveras County, Monterey, Anaheim
• Public Meetings & Events: San Francisco, Redding, Grass Valley, Lincoln, Nevada City, San Diego, Fresno, Porterville and more 
• Court Support: Sacramento, Redding, and more
• Take Action Now: Register to Vote, Support the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act, and more
• ASA Website Spotlight: Vote Medical Marijuana 2014
• Chapter & Affiliate Meetings: Nevada County ASA, Lake County ASA, and Sacramento NORML

Be sure to join me online for the next live Google Hangout on Thursday, October 16, at 7:00 PM to talk about local ballot measures and what’s at stake for medical cannabis in the November 4 elections. Voters will decide on twelve measures related to medical cannabis in ten different cities and counties this year. There are important legislative races that will help to define next year’s political landscape and an interesting development in the race for Attorney General (see the News section for more details on that).

Late Tuesday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 4137, the Preserving Welfare for Needs Not Weed Act, by voice vote. Sponsored by Rep. David Reichert (R-WA), the bill would prohibit recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds from using their TANF funds at stores that sell marijuana. The fact that the passage of the bill occurred as a voice vote rather than a roll call vote makes it impossible to know which members voted for or against the bill. That is one reason why ASA will not be scoring this vote on VoteMedicalMarijuana.org. Thankfully, the bill appears to stand little chance of passage in the Senate.

Even if passed into law, the value of the legislation would be minimal in terms of blocking the use of public assistance funds for medical marijuana.  By preventing the ability of TANF recipients to access funds from ATMs in medical marijuana dispensaries, the practical impact would only harm those with financial hardship and mobility issues, because TANF recipients could still make financial withdrawals from other nearby ATMs. The only dispensary consumers who could not work around the burden that H.R. 4137 seeks to create would be poor patients who have the greatest mobility issues. 

It is less than two months until the 2014 elections. Do you know where the candidates stand on medical cannabis? It matters. Lawmakers at the local, state, and federal level are going to make important decisions about medical cannabis that affect your life in the next two years. Cities and counties will decide whether to ban or regulate patients’ collectives, the state legislature will vote again on commercial licensing and patients’ rights measures, and the new US Congress may decide whether or not to keep paying for medical cannabis enforcement.

The medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is running two new 30-second TV advertisements on MSNBC, CNN, and HLN in eastern Washington every day this week. The ads draw attention to the Kettle Falls 5 case--a federal prosecution against patients lawfully growing for their own personal use--and spotlight how Members of Congress voted last month on a House measure to curb this type of federal medical marijuana enforcement.

One of the ads focuses on Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), who grew up in Kettle Falls and now represents the same district where defendant Larry Harvey lives. On May 30th, Rep. McMorris Rodgers voted against a bipartisan measure that would protect her constituents by restricting Department of Justice (DOJ) spending on enforcement in states that have legalized medical marijuana. Despite Washington's 16-year-old medical marijuana law and the questionable enforcement practices occurring in her own district, McMorris Rodgers has consistently opposed medical marijuana reform in Congress.

Last month you helped us accomplish our biggest victory yet, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted 219 to 189 to cut off funding for federal medical cannabis raids, arrests, and prosecutions in states where it is legal.  This vote was a major milestone in changing federal law, but we are not done yet and we need your help.

Over the past few days ASA has been running television ads on MSNBC in both Maryland and South Florida to draw attention to Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) and DNC Chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) who opposed the recent CJS Medical Marijuana Amendment in the House.

We are closer than ever to passing reform in Congress and now is the time to make our voices heard. Despite our historic event last month, the same CJS amendment must still be approved by the Senate. Senators need to know that voters are watching. That is where you come in.

Contents:

Message from the CA Director - All Politics Is Local

(Picture: Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Tip O'Neil)

  
California & National News

• Activists Target House Members Who Oppose Medical Marijuana (National)
• 'Historic' shift in D.C. over medical pot crackdown (National)
• Medical marijuana scores big House win, but still faces hurdles (National)
• League of California Cities Finds Sen. Correa’s Medical Marijuana Bill Offers Best Regulatory Framework (California)
• City hall Gives the Go Ahead on Pot Initiative (Santa Monica)
• California County Bans Outdoor Medical Marijuana Grows (Lake County)
• Medical Marijuana Users in San Jose Get Free Pot in Exchange for "I Voted" Sticker (San Jose)
• Fight the marijuana ban in Fresno County (Fresno County)
• Santa Ana ponders benefits of legal pot shops (Santa Ana)
• Medical marijuana users worry about county changes (Tulare County)
• Cannabis: Views about marijuana (Willits)

Events

• Tuesday, June 10, 2014 – Medical Cannabis Permitting and Land Use Workshop (San Diego)
• Saturday, July 26, 2014 – The State of Marijuana (Los Angeles)
• Monday, August 4, 2014 – CA Citizen Lobby Day (Sacramento)

Court Support

• Tuesday, June 10, 2014 – Court Support for James Romo (Santa Ana)

Take Action

• Urge your Senator to pass CJS Medical Marijuana Amendment
• Join Americans for Safe Access (ASA)

ASA Website Spotlight

• Vote Medical Marijuana

ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

• Tuesday, June 10, 2014 - Nevada County ASA (Grass Valley)
• Tuesday, June 10, 2014 - San Diego ASA (San Diego)
• Thursday, June 12, 2014 - San Diego ASA (Imperial Beach)
• Thursday, June 12, 2014 - Yuba County ASA (Foothills)

The medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is running 30-second TV advertisements on MSNBC in Maryland and South Florida over the next few days to draw attention to Members of Congress who opposed medical marijuana reform in last week's House vote.

One of the ads focuses on Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), who spoke out on the House floor against a measure that restricts Justice Department funds spent on medical marijuana enforcement in states that have legalized its use. Despite the recent passage of a medical marijuana law in his State of Maryland, Rep. Harris made the claim Friday that "Marijuana is neither safe nor legal."

The other ad focuses on Democratic National Committee Chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who was one of only 18 House Democrats to vote against the medical marijuana measure last week. Notably, Rep. Wasserman Schultz voted contrary to several other Democrats in her South Florida delegation. A recent poll indicated 88 percent support for medical marijuana among residents of Florida, which is expected to pass its own medical marijuana law before the end of the year.