Guest guest Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 At 02:03 AM 10/5/07, you wrote: >William Dolphin <asa >[asa] October Activist Newsletter >asa > > > >In This Issue: >Win for Collective Cultivation Case in Butte County >Activists Get 45 Members of Congress to Sign Letter to DEA >AARP Members Meet ASA Staff at National Conference >Cannabis Specialist Educates Leading Health Care Provider >NATIONAL ACTION ALERT: Contact Candidates: Demand Action on Safe Access! > >On the Web: >Join ASA >Take Action >Condition-Based Booklets >Join a Patients Union >Medical Marijuana News Summaries >ASA's Campaigns >ASA's Mission > >Become an ASA Member! >Please support the work of Americans for Safe Access > >ASA's Online Store > " Gear up " for medical cannabis activism with ASA's new T-shirts, hats, >stickers, bags and more! All proceeds go to ASA advocacy > >Americans for Safe Access >1322 Webster Street, Ste. 402 >Oakland, CA 94612 >Phone: 510-251-1856 >Fax: 510-251-2036 >Email us!Americans for Safe Access >Monthly Activist Newsletter >Defending Patients' Access to Medical Marijuana >October 2007 Volume 2, Issue 10 Win for Collective Cultivation Case in Butte >Superior Court Rules in Favor of ASA Suit Challenging Ban on Patient >Collectives >The legal team for Americans for Safe Access won the first round this >month in their fight to protect the right of California patients to >organize as collectives for cultivation. >A strongly worded ruling from Superior Court Judge Barbara Roberts on >September 6 found that that seriously ill patients cultivating >collectively " should not be required to risk criminal penalties and the >stress and expense of a criminal trial in order to assert their rights. " >The ruling came in response to an attempt by Butte County to stop the >lawsuit ASA filed in May 2006 on behalf of a seven-person private patient >collective. > " The court has sent a clear message to local law enforcement in California >that they must respect the rights of patients to cultivate collectively. " >said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford. >At issue is a September 2005 warrantless search of a patient's home by the >Butte County Sheriff's Department, during which David Williams, 54, was >forced to uproot and destroy more than two dozen plants or face arrest and >prosecution. > " We were told that it was not lawful to grow collectively for multiple >patients, " said Williams. >Judge Roberts' ruling also rejected Butte County's policy of requiring all >members to physically participate in the cultivation, thereby allowing >collective members to " contribute financially. " > " The next step is to show that Williams was running a valid collective, " >said Elford. " At that point, the court is expected to make a final >determination consistent with yesterday's ruling, which strongly >vindicates the right of medical marijuana patients to associate together >to grow the medicine they need. " >ASA's intervention came after repeated reports of unlawful behavior by >Butte County sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies. >For more information: >Butte County Superior Court ruling from September 6, 2007 >ASA's lawsuit challenging Butte County's ban on collective cultivation > >Activists Persuade Congress to Intervene with DEA >45 Reps Sign Letter Urging Research Cultivation License >ASA lobbying was part of a successful, many-month effort by medical >marijuana activists to get Congress to support research into cannabis >therapeutics. On September 19, a letter signed by 45 members of the U.S. >House of Representatives was delivered to the U.S. Drug Enforcement >Administration (DEA), urging the DEA to allow a UMass-Amherst professor to >grow marijuana for approved research studies. >Over the past four months, ASA National Office staff, led by Governmental >Affairs Director Caren Woodson, have been part of a campaign to get >members of the House to sign the bi-partisan letter to DEA Adminstrator >Karen Tandy. ASA members across the country contributed to a national >grassroots campaign, contacting their representatives to ask them to sign on. >The letter, which was authored by U.S. Representatives John Olver (D-MA) >and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), asks Tandy to accept DEA Administrative Law >Judge Mary Ellen Bittner's February 2007 Opinion and Recommended Ruling in >support of the UMass-Amherst Medical Marijuana Research Production >Facility. The law judge's ruling is non-binding and DEA has no deadline to >decide whether to accept or reject it. The ruling is the result of legal >action sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic >Studies and supported by the American Civil Liberties Union and other drug >policy reform groups. >The DEA's handling of the UMass application to cultivate marijuana for >research studies has already elicited congressional questioning. A DEA >deputy administrator faced criticism on the subject during hearings this >summer. > " The DEA is ignoring the vast scientific evidence that clearly shows >medicinal use of marijuana benefits patients who are extremely ill, " said >Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who sits on one of the committees charged with >oversight. " When it comes to providing the best treatment options to sick >Americans, we should trust doctors and medical researchers and not federal >bureaucrats. " >Lyle Craker, who is the director of the Medicinal Plant Program in the >Department of Plant, Insect and Soil Sciences at University of >Massachusetts, Amherst, submitted his initial application to DEA in June >2001. Craker plans to cultivate marijuana that would be used in clinical >trials to determine whether marijuana meets FDA standards for medical >safety and efficacy. >Since 1968, the federal National Institute on Drug Abuse has maintained a >monopoly on the supply of research marijuana. Judge Bittner found that >NIDA has repeatedly refused to supply marijuana for FDA-approved studies >that could develop marijuana as a prescription medicine. Federal law >requires adequate competition in the production of such Schedule I drugs >as marijuana, to ensure a supply for approved research. > >ASA Staff Attend AARP Convention >Members of the leading organization for seniors, the American Association >of Retired Persons (AARP), had the opportunity to speak with ASA staff >members during the group's convention in Boston from September 6-8. More >than 25,000 people attended the AARP's annual event, with an average age of 62. > " Meeting so many older Americans who are interested in how medical >cannabis can help them was a great experience, " said Caren Woodson, ASA's >Director of Governmental Affairs. " We know from the AARP's own polling in >2004 that the vast majority of their members believe in making access safe >and legal. We had an overwhelmingly positive response, not just from >baby-boomers, but from the " depression era " generation. " >ASA sponsored a booth where AARP members could pick up information about >medical marijuana, including condition-based booklets on aging, which can >be seen at AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Aging_booklet. The booth also >offered ASA gear and ways for seniors to plug in to medical marijuana >activism. Last month's Retirement Living TV program on medical marijuana >was featured, as well. > The ASA booth at the 2007 AARP Convention in Boston " There was a lot of > interest about ways to ingest marijuana without smoking it, and people > were generally surprised by how much progress we have made in 10 years, " > said Woodson. " We also heard some heartbreaking stories about loved ones > with cancer and how much they would have liked another option for pain > and wasting. " >The broad-spectrum therapeutic nature of cannabis makes it a good choice >for many people with a variety of conditions, such as arthritis, chronic >pain, gastro-intestinal problems, and movement disorders such as Parkinson's. >With cancer more prevalent with aging, the well-established benefits of >cannabis for coping with the devastating side-effects of chemotherapy are >also of interest to older Americans. > >Cannabis Specialist Educates Kaiser Docs >ASA Coordinates Workshop for 200 Physicians >On September 19, a leading physician specializing in cannabis therapeutics >gave a workshop for more than 200 doctors. The Continuing Medical >Education (CME) workshop on medical marijuana was the first hosted by >Kaiser Permanente in San Jose. >More than 200 physicians attended the workshop conducted by Dr. David >Bearman and coordinated by Americans for Safe Access. >Dr. Bearman's presentation covered the history of medical cannabis, an >overview of its many benefits, and the legal rights of physicians. > Dr. Bearman examines a patientDr. Bearman is a well-respected physician > with extensive experience in public health. A graduate of the University > of Washington School of Medicine, Dr Bearman was the Director of Medical > Services for the Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority (SBRHA) since > its inception in 1983 through June 1997, when he became Senior Health > Care Advisor/Grants Development Director. >He has a long and illustrious background in the field of drug abuse >treatment and prevention, including serving as Medical Director of Santa >Barbara County Methadone Maintenance Clinic and Ventura County Opiate >Detox Program; teaching courses on substance abuse at UCSF, UCSB, and >SDSU; and authoring numerous articles on drug abuse treatment and >prevention, as well as other medical topics. His articles have appeared in >the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, the Harvard Business Review, and other >publications. >ASA plans to continue educating Kaiser physicians, as well as those across >California and the rest of the country, in order to counter the >misinformation spread by the federal government. Eventually, ASA hopes to >have a CME available that can be downloaded by physicians online. NATIONAL >ACTION ALERT >Contact Candidates: Demand Action on Safe Access! >As the presidential primaries get closer and closer, we need to know where >all the candidates stand on important medical marijuana issues. Call, >write, and ask the candidates in person on their campaign trail where they >stand on medical marijuana. Ask them the following questions: >Will you pledge to end the gridlock and lift the federal government's >monopoly on the supply of marijuana available for research? >If elected, will you seek a comprehensive change in federal policy to >resolve the differences between state and federal laws? >If elected, what specific actions will you take to ensure that the >Department of Justice, the DEA, and other federal agencies are not working >to undermine state medical marijuana laws on your watch? >If elected, will you consider granting Presidential pardons to medical >marijuana patients and providers who have been sentenced to lengthy >federal prison terms who were abiding by state law? >See AmericansforSafeAccess.org/08PresidentialCandidates for contact >information on the candidates. For more help, contact Sonnet: >Sonnet. > >Click here to download a pdf of >this newsletter to print and distribute. >Americans for Safe Access * 1322 Webster Street, Ste. 402 * Oakland, CA 94612 >info * 510-251-1856 * >www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org ****** Kraig and Shirley Carroll ... in the woods of SE Kentucky http://www.thehavens.com/ thehavens 606-376-3363 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.859 / Virus Database: 585 - Release 2/14/05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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