Resources and Information for the Medical Marijuana Movement
Cannabis Planet is a weekly television show covering cannabis and medical cannabis news. I spoke with them about medical cannabis, what motivates me, and the Americans for Safe Access campaign in San Francisco in September. You can see the entire episode below. My interview starts at approximately 19:30.
Pres Obama
My message posted to the DPFCA listserv tonight:
Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is encouraged to learn that the Obama Administration will take a major step forward in defining its policy on medical cannabis tomorrow, when the US Department of Justice publishes a memo giving new instructions to federal prosecutors and law enforcement.
(Read the ASA announcement and download DOJ memo)
ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer and Director of Government Affairs Caren Woodson met with officials at the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC, last week to discuss the new Administration’s policy and the impact of federal interference in states where medical cannabis is legal. We are confident that the Administration is moving in the right direction and hearing our concerns.
ASA sent policy recommendations to President Obama in January asking him to end federal raids in medical cannabis states, encourage advanced clinical trials, and remove cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Our recommendations also call for compassionate leadership by allowing defendants to make an affirmative defense in federal court and ensuring the accuracy of information disseminated by federal agencies.
We hope that tomorrow’s memo is a starting point for developing a federal policy that provides real and lasting protection for patients. ASA is committed to continued engagement with the Administration, federal agencies, and Congress to be sure that happens.
Congratulations are in order to everyone who has worked so hard to help create a more compassionate federal policy. I would like to say a special thank you to Steph Sherer and Caren Woodson for their timely and strategic work with the new Administration.
The City of Los Angles may be moving into the final stages of the four-year-old debate about permanent regulations for medical cannabis facilities in the city. Americans for Safe Access (ASA) expects the City Attorney’s office will send recommendations for the final ordinance to the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee later this month. The draft ordinance was prepared by city staff after Councilmember Zine joined advocates in rejecting an ordinance submitted by former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo in February. That measure regarded all sales of cannabis as illegal, and would have required every collective in the city to close.
Patients and advocates worry that newly-elected City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has yet to make any public comment repudiating his processor’s anti-medical cannabis position. In fact, Trutanich’s Senior Advisor Jane Usher told the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Committee on August 1 that staff in her office could find no legal protection for sales of cannabis, even inside the membership of a legally organized and operated patients’ association.
On August 10, ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford and I joined representatives of the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance (GLACA) in an unprecedented meeting with Ms. Usher and two of the other top eight managers in Trutanich’s office to discuss regulatory solutions for the city. We presented the staff with a new White Paper published by ASA and GLACA and a draft ordinance based on input from the city’s defunct medical cannabis working group. The White Paper explains the justification for storefront collectives and sales of medicine within their membership. It also makes policy recommendations for the city’s final ordinance. Trutanich’s staff listened attentively and asked hard questions – both good signs, but the outcome is uncertain.
It is possible that Carmen Trutanich will disappoint the medical cannabis community, which rallied around his campaign earlier this year, when he returns recommendations to the PLUM Committee this month. If so, patients and advocates will have to work hard persuade committee members to reject his advice and stay the course on developing sensible regulations for Los Angeles. This is important not just because regulations are proven to reduce crime and complaints in communities, but also because they will finally set some standards in a city that has grappled for too long with how best to regulate access to medicine.
Americans for Safe Access (ASA) won another important victory for medical cannabis patients this week! In County of Butte v. Superior Court (download decision), the Third District Court of Appeal upheld patients’ right to collective cultivation. The ruling puts California cities and counties on notice that they may face civil litigation for abridging patients’ rights. It also upholds the District Court finding that not every member of a collective garden must physically participate in growing the medicine.
County of Butte v. Superior Court “upholds Butte County Superior Court Judge Barbara Roberts’ ruling from September 2007, in which she states 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.’ 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’.” (quoted from ASA) This has positive implications for defendants and regulations statewide!
Read more about the Butte County decision on the ASA web site.
The Los Angeles City Council quickly denied fourteen hardship applications today for medical cannabis collectives that opened or relocated since the city adopted a moratorium on new facilities in September of 2007. Observers expected a hard line from Councilmembers, who have come under increasing pressure from neighborhood groups and media in light of the proliferation and clustering of new collectives under the moratorium.
I joined five Councilmembers at a press conference before the meeting, where they reiterated their commitment to protecting safe access and enforcing local law. Councilmembers Zine, Hahn, Huizar, Reyes, and Garcetti all answered pointed questions from media and promised an aggressive response to the neighborhood concerns. Councilmember Zine also acknowledged the work of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) by name, thanking them for diligent work in promoting sensible regulations.
The City Council later approved a motion by Councilmember Huizar to remove the controversial hardship provision, and surprised advocates by extending the city’s moratorium on new facilities for another six months. The provisions will take effect when the City Council votes on a new ordinance next week. Councilmember Huizar said that staff needs more time to craft permanent regulations. City staff reassured concerned advocates that the extension was legal – despite the fact that it exceeds the usual two-year limit for urgency ordinances.
Observers were surprised to hear strong words of support for medical cannabis and cannabis law reform from Councilmember Alarcon, who has so far been silent on the topic. Councilmembers Zine, Rosendahl, Huizar, Reyes, LaBonge, and Hahn also rose in vigorous support of medical cannabis – and all worried aloud about abuse of the system. Councilmember-elect Paul Koretz will replace outgoing Councilmember Weiss, an opponent of safe access, as a solid pro-access vote in July. The growing cadre of medical cannabis supporters on the City Council means sensible regulations are almost certain to be adopted (when they are finally finished). Only Councilmembers Smith and Parks rose today to oppose the Council’s pro-medical cannabis agenda.
Hardship applicants would fare no better in hearings before the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee later this afternoon. The committee denied one application after cursory testimony. Chairman Reyes continued a second hearing so that Councilmember Rosendahl’s office could confirm the applicant’s claim that the collective was not already open, and therefore, not in violation of the moratorium.
Today’s press conference and 15-0 scorecard make it clear that the City Council and PLUM Committee sent a message to hundreds of hardship applicants awaiting hearings. The rapid proliferation and anecdotal reports of bad behavior have generated a backlash against which applicants must fight. For most, the outcome is likely to be bad. This is especially unfortunate for the unknown number of collectives that registered with the City Clerk before the moratorium, but later relocated as a result of federal intimidation.
ASA's Medical Cannabis Feed
Medical Cannabis: Voices from the Frontlines