SB 847 was born out of frustration and fear. Cities and counties in California are struggling to regulate medical cannabis in a murky legal environment, and law enforcement lobbyists keep fanning the flames of hysterical media coverage. Lawmakers were under pressure to “do something” about medical cannabis this year. SB 847 passed both houses of the state legislature with broad support – 34 to 4 in the Senate and 68 to 5 in the Assembly. Lobbyists, politicos, and activists were virtually unanimous in their position that Governor Brown would sign this popular Democratic-authored bill.

So what happened? The people spoke up! Almost 4,000 members of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) emailed the Governor in the last thirty days. We have no way to know how many more called or wrote letters. ASA, other organizations, and a vast cohort of citizen lobbyists made it very clear that people did not support SB 847. And against the odds, the Governor listened!

ASA believes in grassroots activism. Lobbyists and other spokespeople can only be effective when elected officials are hearing about this issue from their constituents. There is no faking genuine grassroots support (or opposition). That is why ASA invests a lot of time and other resources in building, training, and supporting the grassroots. Their online Activist Training Center and innovative Think Tank and Policy Shop are new tools for putting that powerful grassroots voice behind ASA’s local, state, and national campaigns.

The debate about adopting and implementing medical cannabis laws is happening all over the country. ASA calls on organizers, entrepreneurs, and captains of industry to remember the lessons of SB 847. Join me in making grassroots advocacy a part of your business plan (and encouraging our colleagues to do the same) by supporting the important work ASA does. We will all be better off for it!

The California Senate approved Senator Lou Correa’s (D-Santa Ana) SB 847 yesterday by a vote of 31 to 2. The bill specifies that “No medical marijuana cooperative, collective, dispensary, operator, establishment, or provider who possesses, cultivates, or distributes medical marijuana pursuant to this article shall be located within a 600-foot radius of a residential zone or residential use…”. This is in addition to the existing 600-foot buffer zone between the facilities and schools initially established by Senator Joan Buchanan’s (D-San Ramon) AB 2650 last year. Senators Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Leeland Yee(D-San Mateo) voted to oppose this measure.

The phrase “residential use or residential zone” is extremely broad. Residential uses and zones often share alley ways or are otherwise in close proximity to commercial/retail property. This bill will exclude legally-organized and operated patients’ associations from vast swaths of most cities. This will push access to medicine into remote outskirts and less policed industrial zones. That means choking off safe access for many legal patients.

Americans for Safe Access, the nation’s largest patient advocacy organization, opposes SB 847 and calls on patients and advocates to oppose this burdensome and unnecessary bill.

From the Americans for Safe Access (ASA) Blog -

“The California Senate will vote soon on a bill that will make it much more difficult to establish a legal medical cannabis patients’ cooperative or collective. Senator Lou Correa’s (D-Santa Ana) SB 847 will require that all cooperatives and collectives be located at least 600 feet from residential zones or use – effectively excluding vast portions of most California cities. This would be on top of the existing requirement that facilities be located 600 feet from schools…”

Read the entire post and take action on the ASA blog.

Last week, California Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 129, ASA-sponsored legislation that will prevent workplace discrimination against legal patients. When adopted, the bill will prevent employers from firing an employee based solely on his or her status as a medical cannabis patient. This reasonable measure contains an exemption for employees in safety-sensitive positions (like health care providers, school bus drivers, operators of heavy equipment, etc.), and maintains the current prohibition on using medicine or being impaired by medical cannabis use in the workplace.

We need you to help us build support for SB 129 in the California Senate by asking your State Senator to co-sponsor the bill. Find your Senator and send an email today!

ASA is committed to protecting and expanding patients’ rights, and we have been working to end employment discrimination since 2006! This fight took us to the California Supreme Court and the State Legislature in 2008. We passed a similar bill that year, but it was vetoed by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. With your support and participation, we are going to pass this bill again this year and get the new Governor’s signature!

SB 129 is only one of the many battles ASA is fighting for patients in California. Our successful advocacy, grassroots training, media, and legal work have resulted in important court precedents, expanded rights, and more compassionate community guidelines. We can only do this work if we have your support. Can you take a minute right now to make a special contribution to support SB 129 and all of the important work ASA does?

Thank you for your generous support and ongoing participation!

• Get more information about SB 129.
• Download a copy of SB 129.
• Read more on the ASA Blog.

Kamala Harris

A poll conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle shows that San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris trails medical cannabis opponent and LA District Attorney Steve Cooley by only four points in the race for California Attorney General – less than the poll’s margin of error! The choice for patients and providers is clear. Kamala Harris has always supported medical cannabis, while Steve Cooley wants to roll back safe access.

If he is elected, Cooley will pursue the same anti-medical cannabis agenda we know all too well from his tenure in Los Angeles County. Cooley will rewrite or repeal the Attorney General’s medical cannabis guidelines – possibly misinterpreting state law to forbid sales of cannabis in legal patients’ collectives, stop all transportation of medicine, and close the storefronts patients rely on for safe access every day. Steve Cooley will file amicus briefs opposing medical cannabis and aggressively prosecute patients and growers. And he will support bad legislation to limit access to medicine, while opposing reasonable measures.

What can you do to stop Steve Cooley in this increasingly contentious race? Register to vote before October 18, and get out and vote on November 2. You may also want to find out what you can do to help Kamala Harris get elected. And be sure to sign up with Americans for Safe Access’ (ASA) “Not Cooley” get-out-the-vote effort.