Petition’s denial maintains status quo, gives advocates chance to appeal and argue marijuana’s therapeutic value Washington, DC — Less than two months after patient advocates filed a lawsuit compelling the federal government to answer a 9-year-old petition to reschedule medical marijuana, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) today made...

White House sponsors conference only days after it threatens medical marijuana states Chicago, IL — Starting today, the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) will hold its 21st annual symposium in St. Charles, Illinois, just outside of Chicago . Notably, this year’s symposium is sponsored in part by an array of pharmaceutical companies,...

Jul 4, 2011

By: Kris Hermes, Americans for Safe Access More by a confluence of circumstances than by design, the federal government made clear this past week its intolerance to medical cannabis as well as its intolerance to the independence of local and state governments to decide their own public health policies. The irony of the U.S. Department of Justice issuing formal...

Jul 3, 2011

By: Eugene Davidovich, San Diego Americans for Safe Access On July 1, 2011, Mother Earth’s Alternative Healing Cooperative Inc. received their final permit the “Medical Marijuana Collective Operations Certificate”, signed by Sheriff Gore himself, allowing the coop to operate in full compliance with the law. Located at 8157 Wing Avenue, El Cajon, CA 92020,...

Patients, Activists, and Friends– Under the Obama Administration, Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued a memo reinforcing the intent of the federal government to interfere with state medical cannabis laws, specifically the creation and licensing of dispensing centers. Compromising the legitimacy of dispensing centers will jeopardize access for...

Justice Department policy “clarification” pushes legal patients into unregulated, illicit markets Washington, DC — Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole issued a controversial memorandum Wednesday in an apparent attempt to clarify federal policy with regard to medical marijuana. Calling marijuana “a dangerous drug,” Cole’s...

Jun 30, 2011

By: Don Duncan, Americans for Safe Access In a move that impacts hundreds of thousands of medical cannabis patients nationwide, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a chilling message tonight to state and local officials who are seeking to implement medical cannabis laws and to those trying to provide legal medicine: You may be prosecuted. In a memo to US...

Jun 28, 2011

By: Terrie Best, San Diego Americans for Safe Access Monday, June 27, 2011 in San Diego Superior Court, the faulty search warrant obtained by a misleading affidavit was upheld in the medical cannabis case of Jason and Sarine Gastrich. All morning, Deputy DA Ramin Tohidi and attorneys for the defense argued the legitimacy of the warrant which led to felony...

Jun 26, 2011

The California Assembly Committee on Local Government will vote on a bill that will make it much more difficult to establish a legal medical cannabis patients’ cooperative or collective on Tuesday, June 29. 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...

Jun 23, 2011

By: Terrie Best and Eugene Davidovich Co-defendants Jason and Sarine Gastrich, recent victims of Bonnie Dumanis’ fierce fight to eradicate medical marijuana in San Diego, were in court this week for their preliminary examination in Judge Hanoian’s courtroom. On the prosecution side was Deputy DA Ramin Tohidi and for the defense on behalf of Sarine was Public...

Jun 13, 2011

By: Eugene Davidovich and Marcus Boyd Imperial Beach, CA – On June 15, 2011 at 7pm, the Imperial Beach City Council will discuss and vote to enact an outright ban on medical marijuana dispensaries and all collective cultivation efforts in the City of Imperial Beach. Although the staff report compiled for the June 15th meeting states, “the ordinances...

Jun 4, 2011

Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has been working since 2006 to protect medical cannabis patients from workplace discrimination. We represented medical cannabis patient Gary Ross in his appeal to the California Supreme Court in Ross v. Rangingwire Telecommunications. When the court failed to protect patients like Gary Ross from discrimination, we sponsored...

Dear ASA Members & Friends, 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...

May 30, 2011

Patients, friends, advocates, Join us in Oceanside on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 from 7-9pm at the Fish Joint (514 South Coast Hwy Oceanside, CA) for our chapter’s monthly North County Americans for Safe Access meeting. That evening we will be discussing the City of Oceanside’s plan to ban medical marijuana collectives as well what the community is doing to...

May 27, 2011

40,000 Signatures in Less than 30 Days; Referendum on City Council’s Medical Marijuana Ordinance Enters Signature Verification Process Eugene Davidovich, May 26, 2011 In April of this year, the San Diego City Council passed an ordinance that effectively denied safe access to thousands of patients in the city. If left as is, it would have negatively impacted...