Hello Friends,
Happy New Year from San Diego Americans For Safe Access! We hope everybody enjoyed the holiday season with friends and family!
We took a December break but can’t wait to tell you we’re back in motion in 2018 and hope you will join us for the first action of the year.
As many know, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions is no friend to cannabis. He’s been threatening us for months and now has rolled back an Obama-era policy referred to as the “Cole Memo” to intimidate us further. Read about it here. The memo was not policy only a guideline but it did a lot to make cannabis patients feel safe and to give a green light to regulating cannabis on the state level.
Across the state in response to the overstep, ASA chapters mobilized and will hold rallies and protests telling the Department of Justice to “Keep the Feds Off Our Meds!”
In the article linked here read about how San Diego’s Southern District US Attorney, Adam Braverman came out in full support of Sessions reversal of our public safety regulations saying that the move by Sessions:
“…returns trust and local control to federal prosecutors to enforce the Controlled Substance Act.”
We think it is cruel and wrong to paint cannabis patients as drug users. So, we will meet in front of Braverman’s office and tell the misguided US Attorney that law enforcement can not and must not overpower the will of the voters.
Below are the details of the rally and protest. Follow the event on Facebook here. We hope to see you there!
WHEN: 12:00 PM, Friday, January 12, 2018
WHAT: Keep the Feds Off Our Meds Rally Protest
WHERE: Edward Schwartz Federal Building – 880 Front St. San Diego, CA 92101
Americans For Safe Access has a history of fighting the federal government’s persecution of patients. When Sessions announced he would return patients to back alleys and fear by challenging state’s rights to regulate, ASA held a town hall webinar which you can watch here. In the video ASA leaders talk about what they have learned from past raids -charting over a two decade history; their theories on a “post Cole world” and offer several resources and services ASA has provided for many years to help mobilize citizen support through their raid support center. You can read about it here. These free services to facilities include safety checks, calls to the media and arrest tracking. Please use this raid intake web form to sign up for free raid support resources. Should the worst happen, it is better to be safe.
If you can’t make the protest but want to help, here is a link you can use to read about and then ask your US representatives to support the CARERS Act. Here is a one sheet about CARERS to print and share.
On state level, please ask your reps to sign on to co-author Reggie Jones-Sawyer’s AB1578. This bill aims to make it much harder for federal law enforcement to get the help of our local police in their effort to victimize cannabis patients. Read about AB1578 here.
Lastly, our regularly scheduled chapter meetings will resume on January 23, 2018. As always on the fourth Tuesday in Giovanni’s banquet room. We have a lot of great speakers planned over the year and you won’t want to miss the opportunity to network with your cannabis family!
We are looking forward to seeing you at the protest and through-out the year.
May 2018 see all your dreams come true!
Your friends at SDASA
