By: Terrie Best, San Diego Americans for Safe Access Legal cannabis patient Dexter Padilla was in court last week in front of Judge Albert T. Hartunian III as he and his attorney, Michael J. McCabe, of the Davidovich victory, fought it out with Prosecutor Ramin Tohidi over whether there was enough prosecutorial evidence to bind the case over for trial. The...

Jul 11, 2011

Imperial Beach City Council approves ban in violation of State Law on patients growing medicine in their own homes; patients and advocates are outraged and ready to turn to the voters in 2012 By: Terrie Best, San Diego Americans for Safe Access Imperial Beach, CA – On July 7th, 2011, with a 4 to 1 vote, the Imperial Beach (IB) City Council approved an...

Dear ASA Members & Friends, There are two problematic medical cannabis bills in the state legislature right now, and Americans for Safe Access (ASA) needs your help today to stop them. Can you take a minute to send two emails to help protect safe access in California? Senator Lou Correa’s (D-Santa Ana) SB 847 will require patients’ cooperatives and...

Jul 10, 2011

San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has persecuted sick and dying medical marijuana patients and has made numerous bad decision in charging innocent people with felonies. Dumanis has failed her constituents and does not use due diligence in researching cases that she takes to trial. Dumanis has a bad habit of protecting her rich friends and cronies but...

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...

Jul 6, 2011

By: Marcus Boyd, Vice Chair San Diego Americans for Safe Access Medical cannabis patients, supporters and advocates in the City of Imperial Beach (IB) are urged to be prepared. Additional law enforcement action against legitimate patients brought about by the IB City Council is imminent. Now is the time to stand up against the City Council’s attempt to...

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...

ASA Members and Friends– Don’t let U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder deny your access to medical marijuana! Holder is expected to “clarify” the federal government’s enforcement policy on medical marijuana.any day now. Call Holder’s office today at 202-514-2001 to demand that the Justice Department leave state medical marijuana...

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...