Veterans group calls ordinance “harmful to veterans and dangerous to communities”
San Diego – March 7th, 2011, Veterans for a Safe San Diego has announced today that they are endorsing the “Stop the Ban” campaign and that they are calling on the city council to amend the ordinance governing medical cannabis facilities in order to preserve safe access to medical cannabis in the city of San Diego.
“San Diego has more new Veterans living here than any other city in the US and many of them rely on medical cannabis to manage symptoms of PTSD, pain from combat injuries, and other ailments. This ordinance will close every medical cannabis collective in the city and make it virtually impossible for them to reopen to serve patients in the communities where they live. Not only will this ordinance make life more difficult for veterans who are medical cannabis patients, but it will create crime as thousands of patients turn to the streets for their medicine. We join with the Stop the Ban campaign in urging the city council to amend the ordinance and to approve an ordinance that will not hurt Veterans, will not create crime, and will not make San Diego a less safe city to live in.” says VSSD spokesperson Matthew Riordan.
On Tuesday, March 8th, Veterans for a Safe San Diego will join with the Stop the Ban campaign at their press conference at 11:00am at San Diego city hall to answer questions about the ban.
In January, the Veterans Health Administration announced new regulations concerning the use of medical cannabis by veterans and will no longer disqualify medical cannabis patients from participating in substance abuse control, pain control, or other clinical programs. The regulations can be found at http://www.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2362
On March 28th, the city council will be voting on an ordinance regulating medical cannabis facilities in San Diego and, if passed as currently written, the ordinance would close down every facility now serving patients, would severely limit the amount of facilities that could reopen, and would give the city the political power to enforce a ban by not approving any of the process 4 permits the facilities would require.
“Stop the Ban” is a coalition campaign led by Canvass for a Cause and the San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe Access which has been endorsed by over 20 local and national organizations and is the largest grassroots effort on behalf of medical cannabis in the history of San Diego.
For questions, contact sandiegoveterans@gmail.com
