Make it Safe. Make it Legal. Make it Happen in 2009!

Hello Everyone,

Happy New Year and more importantly, happy new Administration! This is an exciting and challenging time for us. The actions we take in the next few months will help shape President Obama’s medical cannabis policies for the next four to eight years. I hope you all feel the excitement of the possibilities that are before us, and are prepared to meet the challenges that this opportunity will present.

But remember that opportunity is not the same as change…It is going to take a commitment from every one of us to make real change at the Federal level. That is why I am inviting you to renew that commitment by pledging to become an ASA Ambassador and to join ASA in our new campaign for 2009: MAKE IT SAFE. MAKE IT LEGAL. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

By becoming an ASA Ambassador, you are pledging to work with other ASA members to do your part in educating and engaging your elected officials and community. To sign up, contact ASA’s Field Coordinator George Pappas ([email protected]). If we want to succeed, every one of us has a role to play. Every meeting, every call, and every conversation about medical cannabis is part of our plan; a part that you must carry out. As an Ambassador, you will be joining a network of committed activists across the country who share your commitment to our mission.

We start 2009 and the 111th Congress with momentum, optimism, and hope. Since the founding of ASA in 2002, together we have created a patient-led movement with an amazing list of accomplishments under our belt. So, unlike the dark days of the second term of the Bush regime, today we begin new relationships in a very different political climate! Just take a look:

• Today we have almost 60 ASA chapters and affiliates across the nation, all working to improve their local and state laws, educate legislators and the public, and to create a coordinated national movement for medical cannabis.
• In just two years, ASA’s Washington, DC Office has become a powerful and influential lobbying force for federal medical cannabis laws. 
• There are now 13 medical cannabis states, and many more considering legislation and building support and awareness throughout the US.
• We drove numerous successful court cases in California, improving California’s law and setting the stage for the expansion of other laws across the US., including the U.S. Supreme Court upholding Garden Grove v. Superior Court, ruling that California law enforcement must follow California, not federal, law.
• We’ve worked side by side with top government agencies to improve state medical cannabis laws and to protect access centers throughout the country that provide safe access to patients who need it.
• We’ve built unique relationships with top Congressional and Senate leadership, including those tasked with Congressional oversight of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice.
• We elicited supportive statements from President Barack Obama to end federal interference in state medical cannabis laws.
• We’ve reframed the public discussion of access to medical cannabis as a fundamental human right.

And most importantly … WE HAVE A PLAN! Take a minute to look at the materials ASA has been sharing with the Obama administration and Congress at www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/PresidentialRecommendations

I know the last six years have been hard. We saw little to no movement at the federal level while our loved ones faced lack of access to the treatment they needed, were targeted with threats and intimidation from our own DEA, and were sent to prisons and jails to serve unjust sentences, all for providing treatment to people living with serious illnesses.

But we did not sit back and wait for the tide to turn. Over the years, each action you took, each Representative you called, and each letter you wrote has created an atmosphere of hope across the nation. We’ve seen success at the state and local levels and have built more powerful alliances in Congress than ever before since ASA opened our Washington, DC office in 2006.

I am very proud of the hard work each of you has put into this shared vision. And now I hope we can all provide the leadership necessary to move the nation in the direction of compassion and scientific integrity.

Keep up the great work. I look forward to working with all of you during this exciting time… Let’s Make it safe. Make it Legal. Make it happen!

Sincerely,

Steph Sherer
Executive Director
Americans for Safe Access