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Dear ASA Supporters, The press release below refers to a cable network program that is the result of ASA working with Retirement Living TV over the past six months and is a part of ASA’s campaign to focus on Senior outreach, including ASA’s Seniors Union (http://www.safeaccessnow.org/modinput4.php?modin=59). It is some of the best coverage on this issue I have seen. You can see a 5 minute teaser on RLTV's website (http://rl.tv/OurShows/Viewpoint/tabid/598/Default.aspx). The Seniors Union works with ASA to distribute important research information to medical professionals, work with other senior organizations to support patients' right to cannabis in lieu of failed alternatives, and advocate for safe and legal access to cannabis for all seniors who need it. The Seniors Union is open to seniors who use medical cannabis, caregivers, family members, researchers, physicians, and other health providers who support the use of medical cannabis. The primary objective of this project is to renew relationships with key condition-based organizations like AARP and other senior communities that have traditionally kept an arms length from this issue. Specifically, we would like senior organizations to endorse our organizational goals, and engage with ASA to lobby Congress and administrative agencies to end federal raids, expand therapeutic research, and create access programs for patients across the United States. The fact that ASA shares intersecting patient populations with a variety of condition-based organizations provides us with unique opportunities for collaboration. The strategy of the Medical Cannabis Seniors Union project is to underscore the needs of medical cannabis patients: elimination of federal raids and prosecutions, expansion of therapeutic research opportunities, and immediate access to a safe and legal supply of cannabis. Creating new alliances with other senior organizations will provide a broader base of support for our goals. To get involved in this project, please follow this link: www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/RLN Sincerely, Steph Sherer Executive Director Americans for Safe Access Join us today… www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/Donate ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Media Release Americans for Safe Access For Immediate Release: August 1, 2007 Seniors Take On Medical Marijuana Retirement Living Television segment airs today in millions of homes; Poll shows 82% support Washington, D.C. -- A Florida medical marijuana patient, Irv Rosenfeld, who receives his medicine from the federal government, was interviewed by the country’s largest television network devoted to retirement programming for a news magazine segment that aired today in millions of homes across the country. The program Viewpoint, produced by Retirement Living Television (RLTV), which boasts 29 million viewers, also interviewed Dr. Bertha Madras, the Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. And, an RLTV promotional program, Daily Café, which aired yesterday, included an interview with Caren Woodson, the Director of Government Affairs for Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy organization. According to RLTV, its program Viewpoint sought to investigate “the relationship between seniors living with chronic pain and their choice to use medical marijuana to alleviate their constant discomfort.” In addition to providing important and relevant information on medical marijuana to seniors by way of its television program, RLTV also offers additional information on-line at www.rl.tv. According to its website, RLTV considers itself “the new voice of a generation under-served by the media industry,” and “the foremost experts on aging and seniors.” RLTV is currently polling its viewers on the issue, and so far claims that 82% support medical marijuana with a physician’s recommendation. Today’s RLTV Viewpoint segment is especially timely in its focus on a Los Angeles dispensary, California Patients Group (CPG), which served more than a thousand patients over the age of fifty. After the RLTV interview was conducted, CPG was raided by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), had its assets seized, and was forced to close. “This action against CPG and other facilities in the Los Angeles area shows the extent to which the federal government will go to undermine California’s medical marijuana law and patients’ right to chose their medicine,” said CPG operator Don Duncan. Dr. John Benson, one of the co-investigators at the National Academy of Sciences, who issued the 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on medical marijuana, was also interviewed for the Viewpoint program. Dr. Benson and others concluded in the IOM report, a million-dollar investigative report commissioned by the Clinton Administration that, “Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs [medical marijuana] for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation.” The IOM report also urged further research, a recommendation that has been ignored by the federal government. This is not the first time a major retirement-focused organization has taken on the issue of medical marijuana. In December 2004, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) released a report, which found that 72% of people surveyed who were 45-years and older “agree that adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it.” Nearly one-third of those surveyed admitted that they smoked marijuana. In order to educate both seniors, and the physicians caring for them, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has developed a booklet on “medical marijuana and aging” that is disseminated to literally thousands of people nationwide. This education is necessary due in part to the federal government position that “marijuana has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.” Advocates are hopeful that with the efforts of RLTV, ASA, and others, medical marijuana can be effectively used by our country’s aging population and by all who might benefit from its therapeutic properties. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RLTV Viewpoint promotional segment (full program available tomorrow):www.rl.tv/OurShows/Viewpoint/ tabid/598/Default.aspx AARP 2004 Report: www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/AARP Institute of Medicine 1999 Report: www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/marimed / ASA booklet on Aging and Medical Marijuana: www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/aging_ booklet

Click here (http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/CannabisSocClubs/) for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance's (http://www.lca-uk.org) petition to the British Prime Minister to allow private-member Cannabis Social Clubs for adults. The petition simply states "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to allow local authorities the power to license legal private-member Cannabis Social Clubs for adults." The Legalise Cannabis Alliance adds: CANNABIS SOCIAL CLUBS: A HEALTHY OPTION In most countries, adults can go to a shop or bar when they want to buy alcohol or consume, or they can brew their own. There should be a system for production and distribution of cannabis that will cause less problems and lower policing costs. There should be a place where cannabis can be enjoyed in a responsible way, where it is away from minors, hard drugs, and where the consumers are safe. CSC's are associations of citizens who want to cultivate a limited amount of cannabis to satisfy their personal needs legally. Health and safety conditions of a CSC should be monitored during the entire process - from cultivation to consumption. This would stop the use of adulterants used in the illegal market all with their own risks. Cultivation would take place in accordance with safety rules. This would reduce problems such as fire risk and theft of electricity. Membership of the clubs would be limited to adults, so these clubs are a way to reduce the availability of cannabis to minors. This proposal is a harm reduction measure.

FEDERAL: More Intimidation Aimed at LA’s Politicians and Patients FEDERAL: Congress Gets Two Votes Closer to Stopping DEA Raids CALIFORNIA: Kern County Patients Struggle with Access CALIFORNIA: Claremont Endorses Dispensaries NEW MEXICO: Medical Marijuana Program Gets Started CANADA: Patients Still Insist on Growing Their Own IN MEMORIAM: Reform Advocate Virginia Resner Dies ____________________________________________ FEDERAL: More Intimidation Aimed at LA’s Politicians and Patients Another set of coordinated DEA raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles proved again that federal action on the issue is less about law enforcement than it is politics. And it wasn’t just that the ten simultaneous raids came close on the heels of intimidating letters sent to at least 150 landlords renting to patient cooperatives, it was the day chosen. At the very moment federal agents were kicking down doors and detaining patients, two important political actions were in progress. The Los Angeles City Council was taking action on establishing regulatory ordinances for the operation of the dispensaries, and the US House was considering for the fifth year an amendment to stop funding for DEA raids on patients. Not only did LA -- under the leadership of councilman Dennis Zine, a former LAPD officer -- take a step toward regulation, it added a resolution urging Congress to stop federal interference in this local public health issue. Unfortunately, Congressional leadership failed to put their weight behind the bipartisan Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment, but it came two votes closer to passage than it did last year. ASA emergency response to the raids turned out hundreds of protesters within two hours, helping generate intense media coverage and, more importantly, secure the release of dispensary employees being held by the DEA. DEA raids 10 pot shops by Steve Hymon, Los Angeles Times The gap between state and federal drug laws became apparent again Wednesday when federal agents raided 10 local medical marijuana facilities only minutes after the Los Angeles City Council placed a moratorium on new facilities so rules could be drafted to better regulate them. DEA raids LA medical marijuana clinics by Andrew Glazer, Associated Press Federal agents raided 10 marijuana clinics Wednesday, the same day city leaders introduced a measure calling for an end to the crackdown on the dispensaries allowed under state law. DEA serves 10 warrants in LA medical marijuana crackdown Associated Press The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration served search warrants at 10 different locations throughout Los Angeles County in connection with its crackdown on medical marijuana facilities. DEA targets landlords in pot battle by William M. Welch, USA Today The U.S. Justice Department is unleashing a potent new weapon in its battle against California’s hundreds of medical pot clinics, threatening landlords with arrest and property seizures for renting to tenants who flout federal drug laws. Humboldt County ASA to hold protest Eureka reporter (CA) The Humboldt County chapter of Americans for Safe Access will hold a protest on the front lawn of Arcata City Hall tonight at 5, according to a news release from ASA. The demonstration will be held in response to raids conducted Wednesday by the Drug Enforcement Administration against medical marijuana dispensaries in the Los Angeles area. Medical pot stores' profits questioned by Dan Abendschein, Whittier Daily News (CA) The recent busts of medical marijuana dispensaries have raised questions about the revenue the operations collect. "A business grossing the kind of numbers released by the DEA is not making that much money," said Chris Fusco of the Americans for Safe Access organization. "Both the federal and state governments need to give clear guidelines so there is no confusion for dispensary operators."