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ASA ACTION: Voter Rights Protected by Initiative Case ASA ACTION: Fighting for the Truth about Medical Marijuana COLORADO: ASA Action for Better Access LOS ANGELES: City Trying to Regulate, Feds Trying to Intimidate FEDERAL: Rosenthal to Appeal Medical Marijuana Conviction CALIFORNIA: Orange County to Issue Medical Marijuana ID Cards HAWAII: Expansion of Medical Marijuana Protections Sought WASHINGTON: Program Expansion Sought There, Too VIRGINIA: Medical Use of Marijuana - Criminal or Not? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASA ACTION: Voter Rights Protected by Initiative Case A local California medical marijuana initiative that election officials say was narrowly defeated has become a test case for electronic voting machines. When proponents of the measure asked for a recount, Alameda County election officials said they could not provide data to prove that the machines had accurately tallied votes. ASA sued to make sure elections remain accountable to the people. “We’re trying to be good stewards of democracy,” said ASA’s Don Duncan. Medical marijuana election may head to revote by Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle An Alameda County judge said Friday she may void election results for a failed 2004 Berkeley medical marijuana measure and order it returned to the ballot because county election officials failed to hand over data from voting machines. Judge scolds officials for blocking vote recount by Ian Hoffman, The Argus (CA) Faced with accusations of lying, destroying public records and other chicanery, Alameda County officials — facing a lawsuit over their handling of a hotly contested election recount — instead protested to a state judge on Friday that they were victims of misunderstandings, bad decisions and their own ignorance of the multimillion-dollar machines used to conduct elections. Berkeley's Measure R Could Be Back In The Ballots ABC7 KGO-TV (San Francisco) A 2004 Berkeley ballot measure may be re-appearing on their 2008 ballot, that's according to an Alameda County superior court judge who found there was no way to accurately re-count votes because the registrar's office didn't back-up electronic data properly. Could it happen again? Judge Calls For New Vote After Data Loss by Bobby Carroll, Daily Californian A re-vote on a 2004 medical marijuana initiative appears likely after a judge issued a tentative ruling Thursday stating that electronic election data lost by Alameda County were critical to discerning the legitimacy of the Measure R voting results. New vote likely in California e-voting case by Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service A California judge is likely to order a Berkeley city initiative back on the ballot because of local officials' mishandling of electronic voting machine data, a public-interest lawyer arguing the case said Friday. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASA ACTION: Fighting for the Truth about Medical Marijuana ASA’s petition to correct the government’s denial of medical marijuana has gone to federal court. ASA wants the Department of Health and Human Services to end two years of delay and respond to the petition, which outlines the substantial scientific research and government reports showing the therapeutic efficacy of marijuana and asks the government to stop saying there is no medical use. Arguing on behalf of patients was co-counsel Alan Morrison, the founder of Public Citizen’s Litigation Group and currently a senior lecturer at Stanford Law School. More info about the petition and the case is at www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/DQA. Pot Group Sues to Make Feds Eat Words by Matthew Hirsch, The Recorder Medical marijuana advocates and federal prosecutors have never agreed on whether the drug has medical value. Now, an Oakland, Calif.-based advocacy group, Americans for Safe Access, is trying to use a little-known Clinton-era law to make federal agencies take back statements about marijuana -- for example, that pot has "no currently accepted medical use." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COLORADO: ASA Action for Better Access Close on the heels of a victory in another Colorado caregiver test case, attorney Brian Vicente has convinced a state court to intervene on behalf of patient access and allow caregivers to help more patients. Vicente, who is director of the Colorado Campaign for Safe Access, a joint project of Sensible Colorado and ASA, also recently had an OpEd published in which he explained how medical marijuana dispensaries can both benefit the community and serve the most seriously ill and injured. Others in Colorado are hoping to help the patient collective model develop there. Judge: Colorado Medical-Marijuana Restriction Unfair Associated Press In response to a lawsuit brought by a man suffering from AIDS, a judge has temporarily blocked a state rule limiting the number of medical-marijuana patients that caregivers are allowed to oversee. Marijuana pain relief by Ted Holteen, Durango Herald (CO) Durango prides itself on being a "green" city, but two local men think it could be greener. Aamann Degarth and Eric Gay are spearheading an effort to open a local chapter of the Portland, Ore.-based The Hemp and Cannabis - or THC - Foundation, which advocates the use of medicinal marijuana in the 13 states that have legalized the practice.