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Medical Marijuana

Press Release: U.S. Congress Ends Decade-Long Obstruction of D.C. Medical Marijuana Law

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
JULY 16, 2009

U.S. Congress Ends Decade-Long Obstruction of D.C. Medical Marijuana Law

Medical Marijuana Law Passed in 1998 May Finally Be Implemented

CONTACT: Dan Bernath, MPP assistant director of communications, 202-462-5747 ext. 2030

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House today passed legislation that removes a decade-old provision that has prevented Washington, D.C., from implementing the medical marijuana law passed by 69 percent of capital voters in 1998.

     Known as the Barr amendment, the provision has forbidden the city from extending legal protection to qualified medical marijuana patients and has been derided by advocates for years as an unconscionable intrusion by the federal government into the District's affairs.

     "Today represents a victory not just for medical marijuana patients, but for all city residents who have the right to determine their own policies in their own District without federal meddling," said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. "D.C. residents overwhelmingly made the sensible, compassionate decision to pass a medical marijuana law, and now, 10 years later, suffering Washingtonians may finally be allowed to focus on treating their pain without fearing arrest."

     Although Congress had passed the Barr amendment every year until now, the provision came under greater scrutiny after the high-profile case of Jonathan Magbie, a D.C. quadriplegic man who died in prison in 2004 from lack of medical care after being convicted for using marijuana to treat his pain.

     "Had the District been able to implement its medical marijuana law when it passed in 1998, Mr. Magbie may well be alive today – and free to treat his pain as he and his doctor saw fit," Houston said. "Perhaps now nobody in the District will ever have to suffer as he and his family did simply for using the medicine that works best for them."

     With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana Wins Annual Award by National Sociology Organization

For Immediate Release: Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana wins annual award by national sociology organization Contact: Michele Smith Koontz (SSSP Administrative Officer) at 865-689-1531 or [email protected] WAMM Wins Award The national organization of sociologists, "The Society for the Study of Social Problems," has named the California medical marijuana organization, the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, as the recipient of its 2009 Social Action Award. WAMM, which is a small patient-caregiver cooperative in Santa Cruz, California, has collectively grown and given away millions of dollars worth of cannabis to seriously and terminally ill people since the early 1990s. The organization is strictly not-for-profit. The $1,000 Social Action Award will be presented to WAMM at the SSSP annual dinner in San Francisco on Saturday August 8th at 8 p.m. The organization is the subject of a recent ethnography by Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb, Dying to Get High: marijuana as medicine (New York University Press 2008): http://www.dyingtogethigh.net

Americans for Safe Access: July 2009 Activist Newsletter

City Loses Suit, Pays ASA $139,000 in Legal Fees

Garden Grove Tried to Avoid Returning Cannabis to Patient

A California city's refusal to return less than $200 worth of cannabis to a qualified patient has now cost them at least a thousand times that. And they had to return the cannabis anyway.

As part of a settlement to resolve their unsuccessful challenge to the state's medical marijuana law, Garden Grove officials wrote a check for $139,000 in attorneys' fees to Americans for Safe Access, who represented the patient. That money is in addition to what the city spent fighting the case, estimated at in excess of $100,000.

"It's unfortunate that the City of Garden Grove felt it necessary to spend more than a quarter of a million dollars challenging a patient's right to his medicine," said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford. "Hopefully, other local officials will now do better upholding medical marijuana patients' rights under the law."

When officials in Garden Grove said they would not return the eight grams of cannabis seized from Felix Kha in June 2005, ASA filed suit. All charges against Kha had been dismissed because he was able to show that he is a qualified patient under state law, but city officials argued that returning his medicine would require them to violate federal law.

In a landmark decision, a superior court disagreed and ordered the city to return the cannabis to Kha, but Garden Grove appealed. A state appellate panel also found in favor of Kha, ruling that, "it is not the job of the local police to enforce the federal drug laws."

City officials then asked first the California Supreme Court and then the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision, but both refused to review the case.

"This settlement is a huge victory for patients that underscores law enforcement's obligation to uphold state law," said Elford. "Better adherence to state medical marijuana laws by local police will result in fewer needless arrests and seizures. That protects patients from hardship and avoids wasting resources."

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ASA Suit Gets County to Issue Cannabis ID Cards

Others Face Legal Action if Calif. Program Not Adopted

Medical cannabis patients in Solano County will soon be able to obtain California state ID cards to protect them from wrongful arrest or seizure of their medicine, thanks to legal action by ASA.

The 3-2 vote by the county's supervisors comes five months after ASA filed suit to force them to implement the card program, and one month after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider another county's challenge to state medical marijuana law.

"Solano had come to the end of its legal rope, with no recourse but to obey state law," said Joe Elford, ASA's chief counsel. "More than twelve years after the passage of California's medical marijuana law, it's time for local officials to respect the legal rights and protections afforded patients."

Some local officials have argued that the federal prohibition on all marijuana use prevented them from complying with California's medical marijuana law. In 2006, San Diego County brought that argument to court in a closely watched case that was also litigated, in part, by ASA. The challenge was rejected first in superior court than at the appellate level. The California Supreme Court refused to review the case in 2008, and last month the U.S. Supreme Court also declined to hear it.

At time the lawsuit was filed in January 2009, Solano was one of 12 counties refusing to comply with California's 2004 Medical Marijuana Program Act, which mandates that counties make available voluntary ID cards to qualified medical cannabis patients and their caregivers.
According to the Department of Public Health, 52 of California's 58 counties are now issuing cards or have plans to do so. Officials in the six remaining counties—Colusa, Madera, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, and Sutter—have received notice from ASA that they face litigation unless they comply.

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California Senate Resolution Asks for Change on Federal Medical Cannabis Policy

While the Obama Administration has promised a new policy on prosecuting medical cannabis cases, California state senators are telling Washington they want to see new law.

Senate Joint Resolution 14, introduced by Mark Leno (D-SF), asks Congress and the President to do more than just end federal raids, intimidation, and other interference with state medical marijuana laws. The resolution asks that the federal government establish a comprehensive policy that ensures safe and legal access for patients as well as allow them a medical defense to federal marijuana charges. It also asks them to actively encourage clinical research on the therapeutic use of marijuana.

The resolution is consistent with ASA's national strategy to enact nationwide protections for patients and advance scientific research to fully unlock the therapeutic potential of cannabis.

"The U.S. is poised for a fundamental overhaul on medical cannabis policy," Said Don Duncan, ASA's California Director. "Our legislative strategy is diverse and multi-faceted, with success on any one of our goals likely to have profound, domino-like policy implications."

ASA is mobilizing its grassroots base of almost 40,000 members in sixty chapters and affiliates to change federal policy. In 2009 and 2010, ASA's efforts will be geographically targeted, and SJR 14 is an important part of that strategy.

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Congress Considers Bill to Protect
Medical Marijuana Patients

Law Would Allow Prescription, End Federal Obstruction

A bipartisan bill that would dramatically transform federal policy on medical marijuana is before the House. The bill seeks to change the classification of marijuana from a Schedule I drug, defined as having no medical value, to a Schedule II drug, which could be prescribed like other medications. Known as the "Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act" or HR 2835, the act would also prevent interference by the federal government in any state or local medical marijuana program.

The bill, introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) along with a dozen other members, is similar to legislation introduced in previous Congressional terms.

"We're hopeful that the Obama Administration's new policy on medical marijuana creates the right political context for passing this important legislation," said Caren Woodson, ASA's Government Affairs Director. "It's time for the federal government to acknowledge marijuana's medical efficacy and develop a comprehensive plan to provide safe, consistent access for the hundreds of thousands of Americans that benefit from its use."

In addition to rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), HR 2835 would provide federal legal protections for all qualified patients and caregivers in states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana, as well as any entity authorized under local or state law to distribute medical marijuana.

In addition to the Frank bill, Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) has asked for clarification of the Obama Administration's policy in language he added to the appropriations bill that funds the Department of Justice.

"It's imperative that the federal government respect states' rights and stay out of the way of patients with debilitating diseases such as cancer who are using medical marijuana in accordance with state law to alleviate their pain," Rep. Hinchey said in a statement.

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Rhode Island is Third with Patient Access Program

The Rhode Island legislature this month overrode Governor Donald Carcieri's veto to establish "Compassion Centers" for distributing cannabis to qualified patients.

By votes of 65-0 in the state House and 35-3 in the Senate, state lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the creation of three state-licensed, non-profit centers. The first will be operational within 7 months, the other two within a year after that.

The Obama Administration's new policy of not interfering in state medical cannabis programs has given state officials more options for ensuring access. New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill similar to Rhode Island's, and a ballot initiative in Maine will give voters a chance to allow dispensaries there, come November. California's legislature codified the legal status of patient collectives back in 2004, and New Mexico has licensed a non-profit medical marijuana producer and has plans for more.

"It's heartening to see states implementing distribution systems for patients who can't grow medical marijuana themselves," said Caren Woodson, ASA's Government Affairs Director. "What's needed now is for the federal government to work in harmony with these states to ensure access for patients."

The bill in Rhode Island was backed by the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, a group comprised of patients, advocacy groups, and healthcare providers, including the state Medical Society and Nurses' Association.

Press Release: NH Legislative Committee Approves Revised Medical Marijuana Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 18, 2009

Committee Approves Revised Medical Marijuana Bill

Legislators Worked to Address Governor Lynch's Concerns, Eliminate Possibilities for Diversion

CONTACT: Matt Simon, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy, (603) 391-7450

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — All seven legislators who were tasked with crafting a compromise on the medical marijuana bill signed off on the revised version today. A vote to approve the new language is expected June 24 in the House and Senate, after which the bill will proceed to Gov. John Lynch's desk.

     This special seven-member "committee of conference," chaired by House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee Chairwoman Rep. Cindy Rosenwald (D-Nashua), was formed to address eight specific concerns that were expressed by Lynch. The bill had passed both Houses in slightly different forms and was scheduled for final approval in the House when Lynch's office reportedly informed Rosenwald that the bill would be vetoed if passed in its original form.

     Since then, the bill has been rewritten to address all eight concerns. Most significantly, the new bill will not permit patients or their caregivers to cultivate their own marijuana plants, as patients are permitted to do in all 13 states that currently protect medical marijuana patients from arrest. Instead, the amended bill would allow for the creation of up to three nonprofit "compassion centers," which could legally cultivate medical marijuana and dispense it to patients.

     Rather than creating a new model from scratch, the committee of conference produced a bill similar to legislation that passed in Rhode Island Tuesday. That state's bill, which adds compassion centers to its already existing medical marijuana program, will become law now that legislators overrode Gov. Donald Carcieri's veto, 67-0 in the Rhode Island House and 35-3 in the Senate. New Hampshire’s bill is much more restrictive than Rhode Island's law, which also allows patients and their caregivers to cultivate medical marijuana.

     Advocates were confident that the amendment would remove all reasonable objections to HB 648.

     "As amended, HB 648 would create the most tightly crafted medical marijuana law in the country," said Matt Simon, executive director for the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy. "Some legislators voted against the bill initially because they felt that distribution of medical marijuana should be tightly controlled. If these legislators truly believe patients should not have to live in fear of being arrested by New Hampshire police, they should be willing to support this version of the bill."

     In the coming week, advocates will present legislators with a document – available online at www.mpp.org/states/new-hampshire/hb-648-has-been-amended-to.html – detailing the committee's changes and specifies how all eight of the governor's concerns have been addressed.

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Press Release: Rhode Island to License Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Historic Move

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
JUNE 16, 2009

Rhode Island to License Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Move Hailed as Historic
Legislature Overrides Veto; Rhode Island Is First State to Expand an Existing Medical Marijuana Law to Permit Dispensaries

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND -- In a historic first, Rhode Island legislators today made their state the first ever to expand an existing medical marijuana law to allow for state-licensed compassion centers to grow and distribute marijuana to registered patients. Legislators easily overrode the veto issued by Gov. Donald Carcieri with override votes of 68-0 in the House and 35-3 in the Senate.

     Rhode Island's medical marijuana law, like most such state laws, did not set up a formal distribution system, but simply allowed patients to grow a limited quantity of medical marijuana for their own use or designate a caregiver to grow it for them. In March, New Mexico became the first state to grant a state license to a medical marijuana producer, pursuant to legislation passed last year.

     "We are seeing a historic shift to allowing state-licensed, regulated medical marijuana production and distribution," said Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "Combining regulated distribution with provisions for patients to grow a limited quantity for themselves is the best way to assure safe access for patients, with solid safeguards to prevent abuse." States where medical marijuana bills that include a dispensary provision are under consideration include Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and a similar ballot initiative is now being circulated in Arizona. This November, Maine voters will vote on a ballot initiative to add dispensaries to the state's medical marijuana law.

     "During the Bush administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration raided medical marijuana patients and caregivers in California, leaving states hesitant to set up state-regulated distribution," said MPP director of government relations Aaron Houston. "Now that the Obama administration has announced a policy change, state legislators seem to feel safer adopting a sensible, regulated system of medical marijuana distribution that avoids the mistakes of California, where dispensaries sprang up with no rules. This is a historic step forward."

     With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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Rhode Island passes new medical marijuana law

Dear Friends:

Great news! Rhode Island just passed a new medical marijuana law.

In landslide votes of 68-0 and 35-3, the Rhode Island General Assembly today overrode Gov. Donald Carcieri's (R) veto of legislation to allow the licensed, regulated sale of marijuana to seriously ill patients. Rhode Island will now become only the second state (after New Mexico) to license and regulate medical marijuana dispensing.

This expands the law that MPP passed in 2006, which protects medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail. Under that law, patients were allowed to grow their own marijuana or designate a caregiver to do it for them, but many patients didn't have regular access, and some were even assaulted trying to buy marijuana in the streets. Thanks to the new law, patients will now be able to obtain medical marijuana safely and legally from three state-regulated and licensed compassion centers.

MPP gives a special thanks to the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, an MPP grant recipient, for incredible organizing work.

If you support this work, would you please consider automatically donating $5 or more on your credit card each month to help us pass similar bills into law?

We're also making great progress in Delaware, Illinois, New Hampshire, and New York:

  • On June 3, the Delaware Senate Health Committee voted 4-0 to pass the first modern medical marijuana bill ever introduced in Delaware. The bill is based on MPP's model legislation, and MPP's Noah Mamber testified in support of the bill. This is the first year MPP has funded medical marijuana work in Delaware, and we're making rapid progress.
  • On May 27, the Illinois Senate passed a medical marijuana bill by 30-28. MPP has been lobbying and organizing in the state since 2004, and this year, we ramped up the pressure — running TV ads featuring two patients and generating more than 4,000 e-mails and 3,600 calls to legislators. After the Senate victory, a House committee swiftly approved the bill, but the legislature recessed only three days later. We have until the end of 2010 to pass the bill this session.
  • In New Hampshire, MPP has retained a top lobbying firm and grassroots organizer to pass a medical marijuana bill, and it looks like the legislature will send Gov. John Lynch (D) the legislation to sign later this month. Back in March, the House passed the bill, 234-138, and on April 29, the Senate passed an amended version, 14-10. This is the first time either chamber has approved medical marijuana legislation, and we need your help for a final push, complete with radio ads, to urge Gov. Lynch (D) to let the bill become law.
  • Our chances of passing medical marijuana legislation in New York this year got more complicated last week, when the state Senate tumbled into a major leadership battle. The Assembly has passed similar legislation twice (in 2007 and 2008), but it still needs to be voted on by the Senate, where it has already passed one committee. We've built an impressive coalition: Virtually the entire state medical community, including the state medical society, nurses' association, and hospice association, support medical marijuana access. And 76% of New Yorkers support the bill, including 55% of Conservative Party members (the state party to the right of Republicans).

This is amazing progress for just a few months. Our state lobbying efforts are costing quite a bit of money, but it's all paying off. Would you please donate today so we can continue pushing hard in these states?

Make a one-time donation to our work

Become a monthly pledger to provide us with ongoing funding for our work

Together, we're on the path to victory, but we need your help to keep going.

Thank you,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

Act Now to Protect Medical Cannabis Patients

Act Now to Protect Medical Cannabis Patients:
Tell Your U.S. Representative to Support HR 2835!


Dear ASA Supporter,

On June 11, Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) and a small bi-partisan coalition of Members of Congress re-introduced HR 2835, the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act. The legislation will help protect individuals who use or provide medical cannabis in accordance with their state law.

Visit www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/PatientProtectionAct to take action now!

If passed, this important legislation would, among other things, reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule II drug according the Controlled Substances Act and provide clearer protections for qualified patients, their caregivers, and safe-access sites authorized by state or local law. Take action now to protect patients and their providers. Although similar versions of the bill have been introduced in previous Congressional terms, the Obama Administration's willingness to change federal policy on medical marijuana has created a new political context and may facilitate passage of this important legislation.

Currently the bill has only a dozen co-sponsors, which means there is plenty of work to be done!

Visit www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/PatientProtectionAct to send an e-mail to your Member of Congress now. It's important to urge all U.S. Representatives to support the Patient Protection Act!

Thanks you for supporting ASA and our efforts to secure safe access for medical cannabis patients. Please forward this message to friends, co-workers, and family members to encourage them to join you in this nationwide movement to protect safe access!

Sincerely,

Caren Woodson
Director of Government Affairs
Americans for Safe Access

P.S. The only way we can continue to work on legislation like the Patient Protection Act is with your continued support. Become a member of ASA today!

Medical Marijuana: UCSF School of Medicine's Continuing Medical Education

Patients Out of Time's 2008 conference is now on the UCSF School of Medicine's Continuing Medical Education for physicians and other health care professionals to view and earn their continuing education units. Link: http://www.medicalcannabis.com/OnlineEducation/ PDF: http://medicalcannabis.com/Online%20Education%20UCSF%20PRINT.pdf Image: http://medicalcannabis.com/medical-education.html Direct Link: http://www.cecity.com/ce-bin/owa/bel?cc=CECA&aid=14422

MPP Condemns Prison Sentence for Medical Marijuana Defendant Charles C. Lynch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
JUNE 11, 2009

MPP Condemns Prison Sentence for Medical Marijuana Defendant Charles C. Lynch

Law-Abiding Medical Marijuana Collective Was Licensed by City

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications, 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205
                   Aaron Smith, MPP California policy director, 707-575-9870

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA —The Marijuana Policy Project strongly condemned today's federal sentencing of Charles C. Lynch, a California medical marijuana provider who worked scrupulously to follow state and local laws but now faces one year and one day in federal prison.

    "Years from now, Mr. Lynch may well be remembered as the last American to go to federal prison for a mistake, the final victim of an already repudiated policy well on its way to the ash heap of history, but whose mean-spirited effects still linger," said MPP executive director Rob Kampia. "This sentence is a cruel and pointless miscarriage of justice. Mr. Lynch and his attorneys say they plan to appeal, and we hope they succeed. With federal law enforcement at the Mexican border so overwhelmed that traffickers coming through with up to 500 pounds of marijuana are let go, even one more penny spent persecuting a man who is not a criminal in any rational sense of the word is an outrageous waste of resources."

    In February, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that henceforth the Drug Enforcement Administration would only conduct enforcement actions against medical marijuana defendants who were violating both state and federal law, reversing the Bush administration's policy of ignoring state medical marijuana laws.

    Lynch's medical marijuana collective was licensed by the city of Morro Bay, and officials routinely inspected the facility to monitor compliance with state and local laws. But because federal law makes no statutory allowance for medical marijuana, all evidence related to California's medical marijuana law was barred from his trial.

    With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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Americans for Safe Access: June 2009 Activist Newsletter

U.S. Supreme Court Affirms California Medical Marijuana Program

High Court Refuses to Hear County Challenge to State Law


In another landmark victory for the ASA legal team, the U.S. Supreme Court has said no to an attempt by a California county to overturn the state's medical marijuana law.

The case, brought by San Diego County and joined by two others, alleged that the federal prohibition of marijuana preempts the state law that allows legal access for qualified patients. County officials were resisting the legislature's mandate to implement a identification card program for medical marijuana patients.

"No longer will local officials be able to hide behind federal law and resist upholding California's medical marijuana law," said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, who helped argue the case. "The courts have made clear that federal law does not preempt California's medical marijuana law and that local officials must comply with that law."

The San Diego Superior Court and the Fourth District Court of Appeals both rejected the argument, which was followed by the California Supreme Court's refusal to review the case in 2008. ASA filed a lawsuit in January against Solano County for its refusal to implement the state ID card program.

"This decision and our lawsuit against Solano will undoubtedly have an impact on the other 10 counties that have failed to implement the ID card program," said Elford.

Colusa, Madera, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, San Bernardino, San Diego, Solano, Stanislaus, and Sutter counties have each been notified about their obligation to implement the ID card program.

ASA worked with the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project to litigate the San Diego case, with both organizations on the side of the California Attorney General defending the state's medical marijuana law. The County of San Bernardino joined San Diego County in its original lawsuit and the subsequent appeals.

The ID card program was established in 2004 with the legislature's passage of SB 420, the Medical Marijuana Program Act. The ID cards are intended to assist law enforcement identify qualified patients and protect those patients from wrongful arrest.

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ASA Defends Marijuana Seizure Ruling on Appeal

California Court Considers Law Enforcement Limits

The right of California patients to both organize collectives to grow medical marijuana and be protected from unreasonable search and seizure was defended by ASA last month before a state appeals court. Butte county officials are trying to overturn a lower court's decision that had removed restrictions the county had imposed on patient collectives.

"We're cautiously optimistic about the outcome," said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, who argued the case. "The panel asked tough questions of the county and clearly understands that this is an important and interesting case for defining the limits and obligations of state medical marijuana law."

The case, Williams v. Butte County, involves a collective of seven patients who had pooled their labor and resources to maintain a 41-plant garden. But county policy required every member of the collective to live on the property or physically till the soil, a restriction not found in California law. So when the sheriff's department entered the property without a warrant and ordered the owner to tear down all but six plants for himself and six plants for his wife -- which he did under threat of arrest - ASA sued the county and won.

Butte officials are appealing the trial court's ruling that the Butte County policy is preempted by state law and that a patient may file a claim for unreasonable search and seizure in such a circumstance. The county is being supported before the Court of Appeal for the Third District by the California Peace Officers' Association, California Police Chiefs' Association, and California Sheriffs' Association, organizations that have filed amicus briefs arguing against patient rights in several ASA cases.

In addition to the question of whether county's can impose onerous restrictions on how collectives may operate, the court was concerned with when and how law enforcement may seize medicine.

The county argued that there is no restriction on seizures of marijuana by state officials, since it remains illegal under federal law. One of the justices commented that this would seemed to violate the spirit of Proposition 215 and asked whether the electorate would be "mystified" by a decision that would allow law enforcement to seize marijuana from patients without any restriction.

ASA argued that the California Supreme Court's opinion in People v. Mower that "probable cause depends on all of the circumstances, including one's status as a qualified medical marijuana patient" means that law enforcement must have probable cause to seize medicine from qualified patients.

Elford told the court that in this case there was neither probable cause nor a search warrant, and without any exigent circumstance to justify a warrantless seizure - the officer knew that Williams wanted to keep the marijuana and was not going to destroy it on his own -- there is no excuse for failing to get a warrant.

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ASA Chapter Profile: Honolulu, Hawaii

Since it was formed last September, ASA's Honolulu, Hawaii chapter has been growing steadily and gaining ground in the fight for medical cannabis patients rights. Honolulu ASA is the only advocacy group on the island which works exclusively for medical cannabis issues. In the past few months, Honolulu ASA has formed alliances with other advocacy groups on Oahu such as the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii and the West Oahu Hope For A Cure.

Last month, the chapter gained a seat on Hawaii's statewide Medical Cannabis Task Force, which was established by the legislature on April 29th to look into the Hawaii program and make recommendations early next year. The director of the Honolulu chapter of ASA will represent ASA members throughout the state in the upcoming deliberations to make Hawaii's program a viable system, including the possible creation of a distribution system.

This is the first time that an ASA local chapter will have a seat on a statewide task force. This bill is now being sent over to the governor for her approval.

The Honolulu chapter has been growing rapidly, with membership recently reaching 100 members, thanks in part to a new partnership with a local physician. ASA Honolulu's goal is to eventually have every medical cannabis patient on the island of Oahu as an ASA member.

ASA Honolulu has established a relationship with Dr. Jimenez to have a presence in his Hawaii office as he is seeing new and re-certifying patients during his monthly visits to the island. This allows ASA an opportunity to introduce the organization to qualified patients and get them signed up as new members.

Dr Jimenez is also an ASA member and a member of the local chapter and has been added as the Medical Advisor to the chapter to assist in work on the Medical Cannabis Task Force. Dr. Jimenez is one of the primary medical cannabis recommendation physicians in Hawaii and California with approximately 11,000 current recommendations written.

This month, the Honolulu chapter will begin holding approximately 20 different "Cannabis Classes" to teach patients valuable tips and techniques for choosing, growing, cloning, harvesting, curing, and using their medication. They are also working out the details for weekend "Cannabis Camps" to be held at various beach parks on Oahu each year. These Cannabis Camps will offer ASA members additional opportunities for classes, fellowship with other patients, and entertainment while camping at a beautiful Hawaii beach. Members from other chapters are invited to attend these Cannabis Camps as an opportunity to further relationships between the chapters.

For more information about the Honolulu ASA chapter and the work that we have been doing in Hawaii, visit our chapter website at www.HonoluluASA.org or contact us by email at [email protected] or by phone at (808) 840-0229 or (808) 352-5815.

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