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Medical Marijuana

Amazing progress on medical marijuana in Minnesota and Illinois

[Courtesy of MPP] 

MPP surprised all the political pundits when the final Minnesota House committee passed our medical marijuana bill with a 13-4 vote yesterday! The bill — which would protect Minnesota’s medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail — now heads to the House floor for the final battle ... meaning that Minnesota could be just two or three weeks away from becoming the 13th medical marijuana state.
 
We’re also making historic progress in Illinois, where our medical marijuana bill — which Illinois voters support by a whopping 67% to 27% margin — has cleared a major hurdle, passing the Senate Public Health Committee by a 6-4 vote last month, and is now slated for the Senate floor.

Press Release: Medical Marijuana Bill Passes Final Committee -- House Floor Next

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 9, 2008 CONTACT: Neal Levine, MPP director of state campaigns, tel: 612-326-6690 ext.802 Medical Marijuana Bill Passes Final Committee Measure Clears Last Hurdle Before House Floor ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA -- Minnesota's bill to protect seriously ill patients from arrest for using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation cleared its final committee hurdle today, passing the House Ways and Means Committee, 13-4. The next stop for the bill, SF 345, is the House floor. The Senate version of the bill was approved by the full Senate last year. Preston resident Neil Haugerud, former sheriff of Fillmore County and a former state representative who suffers chronic pain from arachnoiditis (inflammation of the lining that surrounds the spinal cord), said, "I'm grateful to the committee for passing the medical marijuana bill, and I hope the full House and the governor will go ahead and make it law as soon as possible. Patients who are in pain shouldn't have to risk arrest and jail to get relief." "Medical marijuana is a conservative issue," said Rep. Chris DeLaForest (R-Andover), a co-sponsor of the bill. "It's about the right of doctors and patients to make the best treatment decisions to relieve suffering, without interference from politicians and bureaucrats." "I hope the House follows the Senate's lead and, for the sake of Minnesota's seriously ill patients, passes this compassionate bill quickly," said bill sponsor Rep. Tom Huntley (DFL-Duluth). The bill's chances were recently boosted by a strong statement of support for medical marijuana from the 124,000-member American College of Physicians, the largest medical specialty society and second largest physician group in the U.S. The ACP statement is available online at http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/where_we_stand/other_issues/medmarijuana.pdf Twelve states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- presently allow medical use of marijuana. Medical marijuana bills are now under consideration in Illinois and New York, and an initiative is expected to appear on Michigan's November ballot. With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 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.

Americans for Safe Access: April 2008 Activist Newsletter

California Cannabis Dispensaries Testify at Tax Hearing

Medical Cannabis Generates More than $100 Million in Sales Tax

On Tuesday, March 18, medical cannabis advocates and dispensary operators from around California went to the state capital to testify about the sales tax medical cannabis generates. The group urged the Board of Equalization (BOE) to help protect an important source of revenue for the state—$100 million in sales tax collected annually by medical marijuana dispensaries.

The BOE testimony The patients, advocates, and operators who testified.

ASA's Chief of Staff Rebecca Saltzman testified first. She told the BOE that the tax revenue the state receives from licensed medical cannabis dispensaries is in danger, due to increased federal interference in the state medical marijuana program.

"The sales tax collected by medical marijuana dispensaries in one year could fund the construction of two large schools or 2,000 elementary and high school teachers," said ASA Chief of Staff Rebecca Saltzman. "By robbing California of this much needed revenue, the federal government is not only harming thousands of patients that rely on this medicine, it is also impeding the state's ability to fund critical aspects of its infrastructure."

Others who testified included Dale Geiringer, Ph.D., the head of California NORML, who outlined the millions of dollars of tax revenue dispensaries produce for the BOE, and several dispensary operators and former operators from Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, Sacramento and Santa Cruz, who all testified to their problems with the DEA.

Among those dispensary operators was Lisa Sawoya, the tax-paying former director of Hollywood Compassionate Care in Los Angeles, who was forced to close her dispensary because the DEA intimidated her landlord by threatening to seize the property. Her collective still suffered a raid at the hands of the DEA, even though her landlord had notified the DEA that the dispensary was closing in a matter of days.

Bill Pearce, former director of River City Patients' Center in Sacramento, described the $700,000 he had paid to the BOE over the past three years, as well as a quarter of a million to the IRS and Franchise Tax Board. The DEA shut him down in September.

All those testifying urged the BOE to do everything possible to help protect safe access and state tax revenues. ASA's Rebecca Saltzman also pointed out that the DEA would soon face oversight hearings before Congress on their tactics, and State Senator Carole Migden is introducing a resolution calling for an end to federal interference and urging Congress and the President to establish policy consistent with the compassionate use laws of California.

In 2007 alone, the DEA raided more than 50 medical marijuana providers, and they embarked on a new strategy, sending more than 300 letters to landlords of dispensaries, threatening property owners with criminal prosecution and asset forfeiture.

Read more in Rebecca Saltzman's report on the hearing on ASA's blog. Also, see the ASA Fact Sheet on sales tax on the website here.

ASA Mounts Strong Response to Latest LA Raids

Patients, Activists and Victims of DEA Raids Rally, Speak to City Council

ASA organized a quick response to DEA raids on six locations of a medical cannabis collective in Los Angeles on March 20.

Activists were at the locations quickly to protest the raids, thanks to ASA's Raid Response Emergency Text Messaging system. One of the activists onsite even overheard a DEA agent tell the others that "the alert has gone out" and "they're on the way."

Within days, operators of several dispensaries that have been targeted testified before the Los Angeles City Council, then joined 60 medical cannabis patients and advocates for a protest in front of the DEA offices downtown.

"It's very difficult to comply with state law with the DEA continuing to raid legally-sanctioned dispensaries," said Virgil Grant, who had multiple dispensary locations raided. "It's time for the Los Angeles City Council and other local governments to end DEA interference."

The city council was asked to re-convene the city working group that is developing regulations for collectives, and Council Member Janice Hahn said she would.

Next Wednesday, April 2, the council will vote on a resolution endorsing state Senator Carole Migden's Senate Joint Resolution 20 calling on the President and US Congress to end the raids. See below in the City and County Hearings section for more details.

No arrests were made and the collectives, which took only minor losses due to careful precautions, are expected to reopen today.

Sign up for ASA's Emergency Response Text Messaging System to receive instant alerts about raids in your area. Visit ASA online at www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/RaidAlert.

ASA Fact Sheet on Senate Joint Resolution 20, calling for an end to DEA interference is at www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/downloads/SJR_20_Fact_Sheet.pdf.

Maryland Patients Get ASA Rights Training

As part of a campaign to raise awareness about Maryland's medical cannabis law and improve it, patients throughout Maryland received trainings on their rights this month as part of in an education partnership between ASA and the Drug Policy Alliance.

ASA's first Medical Marijuana Teach-In and Know Your Rights Training in the state drew a diverse crowd to hear about the state's medical marijuana law. A few attendees were not even aware that Maryland has a medical marijuana law.

Unlike most states with medical cannabis laws, Maryland still considers patients criminals, even when they can prove that their marijuana use is a medical necessity. A successful medical defense will leave a patient with a misdemeanor criminal record that poses barriers to financial aid, housing, employment, and more.

Those attending the training all signed ASA's petition to protect Maryland medical marijuana patients, and many also signed up to participate in a field trip to meet with state legislators next month.

ASA conducted similar teach-ins throughout the month of March, including trainings in Salisbury, Maryland (Eastern Shore), Silver Spring, MD (Montgomery County) and Western Maryland. The campaign is designed to build grassroots support and identify potential leadership to support future legislative reform efforts.

For more information about how to help improve Maryland's medical marijuana law see ASA’s website at: AmericansForSafeAccess.org/maryland.

Watch the video / 67% support for MPP's medical marijuana initiative in Michigan

[Courtesy of MPP] 

A new, independent poll published in a prominent Michigan political newsletter shows that 67% of Michigan voters favor the passage of MPP's medical marijuana initiative in the state. This is a significant increase in support from polls conducted in previous years. It also cuts across all demographics, which bodes very well for making Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state this November.

Momentum is clearly on our side, but we still need the resources to mount an effective campaign this year to ensure we win on November 4. Would you please make a donation to MPP's campaign committee, the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, today?

Shortly after our initiative was certified for the November ballot, local pundits on the public television talk show “Off the Record” spoke glowingly of MPP’s campaign. Host Tim Skubick praised MPP’s strategy of flying under the radar, and one of the guests noted, “This is the most organized of the ballot proposals that are out there right now.” Click here to watch these reporters gush over MPP.

Back to the poll: Conducted by the Lansing-based consulting firm Marketing Resource Group (MRG) and published in "Inside Michigan Politics," it found that 67% of Michiganders support the passage of the medical marijuana law, with 28% opposed and only 5% undecided.

Earlier this month, the nearly half-a-million signatures we had submitted to the state government came back with a whopping 80% validity rate. Now the medical marijuana initiative advances to the Michigan Legislature. If, as expected, the legislature chooses not to act on the initiative after 40 days, Michigan voters will decide the issue at the polls on November 4.

The overwhelming amount of support reflected in the local media coverage and this latest poll is not altogether surprising: Five Michigan cities — Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Flint, and Traverse City — passed local medical marijuana initiatives by wide margins from 2004 to 2007. And previous polling — such as a 2005 survey that found 61% in favor of protecting medical marijuana patients — has always indicated that a majority of Michiganders support reform.

But the MRG poll demonstrates that this support is surging statewide as voters hear more about the issue, and now two out of three Michigan residents are saying they’d vote to protect patients from the threat of arrest and jail.

Despite this encouraging poll, the fact remains that the campaign still has a long way to go, and we'll need substantial resources to maintain this momentum. Would you please consider donating to the campaign today to help ensure a victory in November? Thank you for supporting this important work.

Sincerely,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)
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 $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your donation to the Michigan campaign today will be doubled.

Americans for Safe Access Introduces New Video Testimonials

Dear ASA Supporter,

As the National Field Coordinator for ASA I meet patients, medical professionals, caregivers, and people from all walks of life on a daily basis. When meeting people new to the movement I am regularly asked who supports medical cannabis and why should I get on board? In the past, I would then take several minutes to explain, but that is about to change today!

I am very excited to announce that ASA has developed a new type of outreach and education tool, which also happens to be rather entertaining! Today, we are releasing three video testimonials which at www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/VideoTestimonial to help spread the word about medical cannabis.

"I had to pack up all my belongings, sell the family home, and move across the country to California to be safe to be a patient."
- Steve from Oakland speaking about his move from Virginia to Oakland to become a legal medical cannabis patient. Watch Steve's whole story.

The video testimonial project has been designed to help educate people about medical cannabis by having patients and supporters share their stories. This project was also designed to help people like you educate your friends and family about medical cannabis by sharing these videos with your community.

"Even my 80-year-old mother approves of me being a patient. She says to people, 'If it helps her pain then it is okay.'"
- Carole from the Fremont talking about being out as a medical cannabis patient with her family. Watch Carole's whole story.

Over the next month, ASA will be releasing a new testimonial each week beginning next Monday. Be sure to visit www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/VideoTestimonial next Monday to view the next installment of ASA's video testimonials. We will be releasing a new video every Monday through the end of April. In the meantime, click here to view the first three videos today!

Thank you to Carson Higby-Flowers for volunteering to record, edit, and produce the testimonials. Also, thank you to all of the brave patients, supporters, and advocates who took the time to come in and participate in the video shoot.

Keep spreading the word about medical cannabis and forward this message on to your family, friends, and community members. Also, if you belong to an online social networking page like MySpace, Facebook, Tribe, and/or host your own personal blog, I strongly encourage you to link to the video testimonials.

Sincerely,

Sonnet Seeborg Gabbard
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access

P.S. Let us know if you are interested in participating in the next video testimonial shoot at the ASA headquarters (date and time have yet to be determined). E-mail [email protected] if you are interested.

Drug Sense Focus ALERT: #362 Medical Marijuana In Michigan - Yea or Nay?

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #362 - Monday, 24 March 2008 Earlier this month, the voters of Michigan succeeded in qualifying an initiative for the November election ballot. When passed by the voters on November 4th Michigan law will allow patients to use, possess, and grow their own marijuana for medical purposes with their doctors' approval. This will likely make Michigan the first medical marijuana state in the heartland, although there are bills pending in some other midwest states. Michigan is home to more than 10 million people. Of the states with current effective medical marijuana laws only California has a larger population. Three articles were written for the Sunday editions of the Kalamazoo Gazette this month, a newspaper in the heartland of Michigan. They illustrate the battle Michigan folks will have in the media in the months ahead. The author of the articles, Chris Killian, went to some length to find both pro and con arguments. Please read the articles at http://www.mapinc.org/author/Chris+Killian Note that for the two oldest articles Michigan letter writers have responded as shown at the 'Letters' link at the top of each MAP archived article. We are not suggesting that out of state letter writers respond to Michigan press articles about the initiative. This is a battle best fought by in state letter writers. Folks outside Michigan may find other ways to support the initiative by going to the initiative website at http://stoparrestingpatients.org/ But the three articles do illustrate the type of arguments made in the press both for and against medicinal marijuana initiatives, bills and laws in every state. As letter writers improve their arguments in letters sent to their state papers they advance the issue. ********************************************************************** Excerpts from 'Nuclear-Blast Survivor Heads Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access' published on March 9th: The atomic explosions off remote islands in the South Pacific seemed to turn night into day. They also turned Martin Chilcutt into a marijuana user. Chilcutt said the drug has helped him to ease the pain he says dates back to his exposure to radiation during a 1956 U.S. government project testing nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. A state ballot proposal could allow voters in November to decide whether Chilcutt's measures to self-medicate should be legal in Michigan. The 74-year-old former intelligence officer with the U.S. Naval Air Force has used other medications to help him with his physical and psychological problems, but marijuana helps "so much better," he said. [snip] Although there are different ways to use the drug, such as ingesting or inhaling it, there is no difference in the drug's effect based on consumption, according to the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, which is spearheading the state marijuana initiative. "It just makes life so much easier," he said. "It allows you to be comfortable." Chilcutt, a retired psychotherapist, said he first learned of marijuana's medical benefits in the late 1970s while counseling Vietnam War veterans in California. They told him the drug could help allay his pain, he said. He said he takes eight other medications for ailments the marijuana doesn't help, including a thyroid condition. Advocates for the medical use of marijuana say it's also effective in easing symptoms from other serious illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. Critics cite a U.S. Food and Drug Administration report in 2006 that said "no sound scientific studies" support the medical use of the drug. If the marijuana-use proposal is approved by state voters, Michigan would become the 15th state -- and the first in the Midwest -- with a law that permits marijuana use for seriously ill people. Michigan law currently prohibits marijuana use for any reason. It's estimated between 40,000 and 50,000 people -- about one-half of 1 percent of Michigan residents -- would be eligible to use marijuana for medical purposes. In states where the law is now in place, it's estimated the same percentage of residents would qualify to use the drug, according to the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care. [snip]

Fry & Schafer Released on Bail Pending Appeal

[Courtesy of California NORML] SACRAMENTO, Mar. 19th - Dr. Mollie Fry and Dale Schafer walked out of US Court free on bail pending appeal after being sentenced to a five-year mandatory minimum by a US District Judge Frank Damrell, who deplored the sentence as a "tragedy" that should "never have happened." Supporters were elated by Damrell's decision to grant release on bail, which capped a tense and dramatic day that began with a succession of adverse rulings for the defense. Defense attorney Tony Serra called it "one of the saddest days I've confronted in a long career" after Damrell turned down all the defense's motions to avoid the mandatory minimums. Mollie Fry stirred the courtroom to tears as she related the story of her cancer and subsequent desire to help people with medical marijuana. "We caused no harm to anyone," she said, "There were no victims." Judge Damrell acknowledged the legitimacy of Fry's medical use of marijuana, but said that the couple had "spiraled out of control.' He concluded that he had "no choice" but to impose the mandatory minimum of 5 years, a sentence dictated by the jury's finding that the couple had grown a total of slightly more than 100 plants over a period of three years. On the final and crucial issue of the day, however, Damrell agreed that the couple had "substantial" grounds for appeal so as to justify their release on bail. Following expert testimony by attorneys J David Nick and Ephraim Margolin, Damrell found substantial appeals issues relating to entrapment, the defendants' state of mind, and the conflict between state and federal laws. He added that the couple's precarious state of health was further extraordinary grounds for keeping them out of prison. He reprimanded Dr.Fry for her loose standards in recommending marijuana, and stipulated as a strict condition for her release that she desist from further recommendations, to which she assented. To this observer, today's events felt like a momentous step forward towards the inevitable changing of federal marijuana laws. Judge Damrell effectively declared the bankruptcy of US laws regarding mandatory sentencing and medical marijuana, and rightly referred the matter to higher authorities to decide. There are good grounds to hope that Dale and Mollie will be vindicated by the Ninth Circuit and/or a change in administration. More later.... Dale Gieringer, Cal NORML -- California NORML, 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114 -(415) 563- 5858 - www.canorml.org

MMJ Advocates Call on California Board of Equlization for Representation

[Courtesy of CA NORML] SACRAMENTO, March 18th: Medical marijuana advocates appealed to the state Board of Equalization to recognize their contribution to California's sales taxes revenues and stand up for their right to "taxation with representation." The Board heard testimony from ASA, CA NORML, and half a dozen dispensary owners concerned about harassment by DEA despite paying sales taxes to the BOE. Speaking for ASA, Rebecca Saltzman reminded the Board that California's dispensaries are generating some $100 million in sales tax revenues, but are nonetheless being threatened with raids, arrest and asset seizure by the DEA. She asked the Board to stand up for the dispensaries and urge the Governor to do likewise. Cal NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer testified that the total retail market for medical cannabis is around $870 million to $2 billion per year in California, enough to generate $70 to $160 million in sales taxes, according to a report by Oakland's Measure Z marijuana oversight committee: http://www.canorml.org/background/OakFinancialReportRelse.htm. He noted that DEA raids have robbed the state of millions in dollars of sales tax revenues, and that the DEA had even gone so far as to confiscate sales tax payment checks in the process of their transfer to the BOE. http://www.canorml.org/news/DEASeizesStateTax$$_relse.htm Lisa Sawoya, director of Hollywood Compassionate Care in LA, testified that she had begun paying sales taxes in 2006 and had voluntarily sent the board six months' back taxes, but was nonetheless subsequently raided and shut down by the DEA. Dona Frank of Organic Cannabis Foundation in Sonoma Co. testified that her group had paid $500K in sales taxes in 2007, and would continue to do so, but had nonetheless been forced to move on account of DEA landlord letters. She called on the board to "stand up" against the DEA's actions. Lisa Molyneux of Greenway Compassionate Relief in Santa Cruz said she was providing workers with employment, benefits and health insurance, in addition to paying taxes, but that DEA raids were putting these revenues at risks. Rebeccca De Keuster of Berkeley Patients' Group said that dispensaries were caught in a "Catch-22" situation. She testified that the DEA had seized $100K that BPG had saved up to pay taxes, and that their raids appeared to be timed to the last week of the month, just before bills are paid. Bill Pearce, director of the River City Patients' Dispensary in Sacramento, testified that he had paid $700K in sales taxes to the BOE plus $250K more to the IRS and Franchise Tax Board, before being shut down and having assets seized by the DEA. Tariq Alazraie, manager of Purple Heart Caregivers and the former Mason St dispensary in S.F., said the board had an obligation to stand up for dispensaries, given that it was recognizing them by accepting their tax payments. State BOE member Betty Yee urged her colleagues to heed advocates' testimony, saying she felt a "tremendous sense of responsibility on this issue," and it would "not be a pretty picture" if dispensaries were driven back underground. BOE member Bill Leonard, one of the Board's Republicans, said he was concerned about allegations that the board might have shared confidential information with federal investigators, noting that confidentiality laws strictly forbid any such cooperation except by subpoena. Medical cannabis activists left the hearings with the impression that the Board had given them serious attention, and hopeful that their objections to " taxation without representation" will be heard by other public officials, including the Governor. -- California NORML, 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114 -(415) 563- 5858 - www.canorml.org

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Testify TODAY at Taxpayers' Hearing in Sacramento

[Courtesy of ASA] For Immediate Release: March 18, 2008 Contact: ASA Media Liaison Kris Hermes (510) 681-6361 or, in Sacramento, ASA California Director Don Duncan (323) 326-6347 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Testify Today at Taxpayers' Hearing in Sacramento Patients and their providers pay more than $100 million in sales tax annually Sacramento, CA -- More than a half-dozen medical marijuana dispensary operators from across the state will testify today at 1:30pm before the State Board of Equalization (BOE) at its Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Hearing. Dispensary operators from southern and northern California, joined by medical marijuana advocates, will be in Sacramento to discuss their significant contribution of $100 million in annual sales tax revenue to an ailing state budget. While sales tax on medical marijuana clearly benefits the fiscal health of the state, that funding is threatened by increased interference from the federal government. What: Medical marijuana dispensary operators and advocates testify at the Board of Equalization's Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Hearing When: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 1:30pm Where: Hearing Room 121 at the BOE, 450 N Street in Sacramento Why: Medical marijuana annual sales tax revenue of $100 million is threatened by continued federal interference Who: Testimony will be heard from dispensary operators in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Berkeley, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz "Medical marijuana dispensaries are doing their best to comply with state law," said Kris Hermes, spokesperson for Americans for Safe Access (ASA), one of the advocacy groups testifying today. "One hundred million dollars annually in sales tax revenue is not small change," continued Hermes. "However, by continuing to shut these facilities down, the federal government deprives the state of this money at a time of fiscal crisis." According to recent estimations by multiple advocacy groups, California's hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries contribute to the state budget at least $100 million annually in sales tax revenue. The State of California began collecting sales tax revenue from medical marijuana dispensaries in October 2005, after a policy decision that year by the BOE. However, the same facilities that are expected to comply with this policy are currently under attack by the federal government. Enforcement tactics by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have had a devastating impact on dispensaries in California. In 2007 alone, the DEA raided more than 50 medical marijuana dispensaries in at least 10 different counties across the state. Also, in 2007, the DEA launched a new tactic in its attempts to undermine state law by disseminating more than 300 letters to landlords of dispensaries, threatening the property owners with criminal prosecution and asset seizure if they continued to lease to dispensaries. "The sales tax collected by medical marijuana dispensaries in one year could fund the construction of two large schools or 2,000 elementary and high school teachers," said ASA Chief of Staff Rebecca Saltzman. "By robbing California of this much needed revenue, the federal government is not only harming thousands of patients that rely on this medicine, it is also impeding the state's ability to fund critical aspects of its infrastructure." The federal government's efforts to undermine California's medical marijuana law have not gone unnoticed by local and state lawmakers. Letters from concerned local officials in 2007 prompted U.S. House Judiciary Chair John Conyers to issue a statement in December expressing his deep concern and calling for DEA oversight hearings. Since then, Mayors from Oakland and Santa Cruz, as well as the Berkeley City Council and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, have all registered their opposition to federal enforcement against medical marijuana. In addition, State Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) introduced SJR 20 earlier this year, calling for an end to federal interference and urging Congress and the President to establish policy consistent with the compassionate use laws of California. Most recently, in February, former BOE Chair Betty Yee co-authored an opinion piece with Senator Migden harshly criticizing DEA tactics in California, emphasizing the harm to both patients and the state. Further information: ASA Fact Sheet on Sales Tax: http://americansforsafeaccess.org/downloads/sales_tax_fact_sheet.pdf Copy of State Senate Joint Resolution 20, calling for an end to DEA interference: http://americansforsafeaccess.org/downloads/SJR_20.pdf BOE notice sent to dispensaries in 2007 alerting them to the new sales tax policy: http://www.boe.ca.gov/news/pdf/medseller2007.pdf Opinion piece by Betty Yee & Carole Migden: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/15/ED0UV1RNP.DTL

March 19, 2008: Dr. Mollie Fry to be Sentenced for Medical Marijuana

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 17, 2008 CONTACT: Bobby Eisenberg, FRY/SCHAFER Defense Committee at [email protected] or 530-823-9963 California Dr. Mollie Fry to be Sentenced for Medical Marijuana Sentencing scheduled for Wednesday, March 19th at 2pm in Sacramento Federal Court. The federal sentencing of medical marijuana defendants Dr. Mollie Fry and her husband, Attorney Dale Schafer will take place on Wednesday, March 19th at the US courthouse in Sacramento (5th and I St.). The sentencing is at 2 PM. There will be a press conference before the hearing at 1PM in front of the Court House. The couple was denied the right to defend their actions that were protected under the Laws of the State of California. WHO: Sentencing in Federal Court of Dr. Mollie Fry and her husband, Attorney Dale Schafer for cultivation and dispensing medical marijuana under the Laws of California. WHAT: Press Conference prior to sentencing at 1 PM WHEN: Sentencing is Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 2 PM WHERE: Federal Court House, 501 "I " St., Sacramento, CA "We never would have grown marijuana had it not been sanctioned by the Laws of the State of California, the Attorney General of California and the District Attorney and Sheriffs’ of El Dorado County. Why aren’t they being charged with conspiracy to violate Federal Law?" asks Dr. Fry. Dr. Fry and her husband face a likely 5-year mandatory minimum sentence for conspiracy to cultivate and dispense medical marijuana for a small number of Dr. Fry’s patients. They ran (and continue to run) a popular medical marijuana clinic in El Dorado County that provides recommendations for many needy patients in the Sierra Foothills: http://www.docfry.com. Go to articles link for background. Like other federal defendants, they were denied the right to mention medical marijuana or Prop 215 in their trial. Both are in fragile health - Dale has hemophilia and suffers from chronic back pain, and Mollie is a breast cancer survivor. They are currently caring for three beautiful children and two grandchildren in their home. They were among the first medical marijuana providers raided by the Bush Administration, just a couple of weeks after 9/11 (9/28/01), but were not successfully indicted until June 22nd, 2005 after the Raich decision was overturned by the Supreme Court. Dale Schafer had also run for District Attorney in 2001. The sentence they face is particularly egregious compared to other defendants who have grown far more marijuana. They are liable to a five-year mandatory minimum because they were convicted of growing 100 plants over a period of three years, a number far smaller than is usually prosecuted by federal authorities. The jury was forced to add three different years worth of gardens to come up with the 100-plant count. They were not allowed to mention at their trial that local law enforcement had (deliberately) entrapped them by telling them it was OK to grow their relatively modest garden or that they had received advice of counsel supporting their right to grow and care for others under the Law in California. The Attorney General, Bill Lockyer, the District Attorney and the Sheriff in El Dorado County were all aware of and supportive of Dr. Fry and Schafer’s activities, but the jury was also denied these truths. Fry and Schafer’s case aptly exemplifies the kind of DEA enforcement abuses bill SJR 20 condemns. Patients and medical marijuana rights supporters are welcome to attend.
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