Medical marijuana advocates spread pot seeds

Two dozen self-described medical marijuana patients dressed in gardening attire took part in the demonstration Sunday in Frank Ogawa Plaza.

On Tuesday, City Council members will consider a proposal to limit the number of marijuana dispensaries to four, ban pot from being consumed on the premises and reduce the number of plants a patient can grow for personal medicinal use from 72 to 18.

Protesters said the proposed restrictions would force medical marijuana users to use their doses in the streets rather than in controlled settings at dispensaries.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=847

Medical marijuana advocates dipped into burlap sacks filled with cannabis seeds and planted a pot crop on the City Hall lawn Sunday to protest a proposal to tighten restrictions on "Oaksterdam" dispensaries.

Two dozen self-described medical marijuana patients dressed in wide-brimmed hats, bib overalls and other gardening garb hefted hoes and shovels as they prepared for an unauthorized planting in Frank Ogawa Plaza. An estimated 1 million marijuana seeds weighing a total of 25 pounds were in two sacks on the ground.

The sacks were decorated in the spirit of their contents, and one bore the words "Red Hair Sinsemilla ... Superior Quality Seed."

A straw-stuffed scarecrow on a pole bore a picture-face of City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, who wants to cap the number of dispensaries at four and ban marijuana from being consumed on the premises. The proposal set for consideration at Tuesday's city council meeting would also reduce the number of plants a patient could grow for personal medicinal use to 18 from the current 72.

"It is absolutely crazy," said Angel McClary Raich, one of the speakers at the protest event organized by Americans for Safe Access. "The city is taking a step backwards. I am ashamed the city of Oakland is taking away our medicine."

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=843

Oakland – Medical marijuana activists are asking Oakland City Council to reconsider new regulations that would limit access to medical marijuana. The second reading of the new restrictions is scheduled for Tuesday night’s council meeting, following a rally and press conference held by activists on the steps of City Hall.

At issue is a proposal to rollback the number of medical marijuana dispensaries the city allows to operate, as well as cut by 75% the number of plants dispensaries, and possibly patients, would be allowed to maintain. The new rules, scheduled to go into effect June 1st, would also prohibit patients from consuming their medication at the dispensaries.

“The council needs to stop and take the time to do this right,” said Steph Sherer, executive director for the national medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access. “The Medical Marijuana Working Group is there to consider these issues, and they have not been properly consulted.”

The new restrictions, pushed by Oakland Council President Ignacio de la Fuente, would limit the number of medical marijuana dispensaries to only four. The number of plants per patient the dispensaries could maintain would be lowered from the current limit of 72 to only 18. Whether the proposed plant limit would also apply to individual patients is unclear.

Questions also remain as to the legality of some of the changes. Legal experts have suggested that the proposal would bring Oakland City Council into conflict with the new California state law on medical marijuana, SB420, which sets statewide minimum standards and recognizes patient cooperatives for cultivation and distribution that the Oakland proposal restricts.

The number of marijuana seeds to be planted in the City Hall protest symbolizes the number of medical marijuana plants activists say could be eliminated by the proposal the City Council is considering.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=845