Feature Archives

The Santa Cruz, CA collective Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) won a major award in August from The Society for the Study of Social Problems, a national organization of sociologists. The SSSP’s "Social Action" award and a check for $1,000 are given each year to a not-for-profit organization which embodies and enacts the social justice goals of the SSSP.

Canadian authorities, acting at the behest of U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials, arrested seed distributor, activist and magazine publisher Marc Emery, often referred to as the "Prince of Pot", on July 29th, 2005 on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. His arrest was politically motivated, based on drug legalization efforts. Emery and supporters spent years fighting extradition, however he surrendered into the custody of the British Columbia Supreme Court on September 28th, 2009 and is awaiting extradition to a US federal prison.

Feeling conservatives had been winning the limelight in the debate over health care reform through a serious of high profile stunts and remarks, advocates of reform decided to steal back some of the media's attention, forming a flash mob September 26th in an Oakland Whole Foods in response to the CEO's recent Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal in which he opposed reform.

The amplified voices of activists calling out for health care reform resounded in front of Embarcadero Center in San Francisco on September 22nd. Some called for Anthem Blue Cross, which has offices in the building, to drop their option to a public option, others carried placards espousing a single payer plan for the nation. A dozen "Billionaires for Wealthcare" dressed as golfers, yachtsmen and wealthy socialites, mocked the excesses of health care insurance company executives and investors.

On Thursday, September 24th, actions against the budget cuts, fee hikes, layoffs and furloughs at University of California campuses took place throughout the UC system. Workers, graduate student employees, students and faculty held a strike, walked out, and demonstrated in defense of public education and fair labor practices. Pickets, rallies and general assemblies took place from 6am onwards on the UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz campuses.

WAMMfest 09 will take place on Saturday, September 26th from noon to 5pm at San Lorenzo Park in Santa Cruz. WAMMfest is an annual festival organized by the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) to thank the community and public officials for all the support and encouragement over the years, especially since the DEA raid of WAMM's collective garden and arrest of Valerie and Mike Corral in 2002.

On September 7, hundreds of Bay Area residents came together for potlucks and to send a message to Congress: "now is the time to provide children with real food in public school lunch programs". Gathering in parks, on a farm, and at a cooperative housing venue, healthy food proponents took advantage of the Labor Day holiday to bring neighbors together and build support for replacing artificially supplemented meals with natural food in schools.