A call to act

Call to Action!
Emergency Alert List
You are invited to join this *low-traffic* emergency alert list to respond to DEA threats to medical marijuana patients and caregivers, and the voters that support them.
Americans for Safe Access will alert you if and when raids or arrests occur to patients or dispensaries, and give information on where "next-day" actions will occur. More information on the ASA campaign and action plan follows.

Send a blank email to asa-subscribe [at] lists.riseup.net to subscribe.
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Pledge of Resistance
The Pledge of Resistance is a commitment to supporting or actively taking part in nonviolent civil disobedience in the event of federal harassment, closure, or arrests of medical marijuana patients, dispensaries, or caregivers.

This Pledge is a tool to create a network of resistance against DEA actions that would deprive patients of their rights to medical marijuana. By signing and pledging our resistance, we can help support patients’ rights and defend our democratic will to legalize medical marijuana. Click here to print out the "Pledge of Resistance" and build up your local network.
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National Day of Direct Action June 6th
Push back the DEAs expanding war on Americans!
Keep medical marijuana safe and legal!
Thursday, June 6, 2002 at noon at your local DEA outpost. Click here for a list.

What is it?
It is a nation-wide day of action to push back DEA attempts to re-criminalize medical cannabis! On or after June 6th, 2002 the DEA will attempt to shut down dispensaries now legally providing medical cannabis to patients in California. To respond, activists in cities across the nation will use creative, non-violent tactics to disrupt DEA offices and post their own "cease and desist" orders at DEA outposts. Through this action, we will build an "emergency response" network of committed activists to escalate our resistance to the Federal Governments expanding war on democracy and patients in need of safe access to medical marijuana.

Why do it?
As part of the 73 percent of Americans who support the legalization of medical marijuana, we have taken all of the legal steps available to us. We know that medical marijuana is the most effective treatment available for many with chronic pain and other illness. We passed state laws through popular referendums. We took our cases to court. We sought negotiations with the federal government. And despite all the evidence and overwhelming public support, our democratic will is still pushed aside by the Federal Government. It is time to show that we will not back down. We will escalate our tactics to demand effective policy reform on this important issue. We have zero tolerance for the harassment of medical marijuana patients and dispensaries, and we will put our bodies on the line to prove it.

What Can I Do?
1. Organize your community: Call a meeting of all activists who are committed to human rights, health rights, civil liberties, and democracy to help join your community into the emergency response network. Set up a phone tree and get going!

2. Commit your network: Click here to print out the "Pledge of Resistance" and build up your local network.

3. Flex your brains: Come up with creative, non-violent actions that will disrupt business-as-usual at your local DEA outpost and demand that they "cease and desist" expanding their war on medical marijuana. A citizens arrest? A peoples occupation? A banner hung for the world to see? You decide! We will provide you with materials, media support, local contacts and all the assistance you need to pull off a great action.

4. Choose your target: Find your nearest DEA office. A list of office locations is pasted at the end of this message.

5. Get your materials: Download the ASA Organizers manual. Print out a "cease and desist"order to post at your local DEA outpost.

6. Connect your action: Drop an e-mail to pushbackthedea [at] hotmail.com that includes your name, the address of your local DEA outpost, your phone number, your e-mail address and a brief description of your action (blockade, banner hang, non-violent civil disobedience, rally, march etc.) so we can announce your action to other activists. Next, Join the emergency response listserve with a blank email to asa-subscribe [at] lists.riseup.net

7. Know your rights: If you need legal support (observers or permits or other questions) contact your local National Lawyers Guild

8. Make your media: A sample press release will go out shortly. If you need help reaching out to reporters, contact the Mintwood Media Collective at (202) 232-8997 or adam [at] mintwood.com. Also, be sure to contact your local Independent Media Center for videographers and independent coverage.

9. Make your move: ALL ACTIONS SHOULD HAPPEN ON THURSDAY, JUNE 6TH AT NOON. If we coordinate ourselves well, we will be able to pull off a nation-wide action to push back the DEA and demand safe access to medical marijuana.

10. Keep in touch: This is only the first in a series of direct actions. Through the emergency response listserv, we will notify folks of DEA raids as soon as they happen. To keep the pressure on, we need to respond to these raids FAST. We encourage sustained resistance to these events as they unfold through creative non-violent tactics. From phone calls to sit-ins to spontaneous street theater, we will work to support your local actions with a national network of assistance and support.

E-mail pushbackthedea [at] hotmail.com, or call (202) 986-6186 for anything else you may need to make this a successful action.

This action follows an extremely successful nationwide day of action at the DEA last December when activists in 73 cities across the nation confronted the DEA on their ridiculous rule banning hemp foods. Since that action, the DEA has backed off the ban! We have proven our ability to spread creative resistance across the country that tackles the absurdities and injustices of the drug war and we plan to build our momentum until we have stopped it. Please join us.