Update: California's Campaign for Safe Access

California’s Campaign for Safe Access: From City Hall Hearings to Lawsuits

Americans for Safe Access’ mission is to ensure SAFE and LEGAL access to
medical marijuana for all those who benefit from it. ASA supports and
advocates for ALL systems that make our mission a reality: caregivers,
collective grow projects, cooperative grow projects, cooperative
distribution groups, and dispensing collectives/dispensaries.

When my doctor recommended I start using medical marijuana to replace pain
medications that were causing kidney failure in 2001, I did not really know
where to find it and I did not know any other patients. I was living in San
Diego at the time. I called all the people I remembered seeing use marijuana
at parties and everyone I could remember talking about it. Obviously their
supplies were not enough so I was passed on to dealers and their suppliers.
This worked out some of the time, but I had countless experiences of no one
returning my calls, supply issues, and worst of all unsafe experiences with
dealers. I tried to grow and it was a mess; small living space, mold, bugs,
etc. Then a friend in the Bay Area told me about the dispensary system in
the North. I learned more about medical marijuana at my first visit to a
dispensary than I ever thought I would know, everything from different
strains to delivery systems. After only one visit, I knew I had to be closer
to this access. Three months later, I moved to the Bay Area.

The cooperative model and even the simple caregiver model do not meet the
needs of all patients. It was not the intention of the CUA to define which
“class” of patients that should benefit from medical marijuana; for example
only those who can grow, know someone who grows, have space to grow, get
accepted into program etc.

The Compassionate Use Act (CUA) of 1996, called on both the State and the
Federal Government to find a distribution model that would allow safe and
legal access. In 2003, the State of California, through SB 420 attempted to
answer that call. The bill was meant to clarify the CUA and included
provisions concerning distribution, growing, ID card systems,
transportation, and maintaining a facility where marijuana is grown and/or
distributed.

As we all know the CUA and SB 420’s implementation in California has
happened through the hard work of activists around the state, ally
representatives, and the courts. ASA has created the “California Campaign
for Safe Access” in response to the “moratorium” phenomenon. This campaign
includes monitoring cities and counties with moratoriums for public
hearings, providing materials to activists and policy makers, and using the
courts to bring suits in areas where bad policies have been set.

On April 25, 2005 ASA filed a lawsuit to challenge Fresno's permanent ban on
medical marijuana dispensaries (see LA Times and Fresno Bee Articles below).
This lawsuit is in response to the proliferation of moratoriums occurring
across California. While most are temporary bans, enacted while
municipalities develop policies allowing for dispensing, four cities
(Fresno, Rocklin, Yuba City, and San Rafael) have permanently banned
dispensing of medical marijuana. This lawsuit was filed not only to legally
challenge the city but also as a tactic to prevent a snowball effect of bans
across the state, especially in the event of a negative ruling in the
Supreme Court. (copy of lawsuit
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/dispensary_complaint.pdf> ).

As part of the “California Campaign for Safe Access ” , ASA has created a
tool kit for activists, policy makers, and the general public to make
sensible guidelines for their cities and counties (see
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=154>). This
includes a sample ordinance for the regulation of dispensing collectives,
ASA’s Position Paper on the law, letters from supportive representatives,
FAQ sheets, and a collection of supporting studies that can be downloaded
from our website.

Please check out our report on moratoriums around the state at
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/dispensary_report.pdf>. If you live
in one of these cities or counties please contact Rebecca Saltzman
rebecca [at] safeaccessnow.org or call at 888-929-4367 ASAP to get involved with
the campaign. We need supporters in these districts to help make phone
calls, attend hearings, and organize!

WE ARE WINNING! Everyday we are moving closer to safe and legal access to
medical marijuana!


Thank you!

Steph Sherer
Executive Director
Americans for Safe Access

We need your help to continue this work. Please renew you commitment to
patients' rights to access medical marijuana by making a tax-deductible
donation to Americans for Safe Access. Make checks payable to ASA-SEE and
send to 1322 Webster St Suite 208 Oakland, CA 94612 or donate on line @
<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=84>

April 26, 2005 Tuesday
Los Angeles Times


Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group Sues Fresno

by Tonya Alanez, Times Staff Writer


Medical marijuana advocates sued the city of Fresno on Monday, hoping to
overturn what they called unreasonable restrictions on medical marijuana
dispensaries.

Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based nonprofit group, and William
McPike, an attorney, caregiver and qualified medical marijuana patient,
filed
the complaint in Superior Court in Fresno.

They contend that what they refer to as a "ban" unlawfully deprives
qualified
medical marijuana patients the medicine allowed them under California state
law.

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, which legalized the use
of
marijuana for medical treatment.

Since then, cannabis clubs have opened in many parts of the state to
distribute the drug. Many cities have instituted moratoriums on such clubs;
three others have banned them.

Under a Fresno ordinance approved Oct. 26, 2004, a dispensary cannot
distribute pot to more than two people.

"It's not a ban," said city spokesman Ken Shockley. "The city law is clear
that, in the city of Fresno, a dispensary is limited to providing for two
patients. If his position is that he cannot dispense medical marijuana in
the
city of Fresno, that simply is not true."

Shockley said city officials had not received a copy of the lawsuit or had a
chance to review it.

Joe Elford, the attorney representing Americans for Safe Access and McPike,
conceded that the Fresno ordinance is "oddly worded."

"It looks like they may be leaving the door open to dispensing to two
people,
" Elford said. "But limiting membership in collectives or cooperatives to no
more than two people does not allow collectives and cooperatives to
function."

Thirty-two cities throughout the state have enacted moratoriums to halt
dispensing while they develop policies to regulate pot clubs.

The Northern California towns of Rocklin, San Rafael and Yuba City have
banned cannabis clubs outright.

Medical pot advocates hope to overturn Fresno's ordinance and encourage
other
California cities and counties to adopt "sensible" policies and regulations
around dispensing medical marijuana, said Kris Hermes, legal campaign
director
of Americans for Safe Access.


April 26, 2005
The Fresno Bee

Group sues Fresno over medical pot law
By Jim Davis

An Oakland-based group that advocates for medical marijuana filed a lawsuit
Monday against the city of Fresno over an ordinance that restricts medical
marijuana growers.

Americans for Safe Access and Shaver Lake attorney William McPike want to
overturn an ordinance passed by the city in October that bans medical
dispensaries that serve three or more patients.

"Fresno is a city that has demonstrated a willingness to cut off safe access
to
medical marijuana to patients," said Kris Hermes, the Americans for Safe
Access
legal campaign director.

City Attorney Hilda Cantu Montoy said she had not seen the lawsuit Monday
afternoon, but believes the ordinance is legal.

The lawsuit was filed in Fresno County Superior Court. The group and McPike
are
asking the court to declare the ordinance unlawful and issue an injunction
on
enforcing the ordinance. Court costs and attorney fees also are sought.

The Compassionate Use Act was adopted by voters in 1996 to ensure that
seriously
ill Californians have a right to obtain and use marijuana for medical
purposes.
Patients must obtain a doctor's order and can use the drug for treatment of
cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other diseases. People have opened dispensaries
or
cannabis clubs in cities throughout California.

McPike submitted a business plan to the city of Fresno in August for a
nonprofit
medical marijuana dispensary in the Tower District that would serve 2,500 to
5,000 people.

Before the project could go forward, Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer asked
for an
emergency ordinance to prevent large-scale establishments from opening in
the
city that could grow hundreds of plants.

The City Council approved the ordinance on a 5-2 vote. Council Members Jerry
Duncan and Mike Dages opposed the ordinance, saying it was, in a de facto
way,
authorizing the sale of a drug still considered illegal by the federal
government.

Since the vote, several other cities in Fresno County and the county Board
of
Supervisors have passed similar ordinances. McPike said that medical
marijuana patients in Fresno drive hundreds of miles to purchase marijuana
now.

"The bottom line is you have the chief of police, sheriff and the district
attorney who want a zero-tolerance county," McPike said. "It's like the old
wet
and dry counties back in Arkansas."