Patients Protest DEA Raids in San Diego!!

DEA shut down all known storefront medical marijuana dispensaries in
the San Diego area on July 20th, 2006. Outraged citizens should
protest at their federal buildings at noon on Wednesday, or a day of
their choosing this coming week.

The Sacramento protest will be on Wednesday, July 26th, 2006, at 12
noon, at the corner of 5th and I streets, in Downtown Sacramento.

They Will Never Win,
peter g keyes, petergkeyes [at] hotmail.com

Marijuana seized, warnings given; nobody arrested
Jeff McDonald, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
July 22, 2006

Federal agents paid “courtesy visits” to nine or 10 San Diego medical
marijuana dispensaries yesterday, warning operators that they consider
the shops illegal.

No arrests were made, although agents seized an undetermined amount
of marijuana. Agents made it clear that the government will no longer
tolerate retail storefronts selling pot.

“Those dispensaries are operating in violation of state and federal
law,” said Dan Simmons, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
special agent. “These were courtesy visits to remind the dispensaries
that are still open that they're operating illegally.”

Medical marijuana activists painted a different picture of what
happened...
Full article: http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/node/3858
{http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/node/3858}

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Folsom Seeks Ban on Dispensaries: July 25
Please join patients and advocates at the Folsom City Council meeting
to help defeat the ban on medical marijuana dispensaries!! Such bans
are illegal under California law, and are based on propaganda and
heresay from biased law enforcement officers. Please help us to
inform and educate the Folsom City Council on the rights of medical
marijuana patients!

When: Tuesday, July 25 at 6:30 PM
Where: Council Chambers, City Hall, 50 Natoma Street, Folsom, CA
95630.
For information please contact Nathan Sands at
nathan [at] CompassionateCoalition.org
{mailto:nathan [at] CompassionateCoalition.org} or (916) 709-2483.

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Solano Patients’ Group Meeting: July 25th
The SPG will be meeting on July 25th at 7:00 PM. Meeting location
will be at 2145 Collinsville Road in Birds Landing, CA 94512. More
info: Linda Jimenez, Secretary/Treasurer: 707-635-3752 or
linda4spg [at] CompassionateCoalition.org
{mailto:linda4spg [at] CompassionateCoalition.org} or
http://www.SolanoPatientsGroup.org {http://www.SolanoPatientsGroup.org}

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Sacramento ASA Meeting: July 27th
The Sacramento chapter of ASA meets on the second and fourth Thursday
of each month, at 5:00 PM. Meetings are open to the public, and are
held at The Capitol Wellness Collective at 14th and X Streets in
Sacramento, CA. For more information, please call (916) 325-9000.

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AAMC Meeting: July 29th
The El Dorado County American Alliance for Medical Cannabis will meet
on Saturday July 29th from 2:15pm until 4:20pm, at the Garden Valley
Grange, 4940 Marshall Road, Garden Valley, California. Note: The
group normally meets on the fourth Saturday of each month.
http://www.ElDoradoCountyAAMC.com {http://www.ElDoradoCountyAAMC.com}

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Court Support Dates for Solano County
**Benjamins - July 31st @ 1:30pm - Dept 8 RM 207 JUSTICE CENTER - 600
Union Ave, Fairifield
**Lawtons – Sept. 1st, @ 8:30am- Dept 12 Courtroom 101 - 321 Tuolumne
Street, Vallejo

SPG is planning out being outside with signs for all the court dates
above. If anyone can come and join us in our peaceful demonstration
outside the courthouse, please call us so we maybe coordinate times
to meet. 707-635-3752

Thank You,
Linda Jimenez
Secretary/Treasurer
Solano Patients' Group

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Rev. Joseph Fortt court support: July 31st
Former dispensary owner Rev. Joseph Fortt will be in court on July
31st, at 9:00 AM, at the Fresno Federal Courthouse, 2500 Tulare, in
Fresno, California. Rev. Joe's dispensary was based on an integrated
model of holistic healing, of which medicinal cannabis was a
component. He credits this therapy with enabling him to live with
AIDS. Joe's months-long stay in the brutal Fresno County Jail has
ravaged his health; please show your support!

Thanks to Peter Keyes for providing this information and keeping us
up-to-date on the case. For more information contact Peter at:
petergkeyes [at] hotmail.com {mailto:petergkeyes [at] hotmail.com}

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Sacramento Compassionate Coalition Meeting: August 2nd
Please join Sacramento Chapter of The Compassionate Coalition for our
next planning meeting and information session! Agenda topics include:
Patient meetings, news updates, court support, and business items.
This group meets the first and third Wednesday of each month at
7:00PM at the River City Patient Center, 1512 C El Camino Ave,
Sacramento, CA. Note: Any patients who wish to use their medicine at
this meeting must be registered and verified in advance by the River
City Patient Center.

For information please contact Nathan Sands at
nathan [at] CompassionateCoalition.org
{mailto:nathan [at] CompassionateCoalition.org}

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Postponed: Louis Fowler in Court: August 4th
Louis Fowler's court appearance has been moved to August 4th. Thanks
to Peter Keyes for providing this information and keeping us
up-to-date on the case. For more information contact Peter at:
petergkeyes [at] hotmail.com {mailto:petergkeyes [at] hotmail.com}

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Joaquin Brand Court Support: September 8th
Joaquin Brand will appear in court on September 8th, with a 3 day
trial tentatively scheduled for September 9th to 11th. Please support
Joaquin in Department 8 at 2775 Richardson Drive in Auburn, CA; more
information to follow.

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Patrick McCartney Reveals "The Law Enforcement Conspiracy"

Pouring through government files, court transcripts and public
documents from record requests, Northern California journalist
Patrick McCartney is working to reveal "The Law Enforcement
Conspiracy" against medical marijuana in California. McCartney's
research reveals that the conspiracy to subvert Proposition 215 began
only days after voters approved the ballot measure. Much of the secret
cooperation between state and federal officials occurred in the
sprawling Eastern District, the largest of California's four federal
court districts. Its 34 largely rural counties include such
battleground locations as Solano, Fresno, Merced, Stanislaus, San
Joaquin, Sacramento, Kern, Shasta, Tehama, Placer, El Dorado and many
more.

While serving as city editor of the Auburn Journal in 2001, Patrick
McCartney was silenced from writing about the medical-marijuana issue
in Placer County. Instead of backing off, McCartney decided to
research and tell the story of why qualified medical patients were
still being arrested and prosecuted four years after voters made
their medicine legal.

Since that time, McCartney has gathered thousands of pages of
documents that spell out California law-enforcement's continuing
opposition to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.

He and co-author Martin Lee of Sonoma County are negotiating with a
publisher for a book that will expose the conspiracy, and help to end
harassment and intimidation of medical marijuana patients. McCartney
and Lee will summarize their finding about law-enforcement's role
since 1996 for an article they are on assignment to write for The
Nation magazine on the tenth anniversary of Proposition 215 this
fall.

After five years work on the project, however, McCartney is also
running short on funding, and would appreciate any support that you
can provide at this critical time.

Please help support Patrick McCartney's continuing work by sending
your donation to: Patrick McCartney, 12116 Persimmon Terrace, Auburn,
CA 95603. McCartney can also be reached at ElPatricio [at] aol.com or (530)
823-3040.

McCartney also welcomes copies of any government document, court
transcript, arrest report or other material that would contribute to
a deeper understanding of the medical-marijuana movement in
California.

Thank you in advance for your support!

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The Compassionate Coalition is an all-volunteer, non-profit,
educational organization. We work to defend the rights of medical
marijuana patients and care providers, and your support enables our
work to continue. Please consider making a donation today:
http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/donate
{http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/donate}

Thank you for defending the rights of medical marijuana patients!

Nathan Sands
Chairman of the Board
The Compassionate Coalition
http://www.CompassionateCoalition.org
{http://www.CompassionateCoalition.org}
nathan [at] CompassionateCoalition.org
{mailto:nathan [at] CompassionateCoalition.org}

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