Take a Minute to Help End DEA Raids on Medical Marijuana Providers!

Take a Minute to Help End DEA Raids on Medical Marijuana Providers!
Call on California's Senators to Better Protect Patients and Providers

Yesterday, I witnessed the DEA raid the Local Patients Cooperative in Hayward, California. This dispensary was slated to close at the end of the year at the request of the city of Hayward, but the DEA and the Hayward Police Department felt the need to attack these providers in their last weeks of operation.

Several ASA staff members and activists rushed to the dispensary when we heard of the raid. We arrived on the scene with protest signs and cameras and began snapping pictures and drawing honks of support from cars passing by. Meanwhile, ASA's communications coordinator called the local media, and cameras from every local television station arrived, along with a reporter from the Hayward Daily Review.

While we could not stop the raid, we showed the DEA that they are being watched. They were visibly shaken by our presence and kept telling us to stop taking pictures and to move further and further away. I overheard one agent, who wore a ski mask to protect his identity, talking on his cell phone: "There are cameras and protesters here. This is not what I signed up for."

We also had the opportunity to speak with patients who rely on this facility for their medicine. All of them were completely shocked about the raid. They told us their stories of how medical cannabis helped them, and they shared anecdotes of friendly employees and discounts for Hayward residents.

DEA raids like this must stop! Patients depend on their providers, and our elected representatives need to stand up for California patients. It's time for the medical cannabis community to come together to make our voices heard and to end these raids. Please read on for three ways to take action.

Take Action to Defend Safe Access!

1. Call Senators Feinstein & Boxer on Friday, December 15th to Demand an End to DEA Raids

Senators Feinstein and Boxer represent Californians, and it is time for them to stand up for the rights of their patient constituents! Our senators have the power to stop the raids on medical marijuana dispensaries and providers. This Friday, join thousands of patients, doctors and supporters and call on Feinstein and Boxer to end these senseless raids and restore safe access to patients.

Script #1: Hepatitis-C Research Focus

Hello, my name is (Your NAME) and I live in (City, State). I am calling to speak with Senator Boxer/Feinstein about this week's raid on a medical marijuana dispensary in Hayward, California.

The DEA needs to stop raiding medical marijuana providers. New medical research shows that Hepatitis-C patients who use medical cannabis are "significantly more likely to remain on [treatment] for at least 80% of the projected treatment duration.”

Safe access to medical marijuana improves the lives of countless patients nationwide. I urge Senator Boxer/Feinstein to introduce legislation to stop DEA raids on medical marijuana providers.

Script #2: Multiple Sclerosis Research Focus

Hello, my name is (Your NAME) and I live in (City, State). I am calling to speak with Senator Boxer/Feinstein about this week's raid on a medical marijuana dispensary in Hayward, California.

The DEA needs to stop raiding medical marijuana providers. Research indicates that as many as 43 percent of MS patients have used cannabis therapeutically. Three out of four said that cannabis lessened their spasms, and more than half said it alleviated their pain.

Safe access to medical marijuana improves the lives of countless patients nationwide. I urge Senator Boxer/Feinstein to introduce legislation to stop DEA raids on medical marijuana providers.

Numbers for Dianne Feinstein:

San Francisco - (415) 393-0707
Los Angeles - (310) 914-7300
San Diego - (619) 231-9712
Fresno - (559) 485-7430

Numbers for Barbara Boxer:

Sacramento - (916) 448-2787
San Francisco - (415) 403-0100
Los Angeles - (213) 894-5000
Fresno - (559) 497-5109
San Diego - (619) 239-3884
Inland Empire - (909) 888-8525

2. Take Part in the National Day of Action to Stop DEA Raids on January 22nd

ASA is organizing a national day of action on Monday, January 22nd, 2007. When the 110th Congress convenes, patients and advocates nationwide will assemble at their local federal buildings to demand an end to DEA raids on patients and providers who are abiding by state law.

So far, activists in more than 30 cities nationwide have committed to holding actions on January 22nd. Join fellow activists across the country to tell the DEA to stop their assault on medical cannabis patients and their providers!

No Access is Not a Solution! To drive this message home, advocates will dump wheelbarrows full of empty prescription bottles at the federal buildings, demanding the DEA re-fill these bottles and stop undermining state medical cannabis laws by raiding patients and their providers.

ASA will create flyers for advocates to pass out to the public that ask, "Do you know where I can find medical marijuana?" It is time to engage with the public and explain that the DEA finally has given in and realizes that medical marijuana is legitimate, but the continued raids have attacked providers. Patients are left to wonder where they can procure their medicine.

It is time to stand together and demand a meaningful solution to the crisis created by federal raids. Safe access to medical cannabis can improve health care outcomes, including adherence to conventional medical treatment. Limited access can threaten health and well-being. Patients need safe access to cannabis now. No access is not a solution. Demand and end to DEA raids now!

Join patients and advocates throughout the country on January 22nd at noon to call on the federal government to solve this problem now!

We need YOU to help organize an action.
It's easy and fun - ASA will provide ALL the tools you need.

All you need to do to organize a local action is to contact Rebecca: Rebecca [at] SafeAccessNow.org or (510) 251-1856 x 308.

3. Join ASA for Our California State Conference, January 13th-14th in Burbank
"Implementation = Victory: Preparing for the Next Ten Years"

Americans for Safe Access is pleased to announce our 2nd State Conference will take place January 13th and 14th at the Pickwick Gardens Conference Center, 1001 Riverside Drive in Burbank, California. At this conference, we will provide you with the tools needed to help end DEA raids and fully implement California medical cannabis law.

This will be a participatory, not panel based, conference. Every aspect of the agenda is intended to make the most of the skills and resources you already have, while providing you the direct, one-on-one support of some of the brightest minds in medical marijuana advocacy from ASA chapters, allies and friends. You will have opportunities to interact directly with presenters and advocates who are forming the state and national strategy for medical marijuana, network with other activists like yourself from around the state, and work on local strategies with activists from your region using the ASA toolbox.

ASA State Campaign Staff will be presenting the California Campaign for Safe Access Strategy, covering issues from regulations and protecting safe access, implementation of the ID card program, sales tax and the Board of Equalization, and regional participation in the implementation of SB420, Proposition 215 and precedent setting case law.

Further details will be available soon, including conference agenda, key note speakers, group bus travel, discounted lodging, and more! For more information, please contact Alex at CAConference [at] safeaccessnow.org or (510) 251-1856 x 321.
Join us in being part of the solution. Register now for the ASA Conference and commit to ending raids and furthering the rights of California patients.

--
Rebecca Saltzman
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access
p (510) 251-1856 x 308
f (510) 251-2036
http://www.safeaccessnow.org