ASA California Weekly Alert

*Weekly Roundup*

1) LA Dispensary Regulations & DEA Raid, State Medical Marijuana ID Card
Update

*ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings*

2) Tuesday, March 27th, San Francisco: San Francisco ASA Meeting
3) Tuesday, April 3rd, Sacramento: Sacramento ASA Meeting
4) Thursday, April 5th, Santa Rosa: Sonoma ASA Meeting
5) Saturday, April 7th, Modesto: Central Valley Patients Coalition Meeting

*City & County Hearings*

6) Tuesday, March 27th, Independence: Inyo County to Vote on MMJ ID Card
Program & Dispensaries
7) Tuesday, March 27th, Fontana: City Council to Vote on Dispensary
Moratorium

*Special Events

*8) Saturday, March 31st, Santa Barbara: Medical Cannabis Activist Town Hall

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*Weekly Roundup*
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*
1) LA Dispensary Regulations & Raids, MMJ ID Card Update*

/LA City Moves Forward w/Moratorium, Dispensary Report Released & DEA
Raids Continue/

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Planning Commission approved an Interim
Control Ordinance on medical cannabis dispensing collectives in Los
Angeles, making a positive step towards the long awaited regulatory
process in Los Angeles. Dozens of patients and advocates turned out to
show the commission they supported the moratorium and the regulatory
process. The advocates even convinced the Planning Commission to amend
the original text of the ordinance to ensure that collectives did not
have to register with the LAPD, as originally proposed.

The extensive community outreach Americans For Safe Access has done in
Los Angeles paid off when the Planning Commission stated clearly that
they did not want to regulate access out of Los Angeles. The Commission
was very clear that they saw safe, consistent access throughout the city
as a necessity for patients. It is remarkable to note that, even with
the number of collectives in Los Angeles, there was not one person who
spoke in opposition of collectives. One representative of the
Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council even came
out to speak in favor of regulations!

Collectives in Los Angeles have worked very hard to cooperate with the
City and their communities, and it definitely shows. Soon, the
Moratorium will go before the Planning and Land Use Committee for final
approval, at
which point it will become effective.

***
Earlier in the week, the Reason Foundation issued a report negating
claims of an LAPD report on dispensaries. The report, which was written
by Skaidra Smith-Heisters, identifies several inaccuracies in the Los
Angeles Police Department's "Fact Sheet" about medical marijuana
dispensaries and urges the city to take a "sensible approach" that
respects the rights of medical marijuana patients and the legitimate,
legal businesses that are serving their medical needs.

The full text of the report can be read online:
http://www.reason.org/pb57.pdf Among other sources, ASA's report on
dispensing collectives and local regulations is sited in this report.
ASA's report can also be found online:
http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/DispensaryReport

***
While most of the news from Los Angeles was positive this week, the DEA
has not let down in its attack on medical cannabis dispensaries in the
LA area. On Wednesday, DEA agents raided Hezekiah dispensary in
Hollywood. Agents acted quickly, taking medicine and paperwork, but
there were no arrests made and no charges filed.

It is more important than ever to keep the pressure on the US Congress
and local public officials to stop these raids and protect safe access!

/State ID Card Fee Increase Effective April 1st & Update on County
Implementation/

On April 1st, the state ID Card fee increase will go into effect.
Originally, the proposed fee hike in the Medical Marijuana ID Card
program (MMIC) from $13 to $142 was due to go into effect on March 1,
2007. Because of ASA's work and mounting pressure from the grassroots
and public officials, the California Department of Health Services
(CDHS) decided not to implement the proposed fee hike. Instead, a more
modest fee increase to $66 will be implemented on April 1, 2007 ($33 for
MediCal patients).

If you have considered applying for a state ID card, you still have a
week to do so before the fee goes into effect. To find out if and where
your county issues ID cards, visit the CDHS Website
<http://www.dhs.ca.gov/hisp/ochs/MMP/County_Programs_&_Business_Hours/CoProgBusHrs.pdf>.

One of the main reasons the state is increasing the fee is because many
counties have yet to implement the ID card program so the state has not
brought in as much money as it had originally expected. More and more
counties are signing on to the program every month, but there are still
many that are continuing to resist. Following is a list of counties that
have not voted to implement the program. If you live in one of these
counties, please contact your county supervisors to urge them to
implement the ID card program immediately. For county contact info and
to take action, please contact Aaron Smith: safeaccessnow [at] gmail.com
*
Counties that Have Not Voted to Implement ID Card Program:*

Alpine
Colusa
El Dorado
Fresno
Glenn
Inyo (Hearing next week - see below)
Kings
Lassen
Madera
Mariposa
Modoc
Mono
Monterey
Nevada
Orange (Hearing on April 17th - more info to come)
Placer
Sacramento
San Bernardino (Suing the state over the card program)
San Diego (Suing the state over the card program)
San Joaquin
Santa Cruz (Has county program; expected to implement state program July
1st)
Siskiyou
Solano
Stanislaus
Sutter
Ventura
Yuba

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*ASA Chapter Meetings*
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*2) Tuesday, March 27th, San Francisco: San Francisco ASA Meeting*

We're shooting for a rotating meeting schedule, allowing all the willing
dispensaries an opportunity to host ASA SF meetings periodically.

7:00 p.m.
CA Marijuana Party Bookstore
223a 9th St. @ Howard in San Francisco

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*3) Tuesday, April 3rd, Sacramento: Sacramento ASA Meeting*

The Sacramento ASA chapter has moved to a new site and date. Please join
Sac ASA to plan for the future of safe access locally, statewide, and
nationally!

7:00 p.m.

Crusaders Hall
320 Harris Avenue, Suite H
Sacramento, CA

For more information or to get involved, please contact Lanette:
cannacare [at] earthlink.net

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*4) Thursday, April 5th, Santa Rosa: Sonoma ASA Meeting

*When: Thursday from 5pm-7pm
Where: Department of Public Health, 625 5th Street (at Mendocino Avenue)
in Santa Rosa

Please join Sonoma's chapter of American's for Safe Access. Patients,
supporters, caregivers and friends are
welcome to come share their opinions on what should happen locally,
statewide, and nationally. More info 707-332-6556

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*5) Saturday, April 7th, Modesto: Central Valley Patients Coalition Meeting

*Please join central valley patients and supporters to help plan and
strategize for the defense of patients rights in Stanislaus County,
Merced County, and beyond! The CVPC meets on the first Saturday of each
month, at 11:00 AM. New Location: These meetings will now be held at
1733 Yosemite Ave, Modesto, CA, 95350. For additional information,
contact Shirley Cox, Public Relations Officer for the Central Valley
Patients Coalition: shirley [at] CompassionateCoalition.org

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*City & County Hearings*
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*6) Tuesday, March 27th, Independence: Inyo County to Vote on MMJ ID
Card Program & Dispensaries*

Next Tuesday, March 27, the Inyo County Board of Supervisors will be
conducting a hearing on the local implementation of the statewide
medical marijuana ID card program. Additionally, the Supervisors will be
studying their options about how to control medical cannabis dispensaries.

The Board is likely to give direction on whether or not to immediately
move forward with the ID program and may make a decision regarding
dispensaries.

If you live in Inyo County, please take a few minutes to contact the
Board of Supervisors to express your support for medical marijuana
patients. Please e-mail all five board members, politely urging them to
order county health staff to begin accepting applications for the ID
cards and to begin the process of developing a reasonable ordinance
regulating medical cannabis dispensaries. Feel free to use the sample
email message, posted at the bottom of this communication.

Inyo Board of Supervisors:
District 1 - Linda Arcularius - ARKy [at] qnet.com
District 2 - Susan Cash - Cash93514 [at] msn.com
District 3 - Beverly Brown - bbrown [at] usamedia.tv
District 4 - Jim Bilyeu - bilyeu [at] cebridge.net
District 5 - Richard Cervantes - director [at] lonepinechamber.org

Board phone: (760) 878-0373

The board hearing will take place on Tuesday, Mar. 27 at 9am in
Independence. Please attend this important meeting to stand up for
patients' rights in Inyo County.

Inyo County Board of Supervisors
Tuesday, March 27 - 9:00am
Board of Supervisors Room
County Administrative Center
224 North Edwards
Independence, CA
Map: http://tinyurl.com/2n9myb

For more information, contact Aaron Smith at safeaccessnow [at] gmail.com

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*
**7) Tuesday, March 27th, Fontana: City Council to Vote on Dispensary
Moratorium*

The Fontana City Council will be voting on temporarily banning
dispensaries. Please speak out at the hearing and explain to the council
how important safe access is to you!

Download ASA talking points
<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=212> on dispensary
regulations, moratoriums and bans.

7:00 p.m.

City Hall Council Chambers
8353 Sierra Avenue
Fontana, CA.

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*Special Events
*
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*
8) Saturday, March 31st, Santa Barbara: Medical Cannabis Activist Town Hall*

Please join Steph Sherer, ASA's Executive Director for a Santa Barbara
Activist Town Hall on March 31st from 3-6 pm. This event will be a an
opportunity for the community to come together while Steph walks
everyone through a strategic planning session to create next steps for
Santa Barbara city and county implementation of Prop 215 And SB 420.
This will include defining problems in the community, as well as
determining goals and creating campaigns to tackle these problems and
achieve community goals.

Steph Sherer will also give a brief update from ASA about national and
state campaigns, including details about ASA's recent federal lawsuit.

Who: Santa Barbara Medical Cannabis Community and ASA's Executive Director
What: Santa Barbara Activist Town Hall
When: March, 3 2007 from 3PM- 6 PM
Where: El Paseo Restaurant 10 El Paseo, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101
<http://www.google.com/maps?q=10+El+Paseo,+Santa+Barbara,+CA+93101&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title>
Why: Because these laws aren't going to implement themselves

For more info contact Mark: (805) 722-2203

*** If you plan to attend (even if you're not sure), please RSVP by
sending an email to ***
*** Rebecca [at] SafeAccessNow.org ***
--

Rebecca Saltzman
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access
AmericansForSafeAccess.org <http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org>

Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the largest national member-based
organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and
concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for
therapeutic use and research.

Join us today... AmericansforSafeAccess.org
<http://AmericansforSafeAccess.org>

Headquarters
1322 Webster St Suite 402
Oakland, CA 94612
P: 510-251-1856 ext. 308 F: 510-251-2036