On April 29th, California's Assembly Committee on Public Safety passed A.B. 2743. The bill, authored by Assembly Member Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) and spearheaded by the Marijuana Policy Project, or MPP, would direct state and local law enforcement officers to not assist in federal raids on medical marijuana patients and providers. The bill will now continue on to the appropriations committee.

During the more than ten years in which patients in California have had legal access to medical cannabis, local and state officials have assisted the federal war on patients and providers in more than three-dozen cases, including by calling in federal agents. Some segments of the law enforcement community have reportedly opposed this bill, but the state's ill and injured patients prevailed when the committee voted to move the bill forward.

The committee heard testimony from MPP's Aaron Smith; a raided dispensary operator; a disabled former corrections officer; and Dr. Mollie Fry and her husband Dale Schafer, who have been sentenced to five years in federal prison for medical marijuana. Several patients and caregivers from the Sacramento area also attended to show their support for the bill.

Marijuana Policy Project's Statement | ASA's AB 2743 Page