Hello Patients and Advocates,
Even though it’s the doldrums of summer, medical marijuana and law reform continues to make progress although it now seems the forces of inertia are slowing that progress rather than outright opposition. Here’s what in this newsletter.
1. Don Duncan from ASA to speak at Sat. August 1 MAPP meeting in Palm Springs.
2. Riverside County drags feet on implementing ordinance.
3. NORML convention set for Sept. 24-26 in SF
Don Duncan, ASA Board Member and Collective Operator Extraordinaire, will be the featured speaker at the Saturday, August 1 Palm Springs/Coachella Valley MAPP meeting. Don is one of the most active medical marijuana proponents in Southern California with many years experience in helping patients obtain their medicine. His service to Americans for Safe Access has helped that organization grow into the national force it is today. He will be discussing how recent court decisions and changes in the law impact on the ability of patients to obtain their medicine safely, reliably, affordably and locally.
The Saturday, August 1 MAPP meeting begins at 3 p.m. and is held in downtown Palm Springs at 266 N. Palm Canyon, Palm Springs CA 92262, next door to Crystal Fantasy.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY ACCESS UPDATE
Unlike San Bernardino County which is moving forward with the drafting of an ordinance to allow for medical marijuana collectives to operate in the county’s unincorporated areas, Riverside County appears to want to do nothing to repeal their existing ban and comply with state law allowing for patients to obtain their medicine through coops and collectives.
After a somewhat contentious appearance before the Riverside Co. Board of Supervisors on July 14, we have been contacting individual Board members to arrange a meeting in order to discuss the importance of going forward with drafting an ordinance to allow for collectives and repealing the existing ban.
Supervisor Jeff Stone, after first agreeing to a meeting, backpedaled and will now not meet with us until mid September. Supervisor Tavalagone refused to meet with us and instead had us meet with his Chief of Staff and a representative of the Planning Dept. At a meeting
Tuesday, Supervisor Bob Buster did not meet with us but instead sent a Legislative Aide. The meetings, as expected when the Supervisor refuses to meet with constituents, did nothing to enlighten us on the Supervisor’s stand on the issues as the aides could not speak for the Supervisor.
We are still working to contact Supervisors Wilson and Ashley and hopefully something will come from those meetings. We need one Supervisor to take the bull by its horn and introduce a motion directing the Planning Dept. to begin drafting a medical marijuana collective ordinance. Unfortunately, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors is now on summer recess and will not meet again until Sept. 1 so no action can be taken to direct the Planning Dept. to begin drafting a new ordinance.
Although court decisions and the law are almost uniformly on our side, there are still some forces in Riverside County law enforcement that are unalterably opposed to enforcing California’s medical marijuana laws and they continue to have an inordinate amount of influence on the Board of Supervisors. The only way to overcome these entrenched and formidable opponents is for patients and advocates to be involved.
I want to thank all of those you have taken some of your valuable time to meet with your local supervisors or have signed up to meet with them at a meeting that is still to be scheduled. If you are not on the list to meet with your Supervisor, you can still help out. Send me an email with your phone and address and I will give it to your district organizer and you will be contacted about the next meeting you can attend.
While the Riverside Board plays cat and mouse with us, the Riverside Sheriff’s Office has completely stonewalled on releasing the proposed policy memorandum that will provide deputies with directions on how to recognize legal patients and collectives and to not affect an arrest. The Policy Memorandum is now four months overdue with no end in sight.
I am in contact with Captain Alm and Lt. Wright of the Special Investigations Unit who appear to be committed to getting this Policy Memorandum out, but have been stymied by Sheriff Stanley Sniff’s office. At this precise moment, I do not have a good grasp of just what is going on, but I hope to have some comprehension very soon.
At the MAPP meeting in Riverside on Wednesday, August 5, we will be discussing this unfortunate situation and what actions, if any, we should take to get this Policy Memorandum issued and in effect. Until it is, whether a Riverside County Sheriff Deputy’s will arrest a medical marijuana patient is solely up to the discretion of the Deputy and I don’t believe any patient is comfortable leaving this kind of decision to a Deputy’s discretion.
I will provide more information on what is happening with this crucial policy memorandum in an email I will be sending out over the weekend about the Wednesday, August 5 MAPP meeting at the THCF Medical Clinic in Riverside.
NORML NATIONAL CONFERENCE
The 2009 National NORML Conference will be held Thursday, September 24 through Saturday, September 26 at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco, CA. The annual NORML Conference is one of the best pro-marijuana conferences held with speakers on wide range of subjects on all things marijuana. If you have never been to a NORML Conference, rest assured it will be of the most empowering three days you have experienced in a long time. For more information on the 2009 NORML Conference, check out their website at www.norml.org.
Working with OC NORML, we have obtained a special discounted rate of $175 for all three days of the conference – a saving of $75 from the regular rate of $250. Plus if we get more than ten people to go, we will get another 20% discount. For more information on the conference and to get the discounted rate, send an email to:
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