Dispensaries are Indispensable!
I recently went down to Los Angeles to attend The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, which brings together people from around the world every two years who believe that the war on drugs is doing more harm than good. It brings together over 1,000 attendees representing 30 different countries.
This is the only conference focused specifically on bringing together the whole range of drug policy reformers from across the United States and around the world to listen, learn, network and strategize, with the aim of providing a good networking landscape while providing quality information about drug policies based on science, compassion, health and human rights. The International Drug Policy Reform Conference is the only event where you can network with fellow advocates, broaden your knowledge and gain exposure. It really was an amazing opportunity.
Some of the panels I attended were:
State of the Movement: Is Medical Marijuana Still Relevant?
How Does Money Shape Marijuana Reform?
Innovative Approaches to Medical Marijuana Distribution and Services
Medical Marijuana Science: Latest Advances
How Are We Ever Going to Clarify Medical Marijuana in California?
Mobile Workshop #3 – Medical Marijuana in California
Going forward, I think the most valuable thing I experienced at this conference, was our medical marijuana community in California coming together to discuss how we can fight back against local, state, and federal attacks on medical cannabis dispensaries (MCD’s). Dispensaries are Indispensable. Thousands of patients rely on these MCD’s to provide safe access to cannabis for it’s therapeutic benefits.
Patients and advocates must fight for sensible regulations; the experiment is over. State laws excluding patient cultivation and medical cannabis dispensaries are a failure, and I fear this is what we’ll end up with if we let our representatives draft legislation without us at the table. We had a chance to self regulate, but that time has passed. With so much legal confusion, bad players involved and restrictive measures being introduced it’s time for us to push for sensible regulations at a state level.
In California, we’ve come full circle; it’s time to go back to Sacramento. We need trained patient spokespersons to be making district office visits. This is a civil rights issue. In a well-regulated system, MCD’s don’t cause crime, and patients have a right to safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use.
We need to adopt legislation establishing clear civil and criminal protections for patients, cultivators, and collectives and cooperatives under state law. We also need to be working to build capacity and grassroots support for comprehensive medical cannabis reform legislation in 2012. http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=6531
In response to the recent federal crackdown, which may be the broadest and most serious threat to medical cannabis yet, medical marijuana supporters have protested President Obama at several of his visits. In San Francisco hundreds of supporters showed the President that the Occupy and Keystone/Tarsands protestors aren’t the only force to be reckoned with. The medical cannabis community is here and we mean business. We are a movement! This is an attack on safe access. You need to stand up for the campaign promise you made to us, not to waste federal resources going after legitimate patients and providers in states with medical marijuana laws. We urge you to take a stand with us NOW.
This Wednesday, 12noon we will be rallying in Sacramento against DOJ attacks. Join Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and a statewide coalition on Wednesday, November 9, for a peaceful protest at the Federal Building in Sacramento to protest the Obama Administration’s new attack on medical cannabis patients and property owners!
Twitter: #StopDOJAttack
Comments
Post a Comment