[ASA Field]

Ending Patient Discrimination
ASA Fights to Protect Patients' Jobs and Needs Your Support!

Dear ASA Supporter -

Are you a medical marijuana patient?
Do you work to earn a living?

Well, listen up, because Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is fighting to protect your job and the employment rights of tens of thousands of other patients working in California.

On November 6, 2007 ASA’s Chief Counsel, Joe Elford, will act as co-counsel in a hearing before the California Supreme Court, against a 2005 Court of Appeal decision that denies patients any remedy for being fired simply because they tested positive for marijuana. This is the most important medical marijuana employment case in California, if not the most important in the entire country.

Donate today to help us end patient discrimination and protect patients' jobs!

The case goes back all the way to 2001, when Gary Ross, a systems engineer, was fired for failing an employer-mandated drug test, because he uses medical marijuana on his doctor’s advice. Gary’s doctor recommended he use cannabis to treat chronic pain caused by back injuries sustained during Gary’s service in the Air Force, which left him disabled. Gary went to court, arguing that his employer illegally discriminated against him because of his condition, but a state superior court and then an appellate court rejected his argument.

ASA stepped in, joining as co-counsel, and appealed to the California Supreme Court. A lot is at stake: A victory could go well beyond just protecting the jobs of tens of thousands of medical-marijuana patients - a victory could also provide protections against many other forms of discrimination.

Join us and take a stand against patient discrimination - Click here to help today! Friends and allies nation-wide have already stepped up to overturn this discriminatory court decision:

10 state and national medical organizations, among them the American Nurses Association, The American Pain Foundation and Doctors of the World- USA, as well as two disability rights groups, have filed separate briefs in support of Ross. To learn more and to read the briefs in their entirety, click here.

In addition, a legislative-based brief was filed, signed by all of the original authors of SB 420. The group of legislators wrote: "We believed that the voters did not intend for the Compassionate Use Act to apply only to unemployed medical cannabis patients, but to all qualified patients, including those who could be productive members of the workforce."

We couldn’t agree more - the court’s 2005 decision is demeaning and discriminatory. We demand that the California Supreme Court uphold state law and protect patients’ rights

Join ASA and our allies and make your voice heard! Click here to help today.

Thank you for your generosity.

Sincerely,

Steph Sherer
Executive Director
Americans for Safe Access


Americans for Safe Access is the nation's largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.