[ASA Field]

*Weekly Roundup*

1) Joe Fortt Accepts Plea Deal, David Harde Sentenced, & San Bernardino
Continues Suit Against State
*
**ASA Chapter Meetings*

2) Thursday, January 4th, Guerneville: Sonoma ASA Meeting
3) Saturday, January 6th, Modesto: Central Valley Patients Coalition Meeting
4) Tuesday, January 9th, San Diego: SD ASA Meeting
5) Tuesday, January 9th, San Francisco: SF ASA Meeting
6) Thursday, January 11th, Sacramento: Sac ASA Meeting

*City & County Hearings
*
7) Thursday, January 4th, Tracy: City Hearing to Determine Whether
Dispensary Can Continue to Operate

*Court Support*

8) Thursday, January 4th, San Francisco: Pretrial Hearing for Ed Rosenthal

*Special Events*

9) Friday, January 5th, Fairfield: CA Bar Program on Medical Marijuana,
Hosted by the Solano Patients Group
*10) Fri-Sun, January 12th-14th, Burbank: Implementation = Victory:
Preparing for the Next Ten Years,
ASA Statewide
Conference*

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*Weekly Roundup*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
1) Joe Fortt Accepts Plea Deal, David Harde Sentenced, & San Bernardino
Continues Suit Against State*

/Joe Fortt Accepts Plea Deal & Plans for His Move to Canada (from Mark
Stout & Vanessa Nelson)/

On Monday, Joe Fortt accepted the offer to plead guilty of conspiracy to
manufacture marijuana, for the proposed sentence of time already served,
for deportation to freedom in Canada.

Joe's formal sentencing is scheduled for Monday, February 26th. Thanks
to Attorney Dan Harrelson's great advocacy, Judge Ishii will work with
the attorneys to see if this can be expedited, since Joe has a
deportation process ahead of him. Much appreciation to Dan Harrelson and
his staffer Serita Rios who have been great about fighting for Joe.

Joe has no personal connections in Canada, and at the moment is pinning
his hopes on cousins who are so distant that neither he nor his brother
can recall their names. If anyone has any helpful suggestions, you can
also write to Joe directly at the following address:

Joseph William Fortt
T229134
P.O. Box 872
Fresno CA 93712

/David Harde Sentenced to 30 Months, After Local Case Was Turned Over to
the Feds (from Vanessa Nelson)/

As many of you know, El Dorado County medical marijuana patient and
caregiver David Harde was sentenced today. The judge gave him 30 months
in prison, 3 years of probation, and a quarter of a million dollars in
financial penalties. It was a dramatic court appearance, at which
advocates packed the courtroom in an impressive display of support.

In 2005, Harde was arrested by El Dorado County law enforcement for his
role in a patient cooperative. After prosecuting Harde locally for
several months, District Attorney Gary Lacy turned the case over to the
U.S. Attorney's office and created a change of jurisdiction that
eliminated the possibility of a successful medical defense in the case.
Since federal courts do not recognize state medical marijuana laws,
Harde was left with little recourse once he found himself facing charges
from the U.S. government. He quickly changed his plea to guilty in order
to accept a negotiated deal that reduced the charges against him to one
felony count of cultivation.

An activist and dedicated community leader, Harde was particularly
displeased by restrictions on his voting rights. From his solar-powered
natural foods store to his pioneering of official organic farming
guidelines to his appointment to the El Dorado County Fair Board, Harde
has been nothing short of a role model for involved citizenry. And, to
ask for leniency in his case, his citizen supporters not only packed the
courtroom, but also packed the mailbox with character letters on Harde's
behalf. Both shows of support were duly noted by Judge Damrell during
the sentencing hearing.

For the full story, please visit http://medicalmarijuanaofamerica.com/

/San Bernardino County Joins San Diego in Appealing Superior Court
Ruling (from Aaron Smith)/

On Tuesday morning, the San Bernardino Co. Board of Supervisors decided
to seek an appeal--along with San Diego--in their lawsuit aimed at
overturning our medical cannabis laws. Several local patients--and even
some other residents that attended the meeting for separate
issues--spoke out against the decision. In the end this will make San
Diego and San Bernardino's leaders look even more foolish than they
already did. As reported last week, Merced County has opted not to
appeal the decision.

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*ASA Chapter Meetings*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
2) Thursday, January 4th, Guerneville: Sonoma ASA Meeting*

When: Thursday at 7:30pm
Where: Marvin's Gardens 15025 River Road (towards Guerneville)

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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*
3) Saturday, January 6th, 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! Agenda items will include: The recent raid in
Modesto, court support, letters to the editor, safe access, and more.
The CVPC meets on the first Saturday of each month, at 9:00 AM. New
Location: These meetings will now be held at 1009 Bingham Dr., Modesto,
CA, 95350. For additional information, contact Shirley Cox, Public
Relations Officer for the Central Valley Patients Coalition:
shirley@CompassionateCoalition.org

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*4) Tuesday, January 9th, San Diego: SD ASA Meeting*

Our San Diego chapter of ASA has been busy lately and needs you to get
involved. It is time to get involved and protect
safe access!

For more info about the chapter, please visit their site:
http://sdasa.4mg.com/index.html

Twiggs Coffee House
4590 Park Blvd.
In the Green Room
7:00-8:00 p.m.

Call (619) 723-6572 for more info.

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*5) Tuesday, January 9th, San Francisco: SF ASA Meeting*

7:00 p.m. - Location TBA

Tony Bowles
ASA-SF Chapter Contact: 415-283-7404

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*6) Thursday, January 11th, Sacramento: Sac ASA Meeting*

Thursday @ 6:00 p.m.
!Pura Vida! (next to the Capitol Wellness Collective)
2400 14th Street, Sacramento

The Sacramento ASA chapter will be planning for the ASA state conference
and the Pill Bottle Dump on January 22nd. All are welcome. This is a
great opportunity to get involved with ASA and to work on both local and
national campaigns.

For more information, please call 916-325-9000.

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*City & County Hearings
*
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*7) Thursday, January 4th, Tracy: City Hearing to Determine Whether
Dispensary Can Continue to Operate*

>From Inside Bay Area:

A hearing date to decide whether a local medical marijuana club can
legally operate under the current city code has been set for 2 p.m.,
Jan. 4 at City Hall.

The Valley Wellness Center, 130 W. 11th St., has continued to operate,
under the threat of fines and citations, after being ordered to close
before Dec. 5 by the city.

Although there is nothing in the city code specifically banning medical
marijuana dispensaries, there's also nothing that allows for it. Last
month, the collective was ordered by city code enforcement officers to
"discontinue the non-listed use of distributing medical marijuana" in
Tracy by Dec. 5.

January 4th @ 2 p.m.
Tracy City Hall
325 East 10th Street

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*Court Support*
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*8) Thursday, January 4th, San Francisco: Pretrial Hearing for Ed Rosenthal*

Pretrial hearing before Judge Charles Breyer in U.S. District Court, 450
Golden Gate, San Francisco, CA. In October 2006, superseding indictments
were filed against medical marijuana author and cultivator Ed Rosenthal
and Rick Watts (though his felony charges were later dismissed). In
addition to being prosecuted on prior charges, stemming from the first
indictments, they also face money laundering and tax evasion charges
(which were later severed from the other charges). Rosenthal and Watts
were arrested in February 2002 after the DEA raided the Harm Reduction
Center in San Francisco. Due to not being able to assert a medical
(Raich) defense, Rosenthal was convicted in January 2003 (Watts was
unable to stand trial due to injuries sustained from an auto accident).
After outrage expressed by jurors and supporters alike, U.S. District
Court Charles Breyer sentenced Rosenthal on June 3, 2003 to one day in
prison. Rosenthal later got his conviction overturned based on jury
misconduct. The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals then remanded the
case back to district court, where the government is currently retrying
Rosenthal.

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*Special Events*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
9) Friday, January 5th, Fairfield: CA Bar Program on Medical Marijuana,
Hosted by the Solano Patients Group*

Solano Patients' Group is proudly hosting a California Bar Program on
Medical Marijuana. Dennis Roberts, Rick Runcie (Mower's attorney) and
Bill McPike will teach the approved Bar from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm in
Fairfield, California. This course will cover California's medical
marijuana laws under Health & Safety Code 11362.5 and 11362.7, and
related court rulings.

This course offers 6.5 MCLE credits for attorneys, at a cost of $199.
Attorney in groups of 2 or more $175.00 a person. Judges, government
attorneys, and non profit attorneys can attend at the cost of $150.00.
Patients, law enforcement officers, and paralegals can attend for a cost
of only $35. Course materials and lunch are included. For more
information click here: http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/node/4012

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*
10) Fri-Sun, January 12th-14th, Burbank: Implementation = Victory:
Preparing for the Next Ten Years,
ASA
Statewide Conference
*

*Help Us Plan for the Future of Medical Cannabis in California*
*/Join ASA for Our State Conference, January 12th-14th in Burbank, CA/*

ASA's state conference, "Implementation = Victory: Preparing for the
Next 10 Years," is now less than a month away. Looking back at 2006, it
is clear that we should feel simultaneously proud and concerned. Certain
milestones stand out:

* The counties of San Diego, San Bernardino & Merced sued the state,
claiming federal law preempted Prop 215, and Judge William Nevitt,
Jr. ruled against them.
* The DEA escalated their attacks, raiding dozens of dispensaries,
grow facilities, and providers in California. ASA called activists
to emergency response actions, leading to dozens of protests and
thousands of phone calls and emails to legislators and the DEA. As
a result of these raids, nearly 100 patients and providers now
face federal charges
<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=184>.
* Dozens of cities and counties considered the question of
dispensaries, and ASA issued a report
<http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/downloads/dispensaries.pdf>
that evaluated the success of local regulations. Currently, 31
cities and counties allow and regulate dispensaries, while 40
localities have banned them.
* 24 counties are now issuing medical cannabis ID cards
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=214>, but
dozens of other counties are dragging their feet or have refused
to implement the state program.

Sometimes, it might seem like we've already won the fight, and at other
times, we may feel hopeless. It is more important now than ever before
for advocates in California to come together and plan for the future.

We are hopeful looking towards 2007 and beyond that we will continue to
advance safe access for medical cannabis patients in California and
nationwide, but we need your help to accomplish this. Please join us on
January 12th-14th in Burbank to develop the tools we need to secure safe
access and to craft a plan to push medical cannabis to the next level.
ASA will be basing its 2007 California campaign plan on the outcomes of
this conference so it is imperative that you attend to weigh in on what
issues are important to you and your local community.

Visit our conference web page to register now
<http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3831#individual>. We have
recently posted the conference agenda
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3948> and information on
buses and housing <http://safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3908>.

The conference will take place January 12th-14th at the Pickwick Gardens
Conference Center <http://www.pickwickgardens.com/>, 1001 Riverside
Drive in Burbank, California. For more information, please contact Alex
at CAConference@safeaccessnow.org <mailto:alex@safeaccessnow.org> or
(510) 251-1856 x 321.