[ASA Field]

*Weekly Roundup*

1) ID Card Program Update & Stephanie Landa Moved to Federal Prison
*
**ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings*

2) Saturday, February 3rd, Modesto: Central Valley Patients Coalition
Meeting
3) Thursday, February 8th, Sacramento: Sac ASA Meeting
4) Saturday, February 10th, Birds Landing: Solano Patients' Group Meeting
5) Tuesday, February 13th, San Diego: SD ASA Meeting
6) Tuesday, February 13th, San Francisco: SF ASA Meeting
7) Thursday, February 15th, Fullerton: North Orange County ASA Meeting

*City & County Hearings*

8) Monday, February 5th, West Hollywood: City Council Hearing to
Restrict Dispensary Locations
9) Tuesday, February 13th, Santa Rosa: Patients Testify Against 500
Patient Limit Per Dispensary

*Court Support*

10) Monday, February 5th, Fresno: Sentencing Hearing for Dustin Costa
11) Monday, February 12th, San Francisco: Pretrial Hearing for Ed Rosenthal

*Special Events*

12) Every Monday-Friday in February, San Francisco: Volunteer for Juror
Education!

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*Weekly Roundup*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
1) ID Card Program Update & Stephanie Landa Moved to Federal Prison*

/Plumas County Joins the ID Card Program, while San Francisco Threatens
to Leave the State Program/

Slowly, more and more counties are implementing the statewide ID card
program, which was mandated by the passage of SB-420. Last week, Plumas
County became the 24th county to implement the program. However, many
counties continue to resist implementation, and partly due to this
resistance, the state Department of Health Services (DHS) has not been
able to recoup the fees they had expected to bring in since the medical
marijuana ID card program was started.

As ASA reported in early January, DHS has announced it will raise its
fees from $13 to $142 on March 1, 2007 to cover the cost of the program,
which has been running at a major deficit. If this increase goes into
effect, patients will have to pay more than $200 for their ID cards,
since each county adds its own fee to the state fee. In response to the
fee increase and concerns about patient confidentiality, San Francisco
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has introduced a resolution that would urge
the San Francisco Department of Public Health to leave the state program
and reinstate the local ID card program. The resolution has been sent to
committee, where it will be voted on before reaching the full Board of
Supervisors.

ASA, Safe Access Now, California NORML, and MPP are working together in
Sacramento and statewide to halt the fee increase. Look out for an
action alert next week describing how you can help stop the increase and
keep the ID card program affordable to the patient population.

/Medical Cannabis POW Stephanie Landa Moved from County Jail to Federal
Prison/

From Sarah Armstrong:

It is with great joy that I write to tell you, that Stephanie Landa is,
at last in the federal wing of the Dublin prison complex. She was kept
for almost a month, in the Santa Rita County Jail, where the conditions
were so deplorable it's amazing she's still alive.

She has a new address:

FCI DUBLIN
SATELLITE CAMP
Prisoner Stephanie Landa
Prisoner # 09247-800
5675 8TH ST
DUBLIN, CA 94568

The phone number for the jail is:

Phone: 925-833-7500
Fax: 925-833-7599

Please everyone, now that she is in Federal prison, we can visit her all
day during visiting hours, as long as we have been cleared by the jail.
Write to her and ask her to send you the visitors form. At the very
least, please drop her a card. Mail means the world to her, it's the
only thing that brightens her day. You can also order magazine
subscriptions for her, and send books, as long as they come directly
from the bookstore or mail order places like Amazon.com.

All mail must have a return address. Anyone who does not feel
comfortable using their own, please contact me and I will give you the
return address of a non-profit that has agreed to help receive mail.
*
*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*ASA Chapter Meetings*
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*
2) Saturday, February 3rd, 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! 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

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*3) Thursday, February 8th, Sacramento: Sac ASA Meeting*

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

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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*
4) Saturday, February 10th, Birds Landing: Solano Patients' Group Meeting*

Solano Patients' Group/Compassionate Coalition National meetings will
now be held on every 2nd Saturday of the month @ 3pm. The meeting
location is at 2145 Collinsville Road in Birds Landing, CA 94512. All
members and supporters are welcome to attend these public meetings.

For more information, call (707) 635-3752.

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*5) Tuesday, February 13th, 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.

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*6) Tuesday, February 13th, San Francisco: SF ASA Meeting*

The next ASA SF meeting space is 350 Divisadero, San Francisco, CA.
We're shooting for a rotating meeting schedule, allowing all the willing
dispensaries an opportunity to host ASA SF meetings periodically.

7:00 p.m.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*7) Thursday, February 15th, Fullerton: North Orange County ASA Meeting*

Please come to discuss local law enforcement problems and campaigns to
address this and other issues!

7:00 p.m. @ 1520 W Commonwealth Ave, in Fullerton
For more info, please call ****: (949) 315-1097 or email
adamwithasa@gmail.com

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*City & County Hearings*
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*8) Monday, February 5th, West Hollywood: City Council Hearing to
Restrict Dispensary Locations*

>From the Farmacy:

The City of West Hollywood says that we must close our doors by December
31, 2009. We need your support. PLEASE ATTEND THE WEST HOLLYWOOD CITY
COUNCIL MEETING THIS MONDAY EVENING FEB 5TH:

*WEST HOLLYWOOD** PARK*
*647 N. SAN VICENTE BOULEVARD @ 6:30p.m.*

The City Council will be holding; "//a public hearing to consider
amendment of the City of West Hollywood Municipal Code to create a
//**/_new land use category and location criteria for medical marijuana
dispensaries _/**//, and to consolidate standards for dispensaries into
the Zoning Ordinance."//

What this means to us, and you is that we could lose our business
location (after a two year time limit).

We are asking for a show of support, and we will **/rally
together/**, and put this issue of "limited time" location permits for
Cannabis Dispensary's in West Hollywood behind us.

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*9) Tuesday, February 13th, Santa Rosa: Patients Testify Against 500
Patient Limit Per Dispensary*

Sonoma ASA is organizing patients to speak out at the Santa Rosa City
council meeting. Join us during public
comment to urge the council to end the 500 patient limit per dispensary.
Wear a shirt with the number 501 on it to express that your access has
been denied or could be denied!

Santa Rosa City Hall
100 Santa Rosa Avenue
4:00 p.m.

Patients and advocates will be also meeting earlier in the afternoon to
make t-shirts with the number 501 on them. Join them at 2:15 p.m. at the
Department of Public Health, 625 5th Street (at Mendocino Avenue) in
Santa Rosa.

For more info, contact Sonoma ASA: 707-332-6556

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*Court Support*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
10) Monday, February 5th, Fresno: Sentencing Hearing for Dustin Costa*

Sentencing hearing at 9am before Judge Anthony W. Ishii at the U.S.
District Court, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, CA
<http://207.41.18.73/caed/staticOther/page_717.htm>. Medical marijuana
patient and caregiver Dustin Costa (a.k.a. "DC Greenhouse"), 60, who is
president of the Merced Patients Group, was being prosecuted on state
charges stemming from a March 2004 cultivation arrest by Merced County
Sheriffs, when the state decided to turn his case over to the U.S.
Attorney for federal prosecution. On August 10, 2005, federal agents
re-arrested Costa and on November 22, 2006, a jury convicted him on
federal charges of cultivation, possession with intent to distribute,
and possession of a firearm. Costa is currently incarcerated in Fresno.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
11) Monday, February 12th, 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*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
12) Every Monday-Friday in February, San Francisco: Volunteer for Juror
Education!*

Jury Education begun this Thursday, Feb. 1 at the San Francisco Federal
Courthouse. This educational campaign is sponsored by the Fully
Informed Jurors Association, www.fija.org <http://www.fija.org>

We will flyer from 7am to 10am, Monday through Friday for most of
February and March. Thanks to ASA and Richard Lee, we will have a new
and improved flyer to pass out to everyone who enters the Courthouse.
3-4 people are needed each day we are at the Courthouse.

Sign up with Danielle at can@cannabisactionnetwork.org
<mailto:can@cannabisactionnetwork.org> or by calling 510.486.8083.

Danielle
Cannabis Action Network

[savage]

what do these meetings entail??? i would be interested in checking it out. the feb 13th one. thanks

[ASA Field]

All of our chapter meetings are a bit different, but they usually include news updates and strategizing on local, state and national policies. So obviously a San Diego meeting, where there's almost no access, is going to look a bit different than a San Francisco meeting, where there's access but still problems.

I encourage you to check out a meeting - they're usually a lot of fun and very informative. ASA chapters are also a great way to meet others in the mmj community.

If you have questions about a particular chapter, feel free to PM me.

[Mazzberry]

I have been to the Oakland meetings they are fun and informative. Any thoughts on SF pulling out of the ID card program?

you mentioned something about ID cards. I was wondering what exactly those were and if we are going to really need them no matter what.
are the cards a city regulation or is everyone going to need them no matter what doctor they have?