[ASA Field]

*Weekly Roundup*

1) DEA Attacks LA Again, State ID Card Fee Increase Averted & San Diego
Appeals Against MMJ
*
**Take Action!*

2) Sacramento: Write Letters to the Editor Calling on the County to
Implement the MMJ ID Card Program!

*ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings*

3) Saturday, March 3rd, Modesto: Central Valley Patients Coalition Meeting
4) Thursday, March 8th, Sacramento: Sac ASA Meeting
5) Sunday, March 11th, Birds Landing: Solano Patients' Group Meeting
6) Tuesday, March 13th, San Diego: San Diego ASA Meeting
7) Tuesday, March 13th, San Francisco: San Francisco ASA Meeting
8) Thursday, March 15th, Guerneville: Sonoma ASA Meeting
9) Thursday, March 15th, Fullerton: North Orange County ASA Meeting
10) Saturday, March 17th, Hollywood: Los Angeles ASA Meeting

*City & County Hearings*

11) Monday, March 5th, Pomona: City Council to Vote on Moratorium Extension
& Exempting Dispensary
from Moratorium
12) Tuesday, March 6th, Lakeport: City Council to Discuss Banning
Medical Marijuana Cultivation

*Court Support*

13) Monday, March 5th, Fresno: Sentencing for Joe Fortt
14) Friday, March 9th, Indio: Preliminary Hearing for Garry Silva

*Special Events*

15) Saturday, March 3rd, Sacramento: Medical Cannabis Activist Town Hall

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Weekly Roundup*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
1) DEA Attacks LA Again, State ID Card Fee Increase Averted & San Diego
Appeals Against MMJ*

/DEA Raids HIP Dispensaries in the Valley; ASA and Community Members
React Quickly/

Patients and loved ones turned out on short notice to protest two
simultaneous DEA raids yesterday in the San Fernando Valley. Two
employees of H.I.P. In Sherman Oaks were detained last night, but no
arrests were made at H.I.P. In Woodland Hills. This is the second time
these two collectives have been raided by the DEA in less than thirty days!

Americans for Safe Access (ASA) members and other medical cannabis
advocates stage emergency response protests every time the DEA raids a
medical cannabis facility in California. These protests are designed to
show the DEA that their actions do not go unnoticed and to draw media
attention to the ongoing attack on patients and providers. They are also
help show solidarity with the victims of the federal actions.

While emergency response protests are routine, yesterday's events were
remarkable in two ways. Yesterday's DEA raids were the first real time
use of mass text messaging alert system to notify supporters of a raid.
The LA Chapter of ASA set up the emergency text message system to keep
supporters informed in emergencies like this. The system worked
perfectly, and ASA will be expanding the program throughout California
in the weeks to come.

An even more remarkable thing that happened yesterday was how patients
in Woodland Hills responded in the aftermath of the DEA raid there.
Patients at the protest took it upon themselves to pool the medicine
they had and reopen the collective - less than two hours after the raid!
This is a remarkable act of defiance and resistance. The patients
refused to be defeated. Way to go!

We do not know yet what consequences the staff at H.I.P. may face, but
we should all be prepared to fight back like the patients did in
Woodland Hills today.

Emergency response protests are one part of what ASA does to protect
safe access, and we need your ongoing support to keep doing this work.
Please take a moment to join ASA and make a contribution today at
http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Donate

Don Duncan
Southern California Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access

/ASA Helps Avert Crisis in the State Medical Marijuana ID Card Program;
2 More Counties Join Program/

Over the past two months, ASA has been hard at work to halt the proposed
fee hike in the Medical Marijuana ID Card program (MMIC) from $13 to
$142 from going into effect on March 1, 2007. Because of ASA's work and
mounting pressure from the grassroots and public officials, the
California Department of Health Services (CDHS) decided yesterday not to
implement the proposed fee hike! Instead, a more modest fee increase to
$66 will be implemented on April 1, 2007 ($33 for MediCal patients).

Have no doubt about it, this victory was due in large part to the
tireless work of many patients and advocates since late last year to
reverse the unreasonable fee increase proposal. ASA, in coalition with
Safe Access Now, California NORML, Drug Policy Alliance, and Marijuana
Policy Project, used various tactics to ensure the enormous ID card
increase would not go into effect:

* Supervisors across the state were lobbied to write letters to
CDHS. County Supervisors that wrote to CDHS Director Sandra Shewry
include: Ross Mirkarimi
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/Mirkarimi_DHS_Letter.pdf>
and Gerardo Sandoval from San Francisco, Ed Robey and Anthony
Farrington from Lake County, Paolo Maffei from Tuolumne County,
Tom Tryon from Calaveras County, and **** Reilly from Sonoma County.

* We issued alerts to urge Governor Schwarzenegger and CDHS Director
Shewry not to implement the fee hike. And, thanks to a huge
response from you and the activist community, more than 1,000
people contacted their offices, including more than 500 letters
sent through ASA's website.

* ASA worked directly with Assembly Member Mark Leno's office,
keeping his staff up to date on our progress and strategizing with
his staff on ways to make the ID card program succeed.

While ASA is dissatisfied with any fee increase -- we will continue to
work to further decrease the amount patients have to pay for better
protection -- this more modest increase is a huge victory! It is
important now to encourage Boards of Supervisors in counties that have
not yet implemented ID card programs to implement immediately, so that
there is equal protection across the state regardless of where one
lives. Check here
<http://www.dhs.ca.gov/hisp/ochs/MMP/County_Programs_&_Business_Hours/CoProgBusHrs.pdf>
for a list of counties with programs.

On a related note, Yolo and Butte Counties both voted on Tuesday to
implement the ID card program. Both counties had stalled for some time
on this issue, so these positive votes were a big win for the medical
marijuana community. Thanks to Aaron Smith and Safe Access Now for
organizing patients and community members to testify at these hearings.

/San Diego County Files Its Appeal Against Medical Marijuana/

Despite a December 6, 2006 ruling
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/SD_Ruling.pdf> from San Diego
Superior Court Judge William R. Nevitt Jr. that firmly upheld patients'
rights and California's medical marijuana law, on February 22, 2007, the
County of San Diego filed an appeal with the California Court of Appeal
for the Fourth District.

Last year, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) intervened
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/SD_Intervention_Motion.pdf> as a
defendant in the case, along with a number of patients, the ACLU Drug
Law Reform Project, and the Drug Policy Alliance. Illustrating the
serious nature of the policies being challenged in court, one of the
patient defendants, Pamela Sakuda, passed away before the December
ruling, after a battle with cancer.

The genesis of this legal challenge was supposedly due to a threat by
San Diego NORML to sue the County of San Diego unless it implemented the
state medical marijuana ID card program. The lawsuit
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/SD_State_Complaint.pdf> that was
filed by the San Diego Board of Supervisors, and later joined by San
Bernardino and Merced Counties, argued that federal law preempts state
law and, because of that, the county should not be forced to implement
state law. After the clear defeat in Superior Court, Merced agreed not
to file an appeal. It is unknown at this time whether San Bernardino
County will join San Diego in its appeal, although the San Bernardino
Board previously voted to do so.

The intervening defendants included Wendy Christakes, Pamela Sakuda,
William Britt and Yvonne Westbrook, Californians who use
physician-recommended marijuana to treat medical conditions and their
side-effects, including chronic pain and sciatica, multiple sclerosis,
rectal cancer, epilepsy and post-polio syndrome. Also represented was
Sakuda's spouse and caregiver, Norbert Litzinger, and Dr. Stephen
O'Brien, a physician who specializes in HIV/AIDS treatment in Oakland,
California.

Stay tuned for further updates. You can also click here
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/briefbank#sandiego> for more information
on this case.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Take Action!*
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*2) Sacramento: Write Letters to the Editor Calling on the County to
Implement the MMJ ID Card Program!*

Dear Sacramento County Medical Marijuana Patients-

A brief article about Yolo County's implementation of the statewide
medical marijuana ID card program ran in today's edition
<http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/131491.html> of the Sacramento Bee.
Patients in the West Sacramento, Davis and Woodland areas will soon have
access to the legal protections this program provides---but sadly, those
who live in neighboring Sacramento County still have no choice but to
risk unnecessary arrest, detainment or seizure of their medicine by
state and local law enforcement.

If you live in Sacramento County, please take a few minutes to write a
letter to the editor <mailto:opinion@sacbee.com> of the Sacramento Bee,
urging the County Board of Supervisors to approve local implementation
of the medical marijuana ID card program. Letters must be less than 200
words and need to include your first and last name, address and phone
number. The paper will not publish your contact info.

Send letters to opinion@sacbee.com with the words, "letter to the
editor" in the subject line.

Thank you,

Aaron Smith
Safe Access Now

*Feel free to use some of the following "talking points" in your letter:*

- Now that neighboring Yolo and El Dorado Counties are both developing
plans to implement the state mandated medical marijuana ID card program,
it's time for Sacramento County to follow suit. It makes no sense that
patients in neighboring counties will be afforded more rights, under
state law, than patients living in Sacramento.

- The ID card protects patients and caregivers from being falsely
arrested and frees up valuable public safety resources.

- The ID card program will greatly assist law enforcement in
distinguishing patients with legitimate medical marijuana
recommendations from those who are using false or counterfeit
documentation.

- Counties have a legal responsibility to implement the program, as a
requirement of Senate Bill 420, passed into law in 2003 and upheld by a
San Diego Superior Court ruling in December 2006.

- Voter support for safe and legal access to medical marijuana has only
grown stronger since the passage of the Compassionate Use Act in 1996.
Today, 3-out-of-4 Californians support implementation of our medical
marijuana laws.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*ASA Chapter Meetings*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
**3) Saturday, March 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 11:00 AM. New Location: These meetings will now be held at
1733 Yosemite Ave, Modesto, CA, 95350. For additional information,
contact Shirley Cox, Public Relations Officer for the Central Valley
Patients Coalition: shirley@CompassionateCoalition.org

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

*4) Thursday, March 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. Attend this meeting to
follow up on strategies developed at the March 3rd town hall meeting.

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

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

*5) Sunday, March 11th, Birds Landing: Solano Patients' Group Meeting*

3:00 p.m. @ 2145 Collinsville Road in Birds Landing
For more info, call (707) 635-3752

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

*6) Tuesday, March 13th, San Diego: San Diego 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.

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

*7) Tuesday, March 13th, San Francisco: San Francisco ASA Meeting*

We're shooting for a rotating meeting schedule, allowing all the willing
dispensaries an opportunity to host ASA SF meetings periodically. Exact
location TBA.

7:00 p.m.

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

*8) Thursday, March 15th, Guerneville: Sonoma ASA Meeting*

When: Thursday from 7pm-9pm
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

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

*9) Thursday, March 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

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

*10) Saturday, March 17th, Hollywood: Los Angeles ASA Meeting*

Join the LA ASA chapter to plan future emergency response plans and help
to regulate dispensaries in LA City.

1pm - 3pm @ California Patients Group
6208 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90038

For more info, please call LA ASA: (323) 464-7719

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*City & County Hearings*
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*11) Monday, March 5th, Pomona: City Council to Vote on Moratorium
Extension
& Exempting
Dispensary from Moratorium*

The City Council will be voting on extending its moratorium on medical
cannabis dispensaries and will be deciding whether to exempt an existing
facility from this moratorium.

Please attend and speak out for safe access!

7:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers
505 S. Garey Avenue
Pomona, CA

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

*12) Tuesday, March 6th, Lakeport: City Council to Discuss Banning
Medical Marijuana Cultivation*

The City Council will be holding a public hearing to discuss banning all
marijuana cultivation, including medical marijuana. Here is the text of
the proposed ordinance:

Marijuana Cultivation: Marijuana cultivation is hereby declared
unlawful and a public nuisance within the City limits of the City of
Lakeport, at any time, on any parcel of land, whether indoors,
outdoors, or fully enclosed within a secure structure.

Please attend and speak out for safe access!

6:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers
225 Park Street
Lakeport, CA

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Court Support*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
13) Monday, March 5th, Fresno: Sentencing for Joe Fortt*

>From Vanessa Nelson:

Former Bakersfield dispensary owner Joseph Fortt was not sentenced on
Monday, as originally scheduled. Up until last minute, it was uncertain
whether he would be transported from the hospital to the courtroom for
the hearing. Joe, who is battling pneumonia, was ultimately unable to
make his appearance, and his sentencing was postponed. His case is on
the calendar again on March 5th, 2007, at 9am in front of Judge Anthony
Ishii at 2500 Tulare Street in Fresno, CA. If Joe's attorney is able to
get the necessary declarations in order, Joe may be sentenced in
absentia at this time.

For more read the report on the Medical Marijuana of America website:
https://medicalmarijuanaofamerica.co...ent/view/47/1/
*
*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
**14) Friday, March 9th, Indio: Preliminary Hearing for Garry Silva*

Preliminary Hearing Court Support for Garry Silva patient, caregiver,
and prior cultivator for the March 14th, 2006 cooperative raid on his
home by local sheriffs officers and D.E.A.

Garry is being charged with four felonies at this time, because he has a
potential prior from 1981 he may be considered a prior-felon in
possession of a firearm. Garry was in court on January 26th, 2007 for
his initial preliminary hearing which was continued at the request of
his attorney because of missing information from the discovery of
evidence submitted by the DAs office. Conveniently the photographs taken
of Garry as he lay on the floor after the raid were not present in the
report.

PC 12021 (A) (1) Felon in possession of a firearm
PC 12316 (B) (1) Felon in possession of live ammunition
HS 11359 Possession of marijuana for sale
HS 11358 Cultivation of marijuana

After the last year of fighting to keep his life together the financial
and time demands have nearly depleted all of Garry's funds and he has
been struggling to keep his business in operation after 27 years of
working in Coachella Valley. Anyone interested in making contributions
should contact Krista Silva at (760) 200-7461 or Ryan Michaels at (909)
996-1197. The family appreciates any assistance you can offer in this
time of need.

Please come show your support!

Friday, March 9 at 8:30 a.m.
Larson Justice Center
462000 Oasis (corner of Oasis and Hwy. 111) in Indio

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Special Events*
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*15) Saturday, March 3rd, Sacramento: Medical Cannabis Activist Town Hall*

Please join Steph Sherer, ASA's Executive Director for a Sacramento
Activist Town Hall on March 3rd from 3-6 pm at 320 Harris Suite H,
Sacramento, CA. This event will be a an opportunity for the community to
come together while Steph walks everyone through a strategic planning
session to create next steps for Sacramento city and county
implementation of Prop 215 And SB 420. This will include defining
problems in the community, as well as determining goals and creating
campaigns to tackle these problems and achieve community goals.

Steph Sherer will also give a brief update from ASA about national and
state campaigns, including details about ASA's recent federal lawsuit.

Who: Sacramento Medical Cannabis Community and ASA's Executive Director
What: Sacramento Activist Town Hall
When: March 3 2007 3PM- 6 PM
Where: 320 Harris Suite H, Sacramento, CA
Why: Because these laws aren't going to implement themselves

For more info contact Rebecca at 510-251-1856 x 308 or
Rebecca@SafeAccessNow.org