Americans for Safe Access ACTIVIST NEWSLETTER Defending Patients’ Access to Medical Marijuana AUGUST 2015 Volume 10, Issue 8 Congressmen Call for Probe of Justice Department Members of Congress want an investi - DOJ officials have said they can prosecute indi - end all federal prose - gation of federal prosecutors who viduals who are part of state medical cannabis cution of state-quali - continue to pursue medical cannabis programs and pursue civil asset forfeiture fied patients and cases despite restrictions placed on them last against them because that is not interfering in providers because year. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam implementing state medical marijuana laws. "the implementa - Farr (D-CA) sent a letter on July 30 to DOJ tion of state law is Inspector General Michael Horowitz, asking Reps. Rohrabacher and Farr authored the Reps. Rohrabacher and Farr carried out by indi - him “to investigate potential violations of the amendment to the 2015 DOJ budget bill viduals and business - Anti-Deficiency Act by the Department with intended to stop enforcement actions against es as the state authorizes them to do." regard to its prosecution and other enforce - anyone participating in state medical cannabis ment actions against persons and businesses programs. Their letter states debate on their Prosecutors in California and Washington State conducting legitimate medical marijuana activ - amendment made clear that supporters and have refused to back down from several high- ities under state law." opponents alike understood it was intended to profile cases, asking for prison time for the Kettle Falls Five, members of a family patient CARERS Act Gains Powerful Co-Sponsors co-op in Washington State, as well as a dispen - sary operator in California, while pursuing The CARERS Act, the first comprehen - Rand Paul (R-KY) asset forfeiture against the building leased by sive medical cannabis legislation to be and the junior sena - a dispensary in Oakland, California. In the let - considered by Congress, is up to 15 tor from New York, ter, Rohrabacher and Farr write that such cases bipartisan co-sponsors in the Senate, now that Kirsten Gillibrand “are all instances of DOJ expending dollars it two influential senior senators have added (D). Other co-spon - does not have the legal authority to spend." their names. Chuck Schumer of New York and sors include senators Barbara Mikulski of Maryland each became co- Sens. Mikulski and Schumer from the states of sponsors of SB 683 at the end of July. California, Colorado, 16 MONTHS FOR KETTLE Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon FALLS FIVE DEFENDANT Sen. Mikulski is the ranking member of the and Wisconsin. The bill is currently in the hands powerful Appropriations Committee and was of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but com - The first prison sentence has been instrumental in preserving the Rohrabacher- mittee chair Charles Grassley (R-IA) has yet to handed down in the case of the Farr Amendment that limits federal interfer - set hearings. “Kettle Falls Five,” the group of quali - ence in state medical cannabis laws. Sen. fied patients in Eastern Washington who were Schumer is the third ranking Democrat in the “Medical marijuana is the only recourse for indicted on federal charges.District Court Senate with a reputation as an ardent support - many in New York and across the country who Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Jason Zucker er of the War on Drugs. are in a great deal of pain,” Sen. Schumer said to 16 months in federal prison, but he remains in a statement. “It is only humane and fair that free on bond pending appeal. The legislation authored by Sen. Cory Booker they have access to the treatment they need (D-NJ) was originally co-sponsored by Sen. when prescribed by a doctor.” Zucker, 39, second from left in the photo at right, was the only one of the group to plead guilty. He accepted a last-minute deal with New Medical Cannabis Laws in Washington prosecutors to avoid the 20-year mandatory Several medical cannabis bills were ties than non-medical consumers. Households minimum sentence he faced if convicted. passed by the Washington State legis - will now be limited to the cultivation of 15 lature or went into effect last month. plants. To qualify for the additional amounts Charges against Larry Harvey, the 71-year-old The measures were part of policymakers’ and protections, qualifying patients must reg - patriarch of the family who was ASA’s Lobbyist attempt to harmonize the state’s existing med - ister in the state’s new voluntary database, of the Year, were dropped in March just before ical cannabis program with the new law that which law enforcement will be able to access trial because he has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. allows anyone who is at least 21 years of age to confirm registrations. This bill also expand - At trial, Zucker testified against Harvey’s wife, to purchase and use cannabis. Among the ed the qualifying medical conditions to include Rhonda Firestack-Harvey, and her son and changes is the name of the regulatory agency. post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic daughter-in law, Rolland and Michelle Gregg, The state Liquor Control Board keeps its 81- brain injuries but creates restrictions that will but made clear that their cannabis cultivation year-old acronym but the ‘C’ now stands for shut down many of the state’s existing medical operation was a co-op in which he and the ‘Cannabis,’ as in Liquor and Cannabis Board. cannabis businesses. The bill also specifies that four family members shared the medicine. qualifying patients between the ages of 18 Of the bills, the most wide-reaching is SB 5052, and 21 will be able to purchase cannabis at The jury acquitted Firestack-Harvey and the which brings much of the state’s largely unreg - retail locations with a medical endorsement. Greggs of four out of five charges and rejected ulated medical cannabis operations under the the government’s claim that they had cultivat - umbrella of the new adult-use regulations State support for cannabis research was creat - ed more than 100 plants. The remaining three while allowing qualified patients to continue ed by SB 5121, which establishes a licensing defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on personal cultivation and possess larger quanti - continues, page 2 October 2 in Spokane Americans for Safe Access • 1806 Vernon Street NW • Washington, D.C. 20009 202-857-4272 • [email protected] • www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org New York Officials Announce Five Licensees In what Health Commissioner Dr. LLC, Empire State Health Solutions, Etain LLC, AMERICANS FOR Howard A. Zucker called “a major PharmaCann LLC. Each will have a single culti - milestone” for the state’s medical vation facility and four retail dispensing loca - SAFE ACCESS cannabis program, New York has announced tions in different cities. facebook.com/SafeAccessNow five companies that will be licensed to operate twitter.com/SafeAccess dispensaries and cultivation facilities. Forty- The firms selected are to have medical three had applied. cannabis products, which will be subject to a 7 youtube.com/SafeAccess percent tax, available by Jan. 1. The Phone: 510-251-1856 The five selected firms for the state are Compassionate Care Act was signed into law Fax: 510-251-2036 Bloomfield Industries Inc., Columbia Care NY by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last July. [email protected] First Nevada Cannabis Dispensary Opens On the last day of July, Nevada’s first begin serving patients. Israel to Expand Program, medical cannabis dispensary opened Offer Cannabis in Pharmacies in Sparks, just a few miles east of In the 15 years since state voters okayed med - Reno. Of the two dozen states that allow med - ical use, registered patients or their caregivers Long a leader in cannabis research, Israel will ical cannabis use, Nevada is one of the few could only access medical cannabis by growing soon make medical cannabis available that recognizes patients who are registered to up to 12 plants themselves, which they may through pharmacies in the country and use cannabis in their home state. continue to do. expand the number of physicians who are authorized to prescribe it. The announcement Since the state legislature adopted rules for Nevada's new distribution regulations include was made in the Knesset by Israel’s deputy distribution operations two years ago, 66 "seed-to-sale" tracking similar to Colorado’s. health minister, Yaakov Litzman, head of an dispensary licenses have been issued. The The state Department of Agriculture is finaliz - ultra-orthodox party. Before the Health Sparks City Council approved dispensaries ing a testing process that will screen for dozens Ministry can license more growers to supply last year, with Silver State Relief the first to of common pesticides. the pharmacies, the country’s Supreme Court must sign off. ACTION ALERT: Five Things to Do this Summer The 22,000 Israelis who are authorized to use medical cannabis must acquire it directly from 1. Host or Attend an Educational Session government-authorized farms. Allowing more Three workshop sessions are available in ASA's Truth About Medical Marijuana physicians to prescribe the medicine is intend - Educational Series. We’ll send you everything you need for a successful meeting, ed to eliminate the wait list that is currently a including a video, engagement materials, and a survey. barrier to access. Israel has more medical users per capita than any other country. 2. Engage your Senators about the CARERS Act Constituents are 6x more effective than lobbyists. Urge your senators to support the CARERS Act, the comprehensive federal medical cannabis legislation. Visit their local Italy’s Army Cultivating Senate office or take five minutes to call and demand their support for patients.