The medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) filed a

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Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson announced Monday that people in Clevelan

For Immediate Release: November 7, 2008
For more info: Gabriel Sayegh at (646) 335-2264 or Tony Newman at (646) 335-5384

Gov. Paterson Announces $8.6 Million in Cuts to Drug Treatment in Response to Budget Crisis

Advocates: Gov. Paterson Should be Doing the Opposite and Expanding Cost-Effective Treatment

With Democrats in Control of Senate and Assembly, Gov. Paterson Should Keep His Pledge and Reform Draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws with Treatment to Save Lives and Money

Health advocates and treatment providers were shocked to learn that New York Governor Paterson is cutting $8.6 million from its substance abuse programs in response to the state's current budget crisis.

"This is penny wise and pound foolish and exactly the opposite of what the governor should be doing," said Howard Josepher, President of the Exponents treatment programs. "Treatment is less expensive and more effective than the lock-them-up strategy that costs taxpayers $29,000 per person to incarcerate someone with an addiction. Treatment also offers a better opportunity to prevent recidivism"

The Rockefeller Drug Laws have been a miserable failure. These draconian laws have not delivered on their promise to rid our streets of drugs or keep people from using them, but they have drained New York of hundreds of millions of dollars and destroyed tens of thousands of lives. Treatment providers, family members, policy experts and newspaper editorials have been calling for change for years but have been stifled due to Republican control of the State Senate and the lack of leadership from Governors Pataki and Spitzer. When Gov. Paterson took over there was an expectation that there might be reform of these laws as the governor has been a long-time voice for change of the laws.

"The time is right to move from away from inhumane, costly and ineffective mass incarceration to a health approach to our drug problems," said Gabriel Sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance. "The Democrats have a majority of the Senate, Assembly and the Governorship. Helping people with drug problems get community based treatment instead of jail does not cost money, it saves money. The governor is in the difficult position of needing to cut programs and costs. Reforming the drug laws is a rare win-win: you can save hundreds of millions of dollars and help keep families together."

New rules governing the amount of medical marijuana Washington state patients can possess and grow went into effect Sunday.

Lawmakers and travel industry spokesmen on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, are furious with the DEA over an October 4 incident where the agency conducted a mass body search of

A federal appeals court ruled October 8 that a Long Island, New York, woman's rights were violated when police strip searched her in a room with a video camera after finding a marijuana stem in the

Ending a contentious, year-long argument over what constitutes a 60-day supply of medical marijuana, the Washington state Department of Health last week issued

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It has been a long, hot summer in Cincinnati, with the Ohio River city on a pace to equal or top the record-setting 86 murders committed in 2006.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 8, 2008
Contact: Monica Hubert at 312-573-8214

Blagojevich signs law requiring new commission to study racial impact of IL drug laws

Illinois incarcerates African-Americans at a rate 9 times greater than that of whites

(Springfield)--On Friday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved legislation to create a new state commission that will study the impact of Illinois drug laws on minority communities.

This measure addresses the findings of a 2007 study that showed African-Americans in Illinois were 9 times more likely to be incarcerated than whites, ranking Illinois 14th worst in the nation.

"No legislature sets out to make a law that disproportionately imprisons a particular racial community, but I believe our laws here in Illinois do just that," said State Senator Mattie Hunter, chief sponsor of the bill creating the commission, Senate Bill 2476. "Now that there's a commission dedicated to examining the problem, legislators will have the opportunity to examine and right the wrong."

The new commission--composed of legislators, members of the criminal justice system, social service agencies, and representatives from minority communities--is charged with examining the nature and extent of the harm caused to minority communities by disproportionate incarceration rates, and offering recommendations for legislation and policy changes to address the impact.

"We now have the opportunity to render an informed judgment based on an empirical data analysis and not just intuition," said Pamela Rodriguez of the Center on Criminal Justice at TASC, who will assist the commission's study. "This study will thoroughly examine drug laws from the ground up and open doors for the creation of effective, fair drug policies."

Creasie Finney Hairston, dean and professor at the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who will also assist the commission's study, agrees with Rodriguez.

"Illinois' policies have to change. Our legislators need a different, informed perspective. This study will provide the perspective needed to help establish laws that not only positively affect the well-being of minority families but address community safety as well."

The Commission's report must be submitted to the Illinois General Assembly on or before December 31, 2009.

The initial appointments to the commission included:

- Judge Timothy Evans, chief judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County

- Ed Burnett, Cook County Public Defender

- Lori Levin, executive director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority

- Terry Solomon, executive director of the Illinois African-American Family

Commission SB2476 was co-sponsored in the Illinois House by State Representative Art Turner. The commission's operations will be managed by the Center on Criminal Justice at TASC and the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Sentencing reform is coming to Pennsylvania.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have protected medical marijuana patients from being fired from their jobs for testing positive for pot on a drug test.

A Washington state man with a doctor's authorization to use medical marijuana was convicted of cultivation last Friday after a state judge ruled that his use of the herb to treat chronic lower back

Faced with budgetary pressures and a prison population that has quadrupled in the last 25 years because of harsh mandatory minimum sentencing laws, the Pennsylvania Senate voted last week to approv

Emboldened by a pair of US Supreme Court decisions and spurred by the Bush administration's push to expand drug testing of students, an increasing number of school districts across the country are

Sometimes no publicity is good publicity, but it's too late for that for Lincoln, Nebraska shop-owner Christian Firoz.

Fayetteville, Arkansas, will be the latest locality to vote on an initiative that would make adult marijuana poss

With election day less than two months away, the battle over California's groundbreaking "treatment not jail" initiative is heating up.

[Courtesy of Americans for Safe Access]

Dear ASA Supporter,

Right now, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering signing a bill into law that will protect the jobs of hundreds of thousands of medical cannabis patients in California. We cannot let this effort fail! Contact the Governor's office immediately to tell him he must sign AB 2279 into law!

We've come a long way in protecting patients' rights to work. Assemblymember Mark Leno introduced AB2279 in February, and your phone calls, emails, and letters helped get the bill passed in both houses of the California Legislature. Now, the final step is the Governor's signature. He can either veto it or sign the bill, and he needs to hear from everyone in California, now more than ever before.

It's up to you now to push past this final hurdle towards protecting patients' employment rights. Call the Governor and tell him how you feel. Tell him to sign AB 2279 and make it California law!

When the California Supreme Court ruled in Ross v. Ragingwire that patients could be fired simply for using medical cannabis as allowed under California law, we knew we had to fight. We built support with the Service Workers International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represent over one million California workers. We also enlisted the help of local Chambers of Commerce, HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations, and many other organizations that have taken a stand to ensure patients do not face workplace discrimination.

There is no time to lose. The Governor is already hearing from lobbyists and big business who oppose AB2279. But if you think that medical cannabis patients should be allowed to hold jobs, we need you now! Visit ASA's action page to email the Governor's office and tell him that he must protect the jobs of workers in our communities. He MUST sign AB 2279 into law!

Then, call his office at 916-445-2841 and say:

"Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am asking that Governor Schwarzenegger sign AB 2279, the medical cannabis workers' rights bill into law. California is going through tough economic times, and right now hundreds of thousands working individuals can be fired just because of their status as legal medical cannabis patients. People with illnesses should be encouraged to work whenever possible. They should not risk discrimination because of their condition. Thank you."

Thank you for all of your continued support, and for being the driving force behind this campaign.

Sincerely,

George Pappas
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access
P.S. For more information on AB 2279, visit: www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/AB2279

A year-old moratorium on the opening of new medical marijuana dispensaries within the Los Angeles city limits will be extended for at least another six months.

After being roundly chastised by more than a hundred medical marijuana patients and activists at an angry Monday meeting, the Washington state Health Department has extended the deadline for commen