MMJ Week

February 11 - 17th is National Medical Marijuana Week and we have got some great events planned to remind people that patients are suffering out there because of the Cultivation Ordinance.  We are running a very touching ad in the Union from Feb 11 - 16 to raise public awareness.  ASA recognizes that a patient’s first line of defense starts with cultivators.  It’s simple: No cultivators, no medicine. As you probably know, our attorney, Jeff Lake successfully negotiated a Cultivation Ordinance in Yuba County that is considered “the most liberal in California.”  We are trying to persuade our Board of Supervisors to take a similar approach rather than continuing our lawsuit.  We should have a response soon. In the meantime, we will continue unabated with our efforts to replace the Ordinance.  Feb 5 we are holding a training on how to conduct our telephone survey.  We plan on reaching over 1,000 registered voters in Nevada Co to get their opinions on a wide range of cultivation related issues.  We will use this information to judge whether we have enough support to launch an initiative.  I think we do. I hate to nag, but we really have to raise some more money for our lawyer.  We’ve done a really good job to date, but the expenses keep mounting.  We really only have two choices:  Give up and go home or keep fighting. The people in Butte County fought back against their Ordinance and got their BOS to overturn their own Ordinance once enough signatures were collected to force a special election.  It would cost Nevada County approximately $250,000. to hold a special election so that’s a pretty big carrot.  The point is, if you don’t fight back, there is no way you can win.  

Dates to Remember

Feb 12:  Tues, 6:00-8:00pm 

• Grass Valley General Membership Meeting is at the Nevada County Contractors Assoc., 149 Crown Point Court, Grass Valley, CA.

Feb 15:  Friday, 12:00-1:00pm

• KVMR, The Cannabis Crusades, hosted by Patricia Smith and Gaynell Rogers,
• Guests:  Senator John Vasconcellos, author of SB420, and Len Richmond, Producer and Director of "What if Cannabis Cured Cancer"

Feb 15:  Friday 12:00 - 5:00pm Legal Fund Donation Day, please help keep our legal challenge alive!  Make at donation at one of the following locations:

• Sweetland Nursery
• Mother Truckers
• Briarpatch Co-op
• Hometown Hydroponics

Feb 17:  Sunday, 2:00-4:00pm Free Screening, “What if Cannabis Cured Cancer,” followed by a panel of patients that have treated their cancers with cannabis tinctures. Feb 24:  Sunday, 2:00-4:00pm

• NSJ General Membership Meeting is at the NSJ Senior Center, Hwy 49, NSJ

 Looking Forward

I feel a significant sea change in the political climate.  I’ve been made privy to some inside info that Washington State Governor Jay Inslee met with Eric Holder recently and informed the Attorney General that he intended to implement Initiative 502 that legalized marijuana for recreational use.  Reportedly Eric Holder did not discourage him. On another front, the Cato Institute, the holy grail think tank of conservatives, released a policy analysis that questioned the constitutionality of federal intrusion into states that have enacted marijuana laws - medical or otherwise.  It may be a coincidence that their change of heart parallels the attack on gun owner rights, but I’ll take the support no matter what brought them to the table.  This should help immensely if we have to launch an initiative drive. If you haven’t visited our website lately, please give it a look.  Our incomparable web guru at Chronic Websites has added lots of new content.  There is now a link to Raid Preparation, podcasts of the BOS meetings where they passed the Cultivation Ordinance, we will soon have links to my radio shows, and we have started an online directory of MMJ friendly businesses. Our VP, Don, suggested a swap shop page where you can list items for sale or items wanted.  Look for that to be up and running soon.

I’ll leave with this thought:

If people let government decide which foods they eat and medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." ~Thomas Jefferson