DEA Gives Schwarzenegger Another Reason to Stand Up for Patients’ Rights
September 26th, 2007Posted by Rebecca Saltzman
Today, on my way into the office, I got a call alerting me that the DEA was raiding River City Patient Center, a medical cannabis dispensary in Sacramento. I was immediately outraged by the DEA’s continued harassment of patients and providers, but here at ASA, we’re used to putting these feelings aside and springing into action.
By the time I reached ASA’s headquarters, everyone was on the phone, calling media outlets and supporters to urge them to protest at the site of the raid. A text message had been sent out to ASA’s Sacramento raid emergency response text messaging group, emails had been sent to local listserves, and alerts had been posted on message boards.
Just a couple hours after the raid began, ASA’s Sacramento chapter leader informed us that 100 patients and advocates were protesting outside the dispensary with signs and flags. Several reporters had interviewed her and filmed the progress of the raid.
Their was some good news – it didn’t appear as if Sacramento’s police or sheriff’s department had been involved in the raid. The feds acted on their own. Also, we just found out that all the employees who had been detained were released. No arrests were made.
After two and a half years at ASA, raid response has become a routine part of my work life. Still, DEA actions continue to shake me up. I refuse to get used to them and instead, I use these times to reflect on the important work we’re doing and to reinvigorate my activist energy so that one day we will not need emergency responses.
If you’re a CA resident who’s also shaken up, here’s something easy you can do to make a difference – call the Governor as part of ASA’s Stand Up for Patients’ Rights campaign. Here’s the info:
Call the governor’s headquarters today to urge him to stand up for patients’ rights by calling on the Bush administration to end the DEA raids on state-sanctioned patients and providers.
The Governor’s Headquarters in Sacramento: 916-445-2841
Phone Script:
“Hello, my name is __Insert Your Name__ and I live in __Insert Your City__ in California. Thousands of California medical marijuana patients depend on safe access to medicine to treat the chronic and terminal disease symptoms. The federal government has taken serious actions to raid, arrest, and prosecute hundreds of patients and providers, publicly stating that they will not recognize the validity of our law. Today, the DEA raided another medical cannabis provider in Sacramento.
On Thursday, October 11, we are gathering at your office in Los Angeles, I urge you to join us on that day to stand up for patients’ rights. I also urge you to defend California’s laws and call on the Bush Administration to end the attack on patients and providers. Please let me know what you plan to do.”
Please let ASA know you’ve called the governor by e-mailing Sonnet@AmericansforSafeAccess.org.
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:02 am
Dear Governor;
How do you sleep at night while knowing that people are sick, suffering
and in prisons here in the LAND OF THE FREE? A victimless crime of
pot usage. This makes no sense whatsoever. There was a time when
it was illegaal NOT to grow HEMP. Hemp is one answer to a plethora of
problems. How is it that responsible minds think otherwise?
You of all people should feel shame and outrage.
You can do something instead of letting this continue.
Valerie Cole
Indianapolis, IN
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Very well put.
With the world going to hell in handbasket and so many citizens without health coverage I just don’t understand the government’s intent on keeping affordable and accessable medicine out of the hands of those who need it. As with most EVERYTHING in this administration so much waste.
October 5th, 2007 at 7:56 am
DEAR GOVERNER, THE STATE YOU ‘TAKE CARE OF’ HAS THE LARGEST GATHERING OF PEOPLE THAT COULD REALLY HELP OUT.I AM A M.S. FIGHTER,ALSO A MEDICINAL MARIJUANA USER.I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO WALK WITH OUT IT.OUR STATE IS LEGAL.WHAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT IN YOUR SPEECHES THERE’S ALOT OF’ WE TAKE CARE OF OUR PEOPLE’,WELL YOUR NOT IF YOUR DENY THEM THE HELP THIS PLANT ‘CAN’ DO.YOU HAVE THE STATS ON HOW AND WHY IT WORKS.WHY DON’T ANYONE LISTEN?THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME… LINDA MERCHANT
October 6th, 2007 at 7:58 am
Thank you for sharing!
October 8th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I side with these comments, I have a rare sleeping disorder, partial epilepsy, arthritis , and asthma. My family moved into the West in 1841. A possible solution to bring up to the Gov. A.S. is to help support a legitimate slice of legal arbitration by allowing the federal law to keep weed illegal for illegal use but decriminalize patients for the usage overall on the fed level. By over ruling the DEA laws to allow regulated and periodical measurements for tax purposes, & it helps the government get the facts straight. The law was federally made illegal b/c of racial discrimination against Mexicans and Blacks.
Back then Gov. La Guardia of NY made a legal study of the benefits and woes of such a medical claim. The study found no evidence to support the brash claims of “reefer madness”, but did support medical claims. The DEA at that time shut the book on anymore studies allowed b/c of his hatred towards this plant and people whom used it. Thus creating a wall of political barriers to ever allow medical studies to be allowed and refusing further professional studies by scientists and doctors. Which by the way seek the truth, the law does not, it supports the establishments ability to undermine and suppress the facts and moral and ethical treatments of our fellow man/woman Americans in the name of justice, or political agendas?!.. Sound familiar yet? Well Aaarnorld I hope you love California b/c your future depends on how the people of the West will notice your heart and common sense, if there’s any left…..
February 9th, 2009 at 7:35 am
I am of the firm belief that anyone that takes away God given medicine from a patient will suffer personal consequences with God.
I also believe irrespective of our religion or lack thereof, know this is true in ourselves: We want to know the truth and we wish to practice the truth in order to get happiness in life.
The constitution exhorts us to treat others in this union as equals under a well known God. And also lays out the foundation for acts that will bring us all happiness.
Whenever we see injustice we should feel that this injustice happened to us and our very own sacred person. This is our innate nature. It does bring sadness to see someone’s misfortune.
We have been negating this nature in us. Most of us can never know the happiness promised in the constitution, if we do not feel the “wrongness” of this extremist act by the DEA upon poor patients.
I also wish to bring to your attention that it does not matter if you are a, right thinking or a middle thinking or a centrist or a leftist or of the far right or the far left or any other orientation that I have not catalogued here, you still will agree such negative acts, by public servants that you pay and authorize to act, does’ enhance you or your life in any way. They acted in a way that could cause danger to patients that are already suffering, possibly dying, and hanging on to a thin thread of life that this wonderful plant can afford to give.
If any of you think you might never get cancer or suffer any of the multitude of diseases that modern medicine really really does not have a cure for, but you now know that this plant might keep you alive, know that if you do not condemn this act by the DEA now, you might never have this plant if you should fall sick and really really need it.
Weather you believe in a God or not, you have to agree that something with great potential energy caused this reality that we can behold with our senses. In fact if you have developed your senses to maturity you can see that you can behold that this reality is inside our body just as much as outside.
You must, if you respect yourself, also allow me to state that this great potential energy is alive in us. Displeasing this alive and thinking entity within us, will only make displeasure reside in us. Oddly enough none of us want displeasure to co-reside in us.
And truly enough this internal great potential energy is also displeased by negative and life destroying acts that it witnesses. This will also make displeasure reside in us.
The cure for such displeasure that rots away at our existence is to act. Act truthfully, boldly and as if you and your franchise have been destroyed and act to prevent more displeasure to this living and thinking great potential energy with and without all of us. . This great potential energy will change from displeasure and give you a glimpse of happiness, when you really condemn each and every public servant that displeased that entity inside of you by acting in a manner as to endanger a patient’s medicine and physically cause it to be taken away from the patient.
Many of us somehow have a negative connotation that empathizing with people that are less fortunate in life is somehow demeaning to us. This should change with the truth written above regarding Who actually gets displeased; therefore make us unhappy in turn, because you now know that this great potential energy is the God on your dollar bill.
Let us all get smart, reflect what this great potential energy, which most modern thinkers know as God wants for us. Let us condemn and negate any future action by the DEA against our own person and happiness.
Those that might not allow a God to intrude on your logic or belief system, should also know within your minds that such acts by the DEA against patients is not life sustaining and definitely not a happy event in itself.
Last time I checked there was no law against assembly on the internet. Also we all are free to have our own opinions and express it online. Let us make this negative act stick to the perpetrators by naming them and shaming them. Let us ensure that these arrogant and misbehaving officials’ children remember them with shame.
This internet is the supporter of equality, and it supports “disruptive” technologies to come into existence, negating old false concepts and even businesses that become extinct because no one needs them.
I would like someone here to research and post every name of each official that took part in this act against patients.
We should remember each of these errant public servants.
We should publish their misdeeds here in the internet. We should also opine and make our displeasure also known and recorded on the internet. This is our duty to future generations.
So don’t put off sending an e-mail to all of your representatives and state your displeasure.
Be specific and state that you have lost all confidence in your representative’s right thinking or right acting capabilities and the most importantly trust.
Future generations will read it and know who these representatives are that allowed and encouraged such acts against patients.