Patient Advocates Succeed In Getting Action From House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

Last week PAN and our sister organization Axis of Love SF co-sponsored the event to deliver thousands of signatures to Representative Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco office.  The Patient Advocacy Committee of the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Task Force and the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club coordinated the signature drive. 

As a result of the effort, Rep. Pelosi issued a statement on her Congressional website “in response to recent federal government actions threatening safe access to medicinal marijuana.”

Many thanks to everyone who got involved. 

Full statement here:  http://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/2012/05/pelosi-statement-on-recent-federal-government-actions-threatening-safe-access-to-medicinal-marijuana.shtml

Below is the press release following the event:

For Immediate Release

For more information contact: 

Emergencymmjinsf@gmail.com

(415) 240-5247

San Francisco Medical Cannabis Patients Convince Congressional Representative Nancy Pelosi to Reaffirm Support for Medical Cannabis

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, May 7, 2012. On May 2, 2012, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi released a statement in reaction to a petition signed by thousands of San Francisco voters in support of medical cannabis patient rights. http://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/2012/05/pelosi-statement-on-recent-federal-government-actions-threatening-safe-access-to-medicinal-marijuana.shtml

 “Representative Pelosi’s statement empowers the local patients’ social justice movement.,” said Shona Gochenaur, chair of the Patient Advocacy Committee of the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Task  Force, the committee responsible for circulating and delivering the petition to Rep. Pelosi’s San Francisco office.  “[Pelosi] made no bones that the Department of Justice is using resources to circumvent state law and that healthcare is a civil right,” added Gochenaur.

The bold petition asked the Congressional Representative to defend medical cannabis dispensaries, to advise President Obama about the federal crackdown, to call for an investigation into the legality of the dispensary closures, and to facilitate setting up an emergency medical cannabis distribution system.

The effort was the strategic work of the Patient Advocacy Committee of the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Task Force and was co-sponsored by the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club.  Several patients’ rights groups supported the rally, including San Francisco patients unions, Axis of Love SF, Hope.Net Patients Group, and Black and Brown Just Cannabis Policy. Patients’ rights leaders, Elise Cleveland, Gregory Leddbetter and Andrea Allen presented the thousands of voter signatures to the Representative’s office.

“We felt that Representative Pelosi would stay true to her commitments to patient rights and carry that message in a swift manner to the national level,” said Gochenaur.  

Link to video of the action: http://youtu.be/oG3B7EFJLBs

*** Some accurate news articles:

http://reason.com/blog/2012/05/03/nancy-pelosi-defends-medical-marijuana-d

http://www.kushmagazine.com/news/2845-success-nancy-pelosi-condemns-federal-crackdown-on-marijuana-in-california

 http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/05/nancy_pelosi_obama_medical_marijuana.php

http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/Pelosi-Questions-Obama-Marijuana-Policy-150300535.html

For more information contact: 

Emergencymmjinsf@gmail.com

(415) 240-5247

Link to petition:  http://www.change.org/petitions/representative-nancy-pelosi-oppose-the-raids-against-medical-cannabis-facilities 

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Patients Petition Representative Pelosi

U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi

 
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For Immediate Release

For more information contact:

Emergencymmjinsf@gmail.com

(415) 240-5247 

San Francisco Medical Cannabis Patients Petition Congressional Representative Nancy Pelosi

Advocates Deliver Thousands Of Signatures To San Francisco Federal Building At 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 2, 2012, Urging The Halt Of Federal Crackdown

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – May 1, 2012. The Patient Advocacy Committee of the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Task Force has gathered thousands of signatures from San Francisco voters urging Congressional Representative Nancy Pelosi help end the federal assault on medical cannabis cooperatives. Patient advocates will deliver several thousand signatures to the Congressional Representative’s office at the San Francisco Federal Building, 90 7^th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 2, 2012, in response to the recent closures of regulated medical cannabis collectives and the five additional collectives slated to close their doors mid-May due to federal action. 

“Thousand of Pelosi’s constituents are being affected by this federal attack including our veterans and HIV/AIDS patients and many others.  She has the authority to help stop this assault on the patients and the will of the voters and these signatures are urging her to do so,” states Shona Gochenaur, member of the Patient Advocacy Committee of the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Task Force, a committee largely made up of low-income and disabled medical cannabis patients.

San Francisco Board of Supervisor David Campos has voiced concern for the civil rights and safety of the city’s disabled patients. “San Francisco has a regulatory system with neighborhood input and government oversight. It is misguided and wrong that US Attorney Melinda Haag would choose to target a well-implemented system and force disabled patients into a criminal arena for legal medicine.”

The San Francisco Health Department, which oversees the city’s medical cannabis program, is on public record stating that “no complaints” have been filed from the host neighborhoods of established and city permitted medical cannabis collectives. However, US Attorney Melinda Haag continues to seek closures of collectives based on “neighborhood complaints.”

“I’ve worked hard to improve our neighborhood,” states Cathy Smith, founder of Hope.Net, a city permitted medical cannabis collective whose landlord is threatened with asset forfeiture by US Attorneys.   “I don’t want to be punished for making it safe for children to walk down our streets.”

A recently passed San Francisco Democratic Party resolution, spearheaded by Gabriel Haaland, protects medical cannabis patients by calling on ALL Democratic leadership, including President Obama, Representative Pelosi, and Attorney General Eric Holder to protect safe access and not circumvent California State law with the US Department of Justice resources. http://www.scribd.com/doc/91783023/Resolution-of-the-San-Francisco-Democratic-Party  

The Harvey Milk LBGT Democratic Club also voted unanimously to co-sponsor the patient advocates’ petition to Representative Pelosi.  “The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club calls on representative Pelosi and all elected officials to protect our medical cannabis clubs and ensure access to medical cannabis for marginalized, low income patients and demand a stop to the harassment by federal agents,” states Glenn Hyde, President of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club. 

Patient Advocacy Network supports the petition states Degé Coutee, president of the charitable civil rights education and medical cannabis patient advocacy organization based in Los Angeles.  “If US Attorneys aren’t stopped IN San Francisco, they aren’t going to stop WITH San Francisco.  Representative Pelosi is in such a strong position to help alter the direction of this issue locally and nationally.”

Sponsors:  The Patient Advocacy Committee of the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Task Force and The Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club

Co-sponsors: Axis of Love SF, Patient Advocacy Network

For more information contact:

Emergencymmjinsf@gmail.com

(415) 240-5247 

Link to petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/representative-nancy-pelosi-oppose-the-raids-against-medical-cannabis-facilities

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