Friday, January 27, 2012

LA Rapidly Moves Forward To Ban Dispensaries

LAPD testifies before LA City Council regarding dispensary ban.

To:  ALL Medical Cannabis Patients and Caregivers Who Are Members Of
Collectives Within Los Angeles City Limits

From:  Patient Advocacy Network

RE: Los Angeles City Council Rapidly Moves Forward To Ban Dispensaries –
Final Vote As Soon As Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Today the City Planning Commission voted to approve city staff
recommendations (city attorneys, planning department and council staff
[Huizar & Englander – present; Parks & Perry – not present]) to BAN
‘medical marijuana businesses’ in the City of Los Angeles.  The City
Attorney’s office is calling their new law a ‘gentle ban’ because it still
allows for the activities that they think State law intended but bans
storefront medical marijuana dispensaries.

The commission’s vote was transmitted to council today meaning that it
could appear on the next LA City Council agenda for a final vote as soon
as Tuesday, January 31, 2012.


WHO!   WHAT!   WHEN!   WHERE!   HOW!


Who:  ALL members of ALL collectives in LA city limits directly to the LA
City Council


What:   SAVE OUR COLLECTIVES
The LA City Council must hear your voice.  The same 10 – 30 faces have
appeared at City Hall advocating for safe, enforceable regulations for
LA’s dispensaries for the last 6 years.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

The only way your voice is counted on any issue in LA is to file a Speaker
Card at the beginning of any council, committee or commission meeting. 
When your name is called, you get 2 minutes to address the council.  When
medical marijuana is not on the agenda, you can speak about the topic
during ‘general public comment.’  When the topic is an agendized item, you
speak your 2 minutes when the item is called to the floor.


When:  This Friday, January 27, 2012, 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 10:30 a.m. (may be the day Council votes)
Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 10:30 a.m. (if it’s on this agenda instead)
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday is the council’s weekly meeting schedule


Where:  Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street (Downtown), Room
340 Public entrance is on the Main Street side of the building.  Have ID. 
You /your bag go through detection devices, like court.


How:  Never done this before?  Don’t know what to say?
You will state your name and then identify yourself as a constituent or
stakeholder in the city. “I work downtown,” “I live in the Valley,” etc. 
You then want to clearly voice your support or opposition to their
proposal.  “I oppose this ‘gentle ban,’ I support my dispensary,” etc. 
Make your story personal.  “I’m a cancer survivor, veteran… Medical
cannabis helps me…. My collective is so important to me because…. I rely
on more than one collective because….”  Remind them you support or oppose
the proposal and thank them for their time and consideration.   Write it
out, read it out loud, time yourself, edit, repeat.

BE PREPARED!  Prepare a 2-minute and 1-minute version of your comments. 
When a lot of people show up to speak, the council may choose to limit
your time to 1 minute.

Contact PAN if you have any questions.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Our Beloved richard kearns 1951 - 2012



i shoulda died
longtime ago so
everything troublewise
i conjur is pure
gravy
AIDSwise in dog years
(mad in the noonday)
that’s alotta sauce
even for me . . .
—rk
 

Richard Kearns, 60, of Los Angeles, long-time AIDS survivor, poet journalist and medical cannabis activist, passed peacefully, on January 12, 2012, with loved-ones at his side. 
Mr. Kearns, a native of Chicago, was born May 26, 1951.  He received his B.A. in Journalism from Roosevelt University in Chicago, IL, in 1972, and completed additional coursework at Michigan State University and Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.  Richard worked as a writer, reporter, editor and graphic designer for many publications such as Chicago Today, Gallery Magazine and the Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America.  He was also a consultant in professional desktop publishing and taught Journalism at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA.
A Nebula Award nominee and graduate of the  Clarion Writers’ Workshop, Richard Kearns published  numerous short stories including Grave Angels which placed in the 1987 Locus Poll Award for Best Novelette, nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Short Story Award and appears in Terry Carr’s Best Science Fiction and  Fantasy of the Year.  He was also a certified group exercise instructor, personal trainer and Qigong teacher. 
Richard was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1987 and considered himself a long-term survivor.  His political cultural activism and medical cannabis advocacy were as much a part of his AIDS treatment as was big pharma.  Mr. Kearns was the founder and publisher of aids-write.org and AIDSoverSIXTY.org, both journals on HIV/AIDS positive living, LBGT political & cultural activism, art, poetry, and social justice.  He served as a founding director of Patient Advocacy Network, a charitable organization advocating for safe medical cannabis laws and patients’ rights.  His full bio is available at http://aidsoversixty.wordpress.com/about-rk/.
Richard Kearns is survived by activists, poets, and social justice advocates around the world.  A Memorial Event, Poetry Reading & Celebration of the Life of Richard Kearns will be held on Saturday, February 11, 2012, 12 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. (rain or shine) at Kings Road Park at 1000 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069.  Attendees are asked to consider wearing red, Richard’s favorite color and, per Richard’s request, to participate in poetry reading and storytelling. 
Mr. Kearns requests memorial donations be made to The American Foundation for AIDS Research at http://www.amfar.org/donate/, Being Alive at http://www.beingalivela.org/ and Patient Advocacy Network at http://cannabissaveslives.org/. 
Special thanks to West Hollywood Councilmember Jeffrey Prang, the City of West Hollywood, Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, 29th Congressional District Candidate David Hernandez, Rev. Patrick Duff, Dr. Linda Bannister of Loyola Marymount University Department of English, Degé Coutee of Patient Advocacy Network, Tere Joyce of Hollywood Hemptress Hour, The Candy Factory of North Hollywood, Wellness Caregivers of Tarzana and La Brea Collective.