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:
(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:
For more information contact:
(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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