cannabisnews.com: Thousands To March On Sacramento Monday To Protest Thousands To March On Sacramento Monday To Protest Posted by CN Staff on September 20, 2002 at 08:59:34 PT September 20, 2002 - Washington, DC, USA Source: NORML Thousands of states' rights supporters and medical marijuana activists will descend upon Sacramento, California this Monday, September 23, to show their opposition to the federal government's prosecution of medical pot patients and providers. Sacramento's protest is scheduled to take place at noon on the south steps of the state Capitol. Monday's action is in response to the federal government's recent crackdown on California patients and medical marijuana providers. Since last September 11, federal drug enforcement officials have taken actions against more than 35 California medical marijuana patients, growers and cooperatives - including raiding a pair of northern California dispensaries this month. Under state law, the possession, use and cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes is legal in California.In recent weeks, California Governor Gray Davis, Attorney General Bill Lockyer and several California Congressmen have called on the federal government to stop targeting seriously ill Californians. Last week, Lockyer sent a letter to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) head Asa Hutchinson and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft "questioning the ethical basis" for the DEA's actions."We are shocked that the DEA would make medical marijuana its top priority while the ... country is at a high state of alert," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), which is overseeing Monday's protests and coordinating free charter bus services to Sacramento for California activists. Other reform groups participating in the "Medical Cannabis Freedom Day" events include NORML, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, MPP, and The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA).Organizers are demanding California politicians back a resolution supporting the state's medical marijuana law and calling on the federal government to stop targeting medi-pot users and their providers. Organizers are also demanding a federal pardon for Bryan Epis, a northern Californian medical marijuana provider facing ten years in federal prison for marijuana cultivation. Because Epis' prosecution was in federal court, he was unable to raise any arguments pertaining to the medical use of marijuana or California state law.Washington DC activists will hold a candlelight vigil for Epis and other drug war victims Sunday night in Lafayette Park, followed by a noon protest at the north side of the White House. Note: "Medical Cannabis Freedom Day" Expected To Draw Record Crowds.Complete Title: Thousands To March On Sacramento Monday To Protest Feds' Attacks On California Medical Marijuana Patients!For more information on Monday's demonstrations, please visit the Americans for Safe Access (ASA) website at: http://www.safeaccessnow.org Free bus reservations to and from the Sacramento demonstrations may be made online at the ASA website. A summary of federal medical marijuana cases in California since September 11 is available online at: http://www.canorml.org/news/fedmmjcases.htmlSource: NORMLPublished: September 20, 2002 Contact: keith norml.orgWebsite: http://www.norml.org/Archives: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3442Related Articles & Web Sites:SSDP: http://www.ssdp.org/NORML: http://www.norml.org/Marijuana Policy Project: http://www.mpp.org/Drug Policy Alliance: http://www.drugpolicy.org/Medical Marijuana Archives: http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by Jose Melendez on September 21, 2002 at 06:02:53 PT FoM Re: Comment#2OK. Sorry about that. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on September 20, 2002 at 17:19:42 PT More Important Information from NORML Marijuana Reform Party Candidates To Appear On New York State Ballot September 20, 2002 - New York City, NY, USANew York City, NY: The Marijuana Reform Party (MRP) candidates for governor and lieutenant governor will appear on the New York state ballot this November, according to MRP spokesman and gubernatorial candidate Tom Leighton. The MRP anticipates receiving formal certification by the State Board of Elections later this month. To date, the MRP has received over 150,000 votes for candidates in New York in three separate elections. This year, MRP candidates are hoping to receive 50,000 votes to obtain official political party status. "We can poll less than one percent of all voters and still get the 50,000 votes we need to win a ballot line for the next four years," MRP Lieutenant Governor candidate Thomas Hillgardner said. The MRP advocates for the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, among other drug law reforms. For more information on the Marijuana Reform Party, please visit: http://www.marijuanareform.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by VitaminT on September 20, 2002 at 15:05:07 PT TecHnoCult That's the trouble w/ Houston, You could put NY, SF, Chi-town and Atl inside it and you wouldn't even need a shoe horn. You have to drive forever just to get to the burbs. It's crazy! I'm glad I work close in!If you can make it to the vigil Sunday evening maybe we'll meet up. Looks like it'll be a pretty large deal but I don't want to get my hopes up too high, I'd rather enjoy it as it comes.Hope I see you there. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 20, 2002 at 14:52:27 PT karkulus Nice to know I'm not the only one that worries about that. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by TecHnoCult on September 20, 2002 at 14:46:53 PT VitaminT I need to work where you do! I live in H-Town myself. Unfortunately, I work a pretty good distance from downtown. Hard for me to get there for lunch.THC [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by karkulus on September 20, 2002 at 13:47:03 PT Let's Hope Dubya.. Doesn't Make with some more phoney "Terrorist alert/Iraqi war" balony to bury this In the news like so many times before .. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by VitaminT on September 20, 2002 at 11:45:05 PT also . . . . The security staff at the Fed. bldg. have been quite neighborly to us and I guess welcome a little excitment in their otherwise boring day.BTW we also have a candlelight vigil scheduled for Sunday night! My kids will love that! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by VitaminT on September 20, 2002 at 11:39:35 PT I work DdC Our protest and news conference is scheduled from noon to 1:00 pm om Monday which in Houston is a pretty good time at the Federal building. There are lots of workers going to and from lunch and thousands of cars passing and stopping at the traffic lights - a great opportunity to communicate w/ them if you're willing to SPEAK UP. I just tell my boss I'll be 30 minutes late getting back from lunch because I've got something important to do and it's no problem for him. He knows I'll make the time up on the weekend if needed. I am "out" to everyone at my office and they all support DPReform as most intelligent people do so it's a frequent topic of conversation around the office. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on September 20, 2002 at 11:00:00 PT DdC That's a good question. Why I think a weekday is better then a weekend is because there is possibly a better chance at getting CNN or another big news channel there. They also don't have anyone working so it wouldn't be as effective I think. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by DdC on September 20, 2002 at 10:52:19 PT Why on a weekday? Doesn't anyone work? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 20, 2002 at 10:29:30 PT Jose I need to ask a big favor. Please don't post articles. I'll get them if I can. Post a link to an article. That won't cause problems but the html is. I appreciate your help. Thank You. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment