Prepare a Written Testimony in Support of HB642

On April 7, 2010 at 9 a.m. HB642 the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act will come before the Alabama House Judiciary Committee. HB642 would protect doctors who recommend and patients who use marijuana as medicine from arrest and prosecution under state law. This will be a public hearing where some of the patients who make up Alabamians for Compassionate Care will address the committee about their use of medical marijuana.

Due to a limited amount of time only 5 patients will be giving live testimony. However, since there are literally thousands of patients who use medical marijuana in Alabama and tens of thousands more who would benefit from medical marijuana, ACC is soliciting written testimonies from other medical marijuana patients, which will be presented to the members of the House Judiciary Committee.

If you would like to provide a written testimony about your use of medical marijuana please do so as soon as possible. All you need to do is tell your story in your own words. Please be sure to include your medical condition, how long you have had the medical condition, what medications you have been prescribed, whether or not those medications worked, any side effects you experienced, how much the medications cost, why you decided to try medical marijuana, how marijuana has worked for you, what dangers you face in trying to acquire it and why you think it should be legal for medical use.

Please email all written testimonies to me at lorettanall@gmail.com . Please include your contact information.

HB642 in committee Wed. April 7

HB642 in committee Wed. April 7

I just got word from Rep. Todd that HB642 the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act will come before the House judiciary committee on Wednesday, April 7, 2010. If you are planning to attend the committee hearing then be at the State House, located at 11 South Union Street in Montgomery, at 7:45 a.m. for the 8 a.m. press conference. At 9 a.m. we will proceed to room 123 (in the basement) for the committee hearing.

If you are one of the patients that's been asked to give testimony before the committee then I would prefer that you be in Montgomery on Tuesday evening to avoid any possible delays. ACC will cover your room, food, and travel expenses. If you can pitch in that would be great, too. Please send a personal email to lorettanall@gmail.com to find out where we will be staying. Due to budget constraints there will be multiple people per hotel room. Bring a sleeping bag in case you need it.

Please dress appropriately. ACC recommends that you don your Sunday best or business casual (slacks/skirt) attire. We will have t-shirts available, which can be worn over your clothes, if you so choose, for the press conference and committee meeting.
We will also have some signs available for the press conference.

If you have not already done so please contact the members of the Judiciary Committee and ask them to support this bill.

HB642 NOT in Committee March 31

Dear ACC Members,

I'm afraid I have some very discouraging news to share with all of you.

I mentioned at our meeting on Saturday that our bill HB642 was not listed on this week's judiciary calendar. I noted that one bill was listed twice and that our bill not being listed was possibly a mistake. Last night Rep. Todd told me that we didn't make the cut for this week's calendar. There is only one more committee meeting day left after Wednesday.

It is possible that the bill listed twice will be corrected and ours could be added. However, since I will not know for sure until Tuesday, I have canceled the hotel reservations I made for Tuesday so that I would not lose $600 or so I had spent to reserve rooms for everyone planning to make the trip on Tuesday.

DO NOT COME TO MONTGOMERY ON TUESDAY.

If anything changes and we get placed on this week's calendar we will post that information on our website, Facebook, Yahoo, and send it out to the email list. Please check the website, Facebook, Yahoo, or your email frequently between now and Tuesday evening.

Contact House Judiciary Committee on Medical Marijuana Today!

Next Wednesday, March 31, HB642 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act will come before the Alabama House Judiciary Committee. Today we need to start flooding the phone lines and inboxes of the judiciary committee members asking them to support this bill.

When you call you may or may not get the member on the phone. If you get the member on the phone introduce yourself. If you are a patient then tell them what your condition is, what medications you have taken, how they affected your quality of life, how marijuana helps your condition and the dangerous things you have to go through to get it. Tell them you shouldn't have to risk your family, property and freedom in order to treat your medical condition. Tell them that 14 other states and DC have medical marijuana laws, but, because you live in Alabama, you are treated as a criminal as opposed to a patient. Tell them that geographic location should never determine criminality and that patients in Alabama deserve the same level of protection as patients in the 14 states where medical marijuana has been passed. Ask them to please vote YES on HB642. Please write down what they say and send it to me.

If you get the main desk at the State House leave a message asking for the judiciary committee member to support HB642 and to please return your call.

Also, take a moment and send an email to the members listed below.


"Camjulward@aol.com" , (334) 242-7750

steve.mcmillan@alhouse.org, (334) 242-7723

spencer.collier@alhouse.org, (334) 242-7719

paul.demarco@alhouse.org, (334) 242-7740

charles.newton@alhouse.org, (334) 242-4460

marcel.black@alhouse.org, (334) 242-7667

Tammy.Irons@alhouse.org, (334) 353-9032

jamie.ison@alhouse.org, (334) 242-7711

laura.hall@alhouse.org, (334) 242-7688

chris.england@alhouse.org , (334) 242-7703

john.robinson@alhouse.org, (334) 242-7728

howard.sanderford@alhouse.org (334) 242-4368

HB642 in Committee March 31

HB642 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act will come before the Alabama House Judiciary Committee on March 31, 2010 at 9 a.m.

Members of Alabamians for Compassionate Care will hold a press conference on the steps of the Alabama State House that morning at 8 a.m. where we will be joined by our bill sponsor Rep. Patricia Todd to discuss the bill and hear from some of the patients whose lives are adversely affected by the lack of a medical marijuana law in Alabama.

Beginning on March 23rd we will begin calling and visiting with members of the House Judiciary committee to ask for their support of this bill. House Judiciary Committee contact information is HERE. Simply click the name and you will be taken to that member's page. I will be providing a sample script as time draws closer.

If you support medical marijuana in Alabama then BE THERE on March 31!!!!! We hope to pack out the committee room and have an overflow crowd. The more people who show up the more legislators realize this is a serious issue with a lot of support from all segments of Alabama society. If you need gas money to get there let us know. If you need a ride from your area of the state let us know so that we can try to arrange one for you. ACC members will be out front and easily identifiable by our ACC t-shirts.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us either by email or phone. Our contact information is HERE.

It's True: Marijuana Helps

ACC member and patient Sam Barksdale from Mobile had an excellent editorial published in today's Mobile Press Register.

It's True: Marijuana Helps

Go read it at the link and leave a comment on the Press Register site. Then, write a letter of your own in response to Sam's.

Many thanks to the Mobile Press Register for running Sam's letter on a Sunday, for giving it such a great title and, most importantly, for treating it as an OpEd as opposed to a general LTE.

Way to go Sam Barksdale!!!

HIGH TIMES EDITOR STEVE HAGER VS DEA AGENT IN MOBILE THURSDAY!!!

HIGH TIMES EDITOR STEVE HAGER VS DEA AGENT IN MOBILE THURSDAY!!!

This Thursday March 4, 2010 at 7:30 pm The University of South Alabama is sponsoring the annual face off between High Times Editor Steve Hager and DEA agent Robert Stutman. Mr. Hager and Mr. Stutman will debate the pros and cos of marijuana.

This event is called Heads vs. Feds.

Members of Alabamians for Compassionate Care, including yours truly, will be attending and disseminating information on the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act which is set to come before the Judiciary Committee the week of March 22.

More information about the event can be found HERE.

If you plan to attend and would like to help ACC hand out info or if you are in the central part of Alabama and need a ride down please contact me at lorettanall@gmail.com or Christie O'Brien at reederchristie@yahoo.com

--
Loretta Nall
Executive Director
Alabamians for Compassionate Care
251-650-2271
lorettanall@gmail.com

WE NEED PATIENTS' PICTURES

ATTENTION ACC PATIENTS: ACC is looking for patient pictures(ACC MEMBERS ONLY PLZ) to be used for a website banner and other marketing material associated with ACC. These pictures need to be serious..no smiles, no side poses, etc. FACE only PLZ. All pictures submitted should be in jpg format and no smaller than 640x480. All submissions should be given to us no later than Wednesday March 3rd. PLEASE EMAIL ALL SUBMISSIONS TO Penny Vaughan at luvlavndr@yahoo.com.

THANK YOU!

ACC Staff