HB434 in Committee Tomorrow April 1

URGENT UPDATE:

All,

I just got word from our sponsor Rep. Patricia Todd that our bill HB434 has been carried over until next Wednesday, April 8 2009. Rep., Todd is sick and cannot make it to Montgomery to handle the bill.

DO NOT SHOW UP IN MONTGOMERY TOMORROW!

Please pass this along to everyone you know who was planning to be there.

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Just a reminder that HB434 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act will be heard in judiciary committee tomorrow, April 1 at 9 a.m.

If you plan to attend we will be meeting up on the steps of the State House at 8:15 a.m. The State House is located at 11 South Union St. in Montgomery and the judiciary committee meets in room 123. If there is any way possible that you can be there we would love to have you.

If you can't be there please take a moment today to call the following members of the judiciary committee and ask them to vote yes on HB434 tomorrow. Currently these members plan to vote NO and they really need to hear from a huge number of people today about this bill. 76% of Alabamians support medical marijuana and their NO vote indicates a complete disregard for the will of the people. Please take a moment and give them a call.

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

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

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

Yusuf Salaam - 334-242-7746

Steve McMillan - 334-242-7723 steve.mcmillan@alhouse.org

Howard Sanderford - 334-242-4368 howard.sanderford@alhouse.org

I hope to see you at the State House tomorrow.

Who is Your Rep. and Head Count for March 3 Action Day

Hi All,

Just wanted to give everyone an update on where we are with the Compassionate Care Act HB434. For the last couple of weeks I have been surveying the judiciary committee to get a vote count on this bill. About half of them have gotten back to me. There are still 6 that have not returned my phone calls or emails so it is time to switch strategy. Here are the six members that have not returned calls or emails regarding their stance on the Compassionate Care Act

Tammy Irons (Lauderdale County)
Jamie Ison (Mobile District 101)
Marc Keahey (Choctaw, Clarke & Washington Counties)
Charles Newton (Butler, Conecuh and Crenshaw counties)
John Robinson (Jackson County)
Howard Sanderford (Madison County)

If any of you live in these counties and this is your rep please let me know at once. If you are not sure if any of these people are your reps go here and look them up by zip code.
http://www.legislature.state.al.us/house/house.html

Also, if you are in Selma I need you to go and talk to Rep. Yusuf Salaam who is convinced that allowing cancer patients to use marijuana will ensure that they will move on to heroin and home invasions. If you live in Mobile and Steve McMillan is your rep then I need you to go and talk to him. He and Rep. Salaam are currently NO votes on the committee.

If none of the people represent you then think of who you know in their districts who would be supportive of the medical marijuana issue and willing to pay their elected official a visit. We have to have a comprehensive vote count before we drop this bill in committee. We currently have 5 yes votes and we only need three more to know we can get it out of committee.

On March 3 we are having our Action Day at the State House. I need to know ASAP who all plans to be there so we can work out the logistics and for food purposes. Please email me back today and let me know if you plan to attend the action day on March 3 and how many people you are bringing with you (as many as you can fit in your cars I hope). THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!

Loretta Nall

Making the Case for Medical Marijuana

Many, many thanks Courtney!

By: Courtney Haden Birmingham Weekly

MAKING THE CASE FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

As the planning session broke up in elegant old Prince Hall downtown, the former gubernatorial candidate strode over and asked a visitor, "So, do you think we're batshit crazy?"

All Loretta Nall and the Alabamians for Compassionate Care want to do is persuade our monumentally intractable legislature, on the cusp of an election year, to disregard 70 years of social taboos and a federal pharmaceutical jihad to ordain that the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes shall be legal throughout the state.

Of course they're crazy. But folks like Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. used to be called that, too.

For many, the phrase "medical marijuana" conjures up visions of tie-dyed zonkers malingering their way through bales of government ganja. ( In terms of image, Nall says, "Cheech and Chong have not necessarily been our friends." )

The people at Prince Hall Saturday afternoon looked neither hippie nor dippy. For them, medical marijuana is a crucial factor in improving the quality of life for chronically ill people, and they couldn't be more serious about changing the law.

Our modern hysteria over the use of marijuana would have bemused our ancestors. The Chinese employed it 4,000 years ago as an anesthetic, in ancient India, doctors prescribed it to mothers in labor and the Egyptians of long-ago dynasties even used it in suppositories for hemorrhoids. Here in America, many of the Founding Fathers grew hemp on their plantations, and marijuana was widely used as a pain reliever in an age before the invention of aspirin.

READ THE REST

HB434 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act

HOORAY!!! We have a bill number for the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act.

HB434 is sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd (she's awesome!) and named in honor of the young man in the picture below. You can read Michael's story here



Right now our next step is to get this bill out of committee. Thank you all so much for all of the calls you have already made. The Judiciary committee hears us loud and clear and for right now we do not need to make any more calls to the committee. We expect this bill to be in committee either this coming Wednesday or the next Wednesday. That could change and of course as soon as I know exactly when I will let all of you know.

Please DO call your own member of the House in Montgomery and ask them to support HB434 when it comes to the house floor for a vote. This is especially important if your member of the house is also on the rules committee as I understand that is where it will go after it passes out of judiciary. It has to go through the rules committee before it can go before the entire house for a vote.

If you don't know who your elected official is in Montgomery go here (for the House) and look them up by zip code.
Go here for Senate

Medical Marijuana Bill Moving Fast

All,

I got word yesterday that we can expect our bill to be in the que tomorrow (Thursday) and that we may have it in judiciary committee by next Wednesday. This is moving a lot faster than I had anticipated, which is good. What we are trying to do at this point is have it passed out of committee on a voice vote and save patient testimony for when it goes to the house floor for a full debate. However, if this bill comes up in committee next Wednesday I want each and every one of you packing out the committee room at the state house. I will order our STOP ARRESTING PATIENTS shirts today so that we will send our message loud and clear without saying a word.

Today Christie O'Brien and I will be contacting members of the judiciary committee and figuring out if we have the votes to pass this. I would also like for each and every one of you (starting Thursday) to contact them as well and ask them to support the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act when it goes to committee. Phone calls are best and the sooner you make them the better. We do not have a bill number yet but we will hopefully have one by tomorrow. If any of you need a phone skit let me know and I will send you one.

Here are the members of the judiciary committee and their contact info with notations about who needs to be called and who doesn't.

Here are the members of the judiciary committee and their contact info with notations about who needs to be called and who doesn't.

Marcel Black (do not need to call. Marcel doesn't get a vote as chair of the committee)
Room 516-F
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7667

Spencer Collier (Burn his phone up)
Room 540-D
11 South Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7719

Paul DeMarco (Burn his phone up)
Room 537-F
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7740

Priscilla Dunn (supporter no need to call)
Room 540-B
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7702

Chris England (Burn his phone up)
Room 539-B
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7703

Laura Hall (former sponsor and supporter no need to call)
Room 518
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7688

Tammy Irons (Burn her phone up)
Room 526-B
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL. 36130
(334) 353-9032

Jamie Ison (Burn her phone up)
Room 527-B
11 South Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7711

Marc Keahey (Burn his phone up)
Room 630-A
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7748

Steve McMillan (Burn his phone up)
Room 532
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7723

Charles Newton (Burn his phone up)
Room 541-E
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-4460

John Robinson (Burn his phone up)
Room 534-D
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7728

Yusuf Salaam (Burn his phone up)
Room 539-E
11 South Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7746

Howard Sanderford (Burn his phone up)
Room 528-B
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-4368

Cam Ward (No need to call he is a supporter)
Room 625-C
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7750

BREAKING NEWS: State Law TRUMPS Fed Law on Medical Marijuana

US Supreme Court Rules State Medical Marijuana Laws Not Preempted by Federal Law

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*PRESS RELEASE
Americans for Safe Access
For Immediate Release: *December 1, 2008

*U.S. Supreme Court: State Medical Marijuana Laws Not Preempted by Federal
Law */medical marijuana case appealed by the City of Garden Grove was denied
review today/

*Washington, DC* -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a landmark
decision today in which California state courts found that its medical
marijuana law was not preempted by federal law. The state appellate court
decision from November 28, 2007, ruled that "it is not the job of the local
police to enforce the federal drug laws." The case, involving Felix Kha, a
medical marijuana patient from Garden Grove, was the result of a wrongful
seizure of medical marijuana by local police in June 2005.
Medical marijuana advocates hailed today's decision as a huge victory in
clarifying law enforcement's obligation to uphold state law. Advocates
assert that better adherence to state medical marijuana laws by local police
will result in fewer needless arrests and seizures. In turn, this will allow
for better implementation of medical marijuana laws not only in California,
but in all states that have adopted such laws.

"It's now settled that state law enforcement officers cannot arrest medical
marijuana patients or seize their medicine simply because they prefer the
contrary federal law," said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel with Americans for
Safe Access (ASA), the medical marijuana advocacy organization that
represented the defendant Felix Kha in a case that the City of Garden Grove
appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. "Perhaps, in the future local government
will think twice about expending significant time and resources to defy a
law that is overwhelmingly supported by the people of our state."

California medical marijuana patient Felix Kha was pulled over by the Garden
Grove Police Department and cited for possession of marijuana, despite Kha
showing the officers proper documentation. The charge against Kha was
subsequently dismissed, with the Superior Court of Orange County issuing an
order to return Kha's wrongfully seized 8 grams of medical marijuana. The
police, backed by the City of Garden Grove, refused to return Kha's medicine
and the city appealed. Before the 41-page decision was issued a year ago by
California's Fourth District Court of Appeal, the California Attorney
General filed a "friend of the court" brief on behalf of Kha's right to
possess his medicine. The California Supreme Court then denied review in
March.

"The source of local law enforcement's resistance to upholding state law is
an outdated, harmful federal policy with regard to medical marijuana," said
ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes. "This should send a message to the federal
government that it's time to establish a compassionate policy more
consistent with the 13 states that have adopted medical marijuana laws."

Further information:
Today's U.S. Supreme Court Order denying review:
http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/Kha_USSC.pdf
Decision by the California Fourth Appellate District Court:
http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/GardenGroveDecision.pdf
Felix Kha's return of property case:
http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/article.php?id=4412