The Compassionate Coalition

Monday, August 25th - Vallejo - Galen and Laura Lawton Trial Begins: After four years, Solano County's Galen and Laura Lawton are scheduled to come to trial in State Court on August 25th. Lawton, a former star-football player and coach, and long time medical cannabis activist, was raided in 2004. His house was ransacked by local police, his garden destroyed, and he and his wife were forced to spend Christmas that year in jail. Lawton is CFO and Board Member for The Compassionate Coalition, serves as President of the Solano chapter, and was former owner of the Everything Green dispensing collective.

This may be the first trial in state court since the SB420 limits were struck down as unconstitutional by People v. Kelly, which may make the case extremely interesting. The limits are often used as a primary arguments to convict in state courts. Tony Serra and Omar Figueroa will be the trial attorneys for the defense, so it will not be short on entertainment. Please show your support on Monday August 25th, 8:30am, Dept. 12 (Judge Carter) 321 Tuolumne Street Vallejo, CA.

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Tuesday, August 26th - Rev. Eddy Lepp Court Support in SF: Please support medical cannabis grower and ordained minister Rev. Eddy Lepp in court next week. Rev. Lepp is facing federal charges for running the world's biggest medical grow operation in Lake County, and providing medicine to patients throughout California. He has been denied any medical defense due to Federal laws, and was recently denied a religoius defense as well, so he has no defense other than hoping for jury nullification from conscientious jurors. Aug 26th, 8:30am, Jude Patel, 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, California. Visit Rev. Lepp's MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/thereveddylepp

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September 3rd: Sentencing for the Defendents of Compassion Medicinal Edibles: Tainted Compassion Sentencing Postponed to September 3rd. Please Support!

Hello all, Just an update that our sentencing has been moved to September 3rd and we would love to see everyone out in a show of support to send a clear message that our community disapproves of the resources and time being wasted on prosecuting and jailing medical cannabis patients and providers here in California. Save the date and please make it if you are available.

Myself and jessica Sanders will both be sentenced. For those who are not familiar, we are a medical cannabis edible producer that was violently raided in September of 2007 for providing clean and safe non-smoked forms of medicinal cannabis to patients throughout the state. Jessica's story is particularly troubling, as she is a lower-level employee that has been hit with a felony for simply taking an order over the phone. Her dog was shot twice in the process and she has lost her funding for extended education to boot. She needs your support.

We ask graciously that members of the community please join us in using this opportunity to raise awareness for medical cannabis and protest the unnecessary attacks we continue to see on our community. The information is as follows: What: Sentencing for the Defendents of Compassion Medicinal Edibles; When: September 3, 2008 @ 2:30 p.m. Where: 1301 Clay St., Oakland, CA; The Honorable Judge Wilken's Courtroom; Why: Because we need your support greatly. Kind Regards, Mickey Martin - Tainted Compassion Director - 510-377-1990 - http://www.freetainted.com/ - freetainted@yahoo.com

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Medical Marijuana Employment Rights Bill Passes Both California Houses; Awaits Governor's Signature

Report from NORML -Sacramento, CA: A medical marijuana employment rights bill, AB 2279, which would protect hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana patients in California from employment discrimination, passed the State Senate on August 20. The proposal had passed the State Assembly in May, and now heads to the Governor's desk for his signature or veto.

Introduced in February by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and co-authored by Assembly members Patty Berg (D-Eureka), Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego), this proposal is designed to reverse a January 24th decision of the California Supreme Court in the case of Ross v. RagingWire, in which the court held that an employer may fire someone solely because they use medical marijuana outside the workplace.

The bill leaves intact existing state law prohibiting medical marijuana consumption at the workplace or during working hours and protects employers by carving out an exception for safety-sensitive positions.

"AB 2279 is not about being under the influence while at work. That's against the law, and will remain so," said Assemblyman Leno. "It's about allowing patients who are able to work safely and who use their doctor-recommended medication in the privacy of their own home, not to be arbitrarily fired from their jobs. The voters who supported Proposition 215 did not intend for medical marijuana patients to be forced into unemployment in order to benefit from their medicine."

If enacted, California would become the first of the 12 states that currently recognize the medical use of marijuana to protect authorized medical use patients from being fired based solely on a positive THC test.

California NORML director Dale Gieringer had this to say about the measure. "The legislature was right to approve banning employment discrimination of medical marijuana patients. Marijuana is safer than many prescription drugs that workers are allowed to use, and urine testing has never been FDA tested as either safe or effective in improving workplace safety and productivity."

The governor has not indicated his intentions regarding the measure.

For more information, please contact California NORML director Dale Gieringer or call 415-563-5858

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California Attorney General Jerry Brown Privately Circulating Draft Medical Marijuana Guidelines; May Have Negative Impact on Dispensaries

Report from NORML -Sacramento, CA: According to recent media reports, Attorney General Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown is currently privately circulating to top state and law enforcement officials the "final draft" of his long-awaited rules for ensuring "the security and non-diversion of marijuana grown for medical use." These, when finalized, will be the first definitive guidelines provided by the state of California in the decade plus since Prop. 215 was approved by the voters.

According to the attorney general, these guidelines are intended to accomplish three objectives: to avoid diversion of marijuana grown for authorized patients; to help law enforcement understand and apply the law consistently throughout the state; and to "help patients and caregivers …cultivate, transport, possess, and use marijuana under California law."

Brown, who earlier announced his intension to appeal the recent Kelly decision (People v. Kelly), holding SB 420, the act passed by the legislature that placed limits on the amount of medical marijuana a patient could legally possess, to be an unconstitutional infringement on the power of voters to adopt state policy via initiative. Brown has consistently indicated his opposition to private dispensaries, and his draft guidelines reportedly reflect that position, and may present a new challenge to dispensaries.

Brown's draft guidelines reportedly have this to say about dispensaries: "Although medical marijuana 'dispensaries' have been operating in California for years, dispensaries, as such, are not recognized under the law." Individuals who operate dispensary establishments "that do substantially comply with [the] guidelines… may be subject to arrest and prosecution under California law."

For patients who may possess more than the authorized amount, the guidelines also reportedly present a problem. "If a person has what appears to be valid medical marijuana documentation, but exceeds the applicable possession guidelines identified above, all marijuana may be seized. "

On the positive side, patients would reportedly be entitled to the return of their authorized medical marijuana from law enforcement, once their authorization was verified, and state officers would be protected from liability for following this guideline.

For more information, contact NORML Legal Counsel Keith Stroup or California NORML director Dale Gieringer or call 415-563-5858.

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Sept 14: Sacramento AIDS Walk: We have a table reserved for the Sacramento AIDS walk, and need your help! Please come on down and walk/run with the Medical Marijuana Support Team. When you sign up you will be asked if you are part of a team, YES you are!! We look forward to seeing all of you there! Flyer:

AIDS Walk: http://www.sacvalleyaidsrunwalk.org/

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Patient Meetings:

AAMC Meeting: August 23: The El Dorado County American Alliance for Medical Cannabis meets on the fourth Saturday of each month from 2:15pm until 4:20pm, at the Garden Valley Grange, 4940 Marshall Road, Garden Valley, California. For more information visit: http://www.eldoradocountyaamc.com/

Colorado Chapter Meeting: September 15th: The CO. North Denver Medical Marijuana Discussion is every 3rd Monday, at the Front Range Community College LIBRARY, 3705 W 112th Ave Westminster, CO80031-2140, Room L211, from 7pm to 9pm. For more information contact Tim Tipton at (303) 438-7221 or email him at TTipper39@hotmail.com or join the Meetup: http://medmarijuana.meetup.com/119/

Next National Compassionate Coalition Meeting: September 16th: Supporters from Sacramento and beyond are invited to join us to discuss our plans for defending patients’ rights. Agenda items will include: Outreach, responding to DEA raids and seizures, educating public officials, court support, business items, and more. The group meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00PM at Crusader Hall, 320 Harris Avenue, Suite H, Sacramento, CA. For more information contact info@CompassionateCoalition.org or (916) 709-2483

Check out the Oaksterdam News "Cannabis Freedom" calendar for other meetings and events: http://www.oaksterdamnews.com/WebCalendar3/month.php

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Other News Updates:

More News Updates from Americans for Safe Access: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/punbb/

More News Updates from NORML: http://norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=daily_news

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Sacramento Text-Message Alert System: Want to get a text-message on your cell phone when a local raid is happening? -Then join the Sacramento Emergency Response Text-Message list! We're looking for patients and supporters to sign up for this service and show up to protest when a raid happens. Please help defend our local dispensaries and patients from DEA persecution. Sign up here: http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/erlist

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The Compassionate Coalition is an all-volunteer, non-profit, educational organization. We work to defend the rights of medical marijuana patients and care providers, and your support enables our work to continue. Please consider making a donation today: http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/donate

Thank you for helping to defend patients' rights!

Nathan Sands
Vice President, The Compassionate Coalition
1500 Oliver Road, Ste-K, P.M.B. #248 Fairfield, CA 94533
www.CompassionateCoalition.org
Email: nathan@CompassionateCoalition.org
Phone: (916) 709-2483

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