The Compassionate Coalition

Please remember to vote on this important Election Day, your voice matters! Whether or not medical marijuana is on your local ballot, you can still vote for candidates who will support our rights as patients. Check out these voter guides for more info:

DPA 2008 Congressional Voter Guide: http://drugpolicy.org/library/2008VoterGuide.cfm

Presidential Candidates: http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/viewresource.asp?resourceID=882

California Legislature: http://www.mpp.org/states/california/california-state-legislative.html

Michigan - Yes on Prop 1: http://stoparrestingpatients.org/

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News: California Supreme Court Denies Review of San Diego Medical Marijuana Case - Advocates prepared to pursue litigation against counties refusing to uphold state law

San Francisco, CA -- The California Supreme Court refused to review a landmark medical marijuana case today that will require all counties to implement the state identification program. The County of San Diego filed suit against the State of California in February 2006, arguing that state law was preempted by federal law. That argument was rejected by the San Diego Superior Court in December of 2006 and was also later denied by the Fourth District Court of Appeals on July 31, 2008. The lawsuit challenged the validity of the state identification card program, as well as the foundation of California's medical marijuana laws, but the decisions by both lower and appellate courts found that the ID card program and state law remained valid and does not violate the state constitution.

"The San Diego case is now final under California law," said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel of Americans for Safe Access, who argued before the appellate co­urt on behalf of patients. "The courts have made clear that federal law does not preempt state law relating to medical marijuana and that local officials must comply with California's medical marijuana laws." ... Full article: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=5597

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Sacramento County ID Card Hearing Postponed, Again: The Sacramento County Medical Marijuana ID Card program hearing scheduled for November 18 has now been postponed indefinitely. We've received notice that the delay has something to do with the "fee structure"; we'll let everyone know when the meeting is rescheduled.

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Patient Meetings:

Sacramento ASA Meeting: Moved to November 11: Please join Sac ASA to plan for the future of safe access locally, statewide, and nationally! 7:00 p.m. at Crusaders Hall, 320 Harris Avenue, Suite H, Sacramento, CA. For more information or to get involved, please contact Lanette: cannacare@earthlink.net

Colorado Chapter Meeting: November 17th: 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: November 18th: 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

AAMC Meeting: November 22: 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/

MAPP Meetings - Updated Schedule: 1) Palm Springs/Coachella Valley MAPP meeting: First Saturday of the month at 3 p.m. at Copykatz Showroom, 210 S. Palm Canyon in downtown Palm Springs 92262 at corner of S. Palm Canyon and Arenas. 2) Western Riverside and San Bernardino Counties MAPP meeting (includes cities like Riverside, Ontario, San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, Fontana and many others - total population - 3 million): First Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at THCF Medical Clinic, 647 Main Street, Riverside 92501. 3) High Desert MAPP meeting - Third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at the Castle Inn at 1388 N. Golden Slipper in Landers 92285. Contact MAPP Director
Lanny Swerdlow at (760) 799-2055, lannyswerdlow@earthlink.net or visit www.marijuananews.org

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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