Stop the Ban: Los Angeles – “Call In/Drop In”

Take Action Now: Use ASA's Online Action Center to send a fax to each member of the LA City Council right now.

Some members of the Los Angeles City Council want to ban medical cannabis patients’ cooperatives and collectives, and Americans for Safe Access (ASA) needs your help to stop them. We have already generated more than 25,000 emails from our online action alert. Now it is time to call and visit City Council Offices and tell them to reject the proposed ban on safe access. They need to hear from residents of their Districts who oppose a ban right away.

1. Locate your City Council Representative using the “Neighborhood Resources” tool on the city’s web site   You can also call 411 from inside Los Angeles.

2. Find your Representatives contact information on the city’s web site or on the directory provided by ASA.

3. Call your Representative’s downtown office to ask him or her to oppose the ban on patients’ cooperatives and collectives. Use the Talking Points at the bottom of this page to help frame your comments.

4. Then locate the office closest to you, and drop in for a visit to tell them in person. You can ask to speak with a staff person about the issue at the front desk. Don’t be intimidated by going in to a City Hall or neighborhood office. Citizens do it all the time. Use the Talking Points on the back of this page to help frame your comments, and download a copy of this letter to leave with the staff.

5. Use ASA’s free Online Advocates Training Center for tips on talking with elected officials and their staff. Always be polite and professional!

This is a great way to turn up the volume at this crucial moment. After years of promises, the City Council may now reverse course and move to ban safe access outright. Make sure they hear your voice before they vote. Make that call and drop in for a visit right away.

SAMPLE TALKING POINTS:

Patients in Los Angeles rely on legally organized and operated medical cannabis cooperatives and collectives for access to the medicine they need to treat the symptoms cancer, HIV/AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, chronic pain, and other serious conditions. Closing theses facilities will leave legal patients without safe access, or subject them to the dangerous of the illicit market.

Research conducted by Americans for Safe Access, the nation’s leading medical cannabis patient advocacy organization, shows that sensible regulations reduce crime and complaints around cooperatives and collectives. See www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/DispensaryReport

The California Supreme Court has agreed to hear and appeal in Pack v. Long Beach, an appellate court decision that might have limited how cities and counties can regulate medical cannabis activity. That appeal may take years, and the Pack decision is not in effect while it is under appeal. In fact, it may be overturned altogether. In the meantime, there is no legal barrier to regulating medical cannabis cooperatives and collectives at the local level.

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich’s so-called “Gentle Ban” is really just a face saving ploy. By “allowing” patients to grow their own medicine, he is simply allowing them to do what is already legal under state law. Do not be fooled into thinking the “Gentle Ban” gives legal patients anything helpful. This is still a ban on safe access to medicine – and that hurts patients.

Other cities have successfully regulated medical cannabis cooperatives and collectives already – San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, West Hollywood, Palm Springs, Sebastopol, and others. There is no reason why the City of Los Angeles cannot do the same if Council Members are committed to doing so.

Some medical cannabis cooperatives and collectives are located or operated in a manner that is problematic for the neighborhood. That is why we need clear and enforceable regulations.

Banning cooperatives and collectives only prevents law-abiding patients from operating these facilities. It does nothing to stop those who operate outside the law. Banning those who are operating in good faith punishes the wrong people. That is unfair and does not solve the problem.

The City Attorney’s legal opinions about medical cannabis and patients’ cooperatives and collectives are not the only opinion. Other public officials and courts hold different opinions. The city Council should seek an independent second opinion on this issue.