cannabisnews.com: DrugSense Endorses AMMA Petition 





DrugSense Endorses AMMA Petition 
Posted by FoM on December 23, 1999 at 18:16:10 PT
For Immediate Release 
Source: DrugSense 
DrugSense, a non profit corporation dedicated to accurate information on drug policy issues, has endorsed a petition that calls for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to uphold California's three-year-old medical marijuana law, as required by the California Constitution, Amendment III, Section 3.5. 
"Although Bill Lockyer has been generally supportive of Prop 215 and medical marijuana, he has allowed local law enforcement in much of the state to ignore the law and brutally persecute the sick and dying," said Mark Greer, Executive Director of DrugSense. "The doctors, nurses and citizens who signed the AMMA petition have effectively told the Attorney General that by acquiescing to this lawlessness, he is violating the law" According to the Petition, most California Sheriffs and District Attorneys have adopted a "Zero-Tolerance" policy of arresting patients, destroying all medicine and then forcing patients into expensive court cases in order to "let the courts sort it out." "This aggressive behavior by law enforcement, district attorneys and even judges not only violates the stated purpose of the Compassionate Use Act, it promotes illegal SANCTIONS that do great harm to patients," warns the petitioners. "Dragging sick, disabled and dying people through the criminal justice system, seizing and destroying their lawful medicine, subjecting patients to the public humiliation of arrest, and forcing medical marijuana patients into expensive legal battles, are all examples of sanctions intended to frighten and coerce medical marijuana patients away from exercising their medical rights under the Compassionate Use Act." The AMMA petition points out that California's new medical marijuana law is very specific about its purpose: "To ensure that patients and their primary care givers who obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a physician are not subject to criminal prosecution or sanction." See the full Petition, the Oakland Guidelines and 36 case histories at: http://www.kubby.com/Petition-Lockyer.html "Bill Lockyer should go back and check his duties under the state constitution, as AMMA suggests," urged Greer. "It is unconscionable for him to encourage policies that deem it acceptable to sit by and watch sick and dying people arrested, jailed and destroyed, simply to uphold a failed drug policy the voters of this state have rejected." "Bill Lockyer has said he is not going to interfere with local county enforcement of 215, but that's exactly what the state constitution says he is supposed to do," according to Steve Kubby, national director for AMMA. "We provided the Attorney General with compelling evidence to show that his own people are actively interfering with local counties to help raid, prosecute and convict patients who attempt to exercise their legal rights under Prop. 215." For Further Information: See the web site for the American Medical Marijuana Association at: http://www.kubby.com/AMMA.html Drug War Facts: http://www.csdp.org/factbook/ Archive of news articles on Medicinal Cannabis: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm The individuals below may be contacted for further information regarding this release. Mark Greer Executive Director DrugSense (MAP Inc.) PO Box 651 Porterville, CA 93258 (800) 266 5759 MGreer mapinc.org http://www.mapinc.org http://www.drugsense.org Tom O'Connell M.D. 195 Warren Rd. San Mateo CA 94401 650 348 6841 Ph/fax tjeffoc sirius.com Mark Greer Executive Director DrugSense MGreer mapinc.org http://www.drugsense.org http://www.mapinc.org Note: DrugSense has just issued the following press release in support of the AMMA Petition that was sent earlier this week to Bill Lockyer. DrugSense is the same organization that just caused such a stir over the hateful comments of Judge Judy, resulting in three advertisers pulling their Judge Judy ads. We are grateful for the support of such an important and well respected organization. Steve Kubby http://www.kubby.com/AMMA.html 
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