City leaders stand behind Medical Marijuana at City Hall
Press ReleaseSeptember 12, 2002
Media Contact
Denis Berry, Americans for Safe Access at (831) 566-0325
In an historic act of civil disobedience, members of the Santa Cruz City Council have invited the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), raided last week by the Drug Enforcement Administration, to distribute medical marijuana to patients in the City Hall courtyard on Sept. 17. Santa Cruz Mayor Christopher Krohn, Vice Mayor Emily Reilly, city council member Tim Fitzmaurice, and county supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt and other public officials will be present to lend support and assistance to the event.
The raid on WAMM sparked fury and support from California elected officials. “ A medical marijuana provider such as the Santa Cruz collective represents little danger to the public and is certainly not a concern which would warrant diverting scarce federal resources…;” stated Attorney General Bill Lockyer. “Outrageous,” U.S. Rep. Sam Farr said of last Thursday’s raid. ” With all the difficult problems the world faces, I find it hard to believe the DEA would further punish sick people…;”
WAMM, a cooperative run by and for patients (most with terminal diagnoses), worked closely with local authorities, strictly followed California law and local guidelines, and never sold marijuana to anyone. Nevertheless, armed DEA agents swooped down on the co-op Sept. 5, pointed automatic weapons at paralyzed patients, tore up WAMM’s garden, and carted off operators Valerie and Mike Corral in handcuffs.
The raid — the latest in a series of DEA raids targeting small-scale medical marijuana operations run by seriously ill people — has triggered shock and anger nationwide. Syndicated columnist Clarence Page denounced the raid in a Sept. 8 Chicago Tribune column that was quickly seconded by editorials in the Seattle Times, San Jose Mercury News, and even the conservative Orange County Register.
When: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 3:00pm
Where: Santa Cruz City Hall 809 Center Street Santa Cruz, CA
For more information about WAMM, please visit www.wamm.org
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