The Compassionate Coalition

Hello, and welcome to all of our new readers, members, and supporters!  This list has grown substantially since the beginning of 2009, and our membership as well, probably because change is finally happening!  Also thanks to all of our long-time readers for forwarding this to your friends and family -its working!

New and Improved Resources for Patients: In this new era, with a new administration, we thought it appropriate to provide some new and improved resources for patients and organizers, to help you stay involved and move things forward in your own community!

New Web Calendar: This new online calendar is your one-stop-shop for any and all upcoming events in the medical marijuana community -including patient meetings, advocate trainings, fundraisers, festivals, and more!  Add it to your favorites, stay up-to-date, and post your own events here for the entire medical marijuana community to see: http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/calendar

To post new events, or learn how to embed this calendar on your own web site, just email us at: info@compassionatecoalition.org

New Membership Guidebook: In response to all of the new members we've heard from lately, we pulled together the most vital information for Coalition members, and compiled into one short guidebook. Download it here: http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/OrganizerGuide.pdf

New Information on Starting a Chapter: We've been getting so many calls from people wanting to start new chapters, that we decided to post new and better information to help people understand what we do and how we do it. Check it all out here: http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/newchapters

New SF Discussion List: There is a new San Francisco discussion list for medical marijuana patients, organizers, advocates, physicians, attorneys and supporters to discuss what's happening in the movement, and how we can work together to defend patients' rights!  Join any of our discussion lists here: http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/lists

-Thanks for getting involved!

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LA Times: Federal judge postpones medical marijuana sentencing - March 23, 2009: A federal judge in Los Angeles this morning postponed the sentencing of a man who emerged as a key figure in the national debate over medical marijuana, saying he wanted additional information about a reported change in the Justice Department's policy regarding such prosecutions.

U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu asked prosecutors for a written response from the Justice Department about its position on medical marijuana prosecutions in light of recent comments from Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.

Holder said last week that the Justice Department under President Obama had no plans to prosecute dispensary owners who operated within their state's law.

Wu said he did not believe that any change in policy would affect the conviction of Charles Lynch, 47. But the judge said he wanted to consider any new information about the policy before imposing sentence. ... Full story: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/03/federal-judge-p.html

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Other News Updates:

Sacramento KXTV News 10: "Pot Shops Applaud Policy Change - Valley medical marijuana dispensaries say an Obama administration policy change is a major victory." - Watch the video of our friends Ryan Landers, Lanette Davies, and the CannaCare crew:
http://www.news10.net/video/default.aspx?playerId=newsmaker&maven_playlistId=63762cfa11fe40643571b0d28136516c002a19f3&maven_referrer=mrss&maven_referralPlaylistId=63762cfa11fe40643571b0d28136516c002a19f3&maven_referralObject=1065799013

KCRA Sacramento: "'Growing Problem' Seen In Indoor Pot Grows - No Government Inspector Checks Wiring For Medical Marijuana Growers" - Link: http://www.kcra.com/news/18920012/detail.html

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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Reminder: CA Attorney General Guidelines on Medical Marijuana: Published last fall, these guidelines provide a very thorough review of California's medical marijuana statutes and case-law. This is a great resource for patients, and especially important for anyone thinking about opening a dispensary/collective: http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/pdfs/n1601_medicalmarijuanaguidelines.pdf

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Patient Meetings: We will no longer list local patient meetings in this newsletter, since all meetings and events can be found on our new web calendar (remember to add it to your favorites!): http://www.compassionatecoalition.org/calendar

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Sacramento Text-Message Alert System: We hope that dispensary raids are now a thing of the past, but this response list will still be used to alert our supporters about important events, such as local City Council or County Board of Supervisors meetings (in the Sacramento Region) that will affect our rights.  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
www.CompassionateCoalition.org
Email: nathan@CompassionateCoalition.org
Phone: (916) 709-2483

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