PRESS RELEASE: Protesters Rip DEA Raids On California
WAMM Medical Marijuana Collective At Federal Courthouse In Madison, Wisconsin On Friday
For Immediate Release Friday, September 6, 2002
PROTESTERS RIP DEA RAIDS ON CALIFORNIA WAMM MEDICAL MARIJUANA COLLECTIVE AT FEDERAL COURTHOUSE IN MADISON, WISCONSIN ON FRIDAY
About a dozen protesters gathered Friday at Madison's federal courthouse on Henry Street to protest a DEA raid Thursday of the WAMM medical marijuana collective in Santa Cruz, California, including Dane County Supervisor Ech Vedder and former Madison alder Barbara Vedder.
Carrying picket signs saying "DEA the real Terrorists", Is My Medicine Legal YET?" and other slogans, as well as small American flags, protesters decried the latest DEA assault on California's medical cannabis dispensaries, which have been legal under California law since November 1996.
Gary Storck, a Madison medical cannabis patient and activist, and the communications director for the group, "Is My Medicine Legal YET?" (www.immly.org), who organized the event and a similar one on June 6, read a statement condemning not only the DEA raids but also the failure of Congress to act to protect patients and states' rights by passing the bipartisan "states Rights to Medical Marijuana Act", HR 2592, sponsored by Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX), with a total of 37 cosponsors to date.
"And while at least 37 people in Congress have their hearts and minds in the right place, where are the rest? Why are they sitting on their thumbs doing nothing, or even outright opposing medical marijuana legislation? Where are our U.S. Senators?" Storck said.
The event was part of a national day of action coordinated by the national group, Americans for Safe Access, (http://www.safeaccessnow.org/), and Storck read a list of 3 demands being made by ASA:
1.We demand that all prosecutions of medical marijuana patients, growers, and dispensaries cease immediately. 2.We demand that President Bush & Attorney General Ashcroft declare a moratorium on the Federal anti-medical marijuana campaign. 3.We demand President Bush declare his support for HR 2592, the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act.
To illustrate that the issue of medical cannabis is not about ideology but compassion, Storck also quoted remarks made by ex-Ronald Reagan aides Lyn Nofziger and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); as well as Rep. Paul at a Capitol Hill press conference held in late July to urge support for HR 2592. At the Washington press conference Nofziger had noted, "An administration that claims to be compassionate and conservative should enthusiastically support legislation that truly is compassionate." And Rohrabacher was quoted as saying, "It makes no sense that we put people in jail for utilizing marijuana in order to help someone who's sick … this is a matter of conscience." Paul, who is also a medical doctor, was quoted as saying, "The idea that we attack sick people and the right of the doctor- physician relationship to deal with that is criminal. It's an absolute criminal act. And where is the compassion?"
A video of the event will air in Madison on Madison cable Channel 4, WYOU, on the IBM show after 9 PM, Friday night.
For more information contact Gary Storck, 608.241.8922/608.217.4136, or visit the IMMLY website at www.immly.org.
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