420 Ventura | Ventura County Medical Marijuana Patients Support in Ventura, Ojai, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Simi Valley |
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1) To create the next-generation, patient-centered medical cannabis program in the City of Ventura.
2) To challenge Northern California's domination of the supply chain through a system of vertical integration.
3) To contribute to Ventura's cultural and economic development.
News Flash! - 10 January 2010
"Who are my clients? They’re real estate brokers, contractors, people who’ve been hurt by the recession," Ventura attorney James Devine said. “They’re already businesspeople. They want to make money, I see fields of cannabis getting us out of a recession." Read more . . .
STATUS UPDATE - 27 December 2009
We're not there yet, but real progress has been over the past year. First, Ventura County is now in compliance with SB420 and is issuing state ID cards. More recently, as a result of our founder's persistent lobbying and three Ventura City Council meeting appearances, Council voted to include a "civic engagement" element in its "study" to be conducted mid-2010, giving patients an opportunity to work directly with city officials in crafting the City's mmj program.
News Flash! - 22 December 2009
Today, the Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District continued the case of Qualified Patients Association v. City of Anaheim into the indefinite future. Read more . . .
NEWS FLASH! - updated 3 November 2009
On 19 October 2009 the Ventura City Council acted on 420Ventura.com founder's repeated pleads by approving the inclusion a Civic Engagement element in the City's one-year moratorium with "study". Nevertheless, Council once again ignored our founder's plea for expediency, causing patients to wait until July 2010 for the City's next move, when "civiv engagment" should commence. Deputy Mayor Bill Fulton — a founder of the City of West Hollywood and partner in a Berkeley-based civic planning firm — has consistently remained silent during discussions regarding medical cannabis.
NEWS FLASH! - 19 October 2009
The Obama administration issued guidelines today clearly stating that the federal government will not arrest medical marijuana patients or providers who comply with state law. Advocates are hailing the new guidelines as a victory and an important step toward a comprehensive national policy on medical marijuana. Read more about it on the American of Safe Access blog. Read the DOJ memo in full.
FACT FLASH! - 7 August 2009
The moratorium imposed on medical cannabis operations is costing the City an estimated $20,000 weekly in lost business tax and sales tax revenues. Even more alarming, the moratorium is taking a $750,000 weekly out of the City's potential economy, when it could help create jobs, vitalize local business, fund public benefit programs and contribute to our local economy. It's time to bring Ventura County's estimated $40 million annual medical cannabis economy back home!
EDITORIAL! VC Reporter, by Michael Sullivan - 30 July 2009
For the sake of those who need it and despite those who abuse the privilege, I hope Ventura will take the lead with a progressive stance on the issue and become the first city in Ventura County to open a legal pot collective . . . read more
NEWS STORY! Ventura County Star, by Kevin Clerici - 28 July 2009
Ventura on Monday became first city in Ventura County willing to take a serious look at allowing medical marijuana collectives to operate legally in the city . . . read more
IMPORTANT NEWS! - 27 July 2009
Dispensing collectives in limbo as Ventura City Council votes unanimously to enact a one-year moratorium with "study". Plea for civic engagement ignored. Patients to suffer another year of hardship. 420Ventura says, "Stop delaying, commence civic engagement by September 2009."
NEWS STORY! Ventura County Star, by Kevin Clerici - 26 July 2009
Marijuana advocates on council agenda
"The tide finally seems to be turning in favor of wider medical use of marijuana," said Michael R. Meyer, the Ventura County organizer for Americans for Safe Access, a nationwide advocacy group . . . read more
PRESS RELEASE - Americans for Safe Access - 16 July 2009
The California Senate Health Committee voted 7-3 late yesterday on a joint resolution that urges the federal government to end medical marijuana raids in the state and to "create a comprehensive federal medical marijuana policy that ensures safe and legal access to any patient that would benefit from it." Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 14, introduced in June by State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), comes at a time when the Obama Administration has signaled a willingness to change federal policy, but has yet to come forward with an actual implementation plan. read more . . .
NEWS ARTICLE! Los Angeles Times - 24 April 2009
"The county doesn't encourage storefront dispensaries, but it hasn't banned them either. Although no storefronts exist in the county, marijuana patients can turn to discreet delivery services advertised in a local weekly. Ventura County Undersheriff Craig Husband said he . . . acknowledged that the department suspects many operations are fronts for illegal sales" . . . read more
NEWS ARTICLE! Time/CNN - 29 March 2009
Medical Marijuana advocates were not the only ones overjoyed when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that he was ending federal raids on medical marijuana facilities unless they are in violation of both state and federal laws. In budget-strapped California, for one, taxpayers are grateful . . . read more
EDITORIAL! Time/CNN - 22 March 2009
Finally, there is sanity in federal policy regarding states that have legalized medicinal marijuana, including California. . . . read more
NEWS FLASH! - 25 February 2009
Speaking at a press conference on Feb. 25 with DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that ending federal medical marijuana raids "is now American policy."
See the press conference for more details. AG Holder addresses our issue at about 25 minutes into the press conference.
NEWS FLASH! - 13 February 2009
Will Santa Barbara be the site of the Last Showdown with the DEA?
Rep. Lois Capps — who represents nearly 700,000 residents in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties — sent a letter to newly appointed Attorney General Erik Holder today asking the Department of Justice and the Office of the US Attorney to "immediately suspend any and all enforcement actions against said property owners in California who lease property to medical cannabis dispensing collectives in accordance with state laws." Read more . . . Read Rep. Capp's Letter to Eric Holder.
Thank you Rep. Capps for bravely taking the national leadership role in bringing this vital, timely issue forward. Read Rep. Lois Capps' Letter to the US Attorney General and learn why the DEA may end its systematic interference with our state laws by 21 Feb 2009!
NEWS FLASH! - 5 February 2009
"The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said. Read the Washington Times article . . .
7 January 2009: The Congressional Judiciary Committee has provided medical cannabis patients support groups with certain documents it has gathered in preparation for its Oversight Hearings into the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency’s paramilitary raids against California’s medical cannabis facilities, and the DEA’s systematic pattern of interference and intimidation designed to undermine California Medical Cannabis laws, in clear violation of the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
See the shocking letter of 2 October 2006 from the California Police Chiefs Association asking the DEA to tread on our State Laws and our 10th Admendment Rights. Learn about the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling of December 2008: Federal Law Does NOT Preempt MMJ State Laws. Read about the Santa Cruz case and its 10th Admendent significance. Read all 15-pages . . .
OP ED - VC Reporter, by Michael R. Meyer - 18 December 2008
The founder of 420Ventura.com, Michael R. Meyer, invites Ventura County patients join in creating the next generation of facilities and services, to develop a new model viable for our community and others, to better serve both patients and the community. Read the article as it appeared in the VC Reporter . . .
Prominent Medical Cannabis Patients’ Rights Advocate to Lead a
Symposium on The Future of Medical Cannabis in Ventura County
It's Time to Stand-Up for Our Rights!
A symposium on
The Future of
Medical Cannabis
in Ventura Countywith
Don Duncan,
co-founder and California director of Americans for Safe Access (ASA).
9 Sept. 2008 | 7pm-9pm
Topping Assembly Room
E.P. Foster Library
651 East Main Street
Ventura, CA 93001
Map & Directions
It has been almost five years since the California legislature passed Senate Bill 420, which was written to assist police and to protect California's medical cannabis patients with state issued ID cards from arrest or interference from law enforcement. Importantly, the law assures patients safe and legal access to medicine.
In Ventura County, however, the law has yet to be translated into practical reality, resulting in a multitude of difficulties for the thousands of medical marijuana patients residing here. Indeed, patients in Thousands Oaks, Ojai, Camarillo, Ventura, Oxnard and throughout Ventura County, and in 15 other California counties, are caught in the middle of a three-way tug-of-war between the rogue counties, the State of California, and the Federal Government (specifically, the Drug Enforcement Agency).
Courts have consistently struck down challenges to SB420 by rogue counties, with San Diego County leading the hopeless and wasteful charge. It is now time for Ventura and other counties to comply fully with SB420, to protect and to serve all of its citizens, including the sick and suffering.
The public symposium on The Future of Medical Cannabis in Ventura County is being organized by 420Ventura.com to provide patients, medical professionals, civic leaders and the general public with an opportunity to explore how to best implement SB420 in Ventura County.
"We want it to be a win-win situation, for both patients and the community as-a-whole," says a spokesperson for 420Ventura.com. "We realize it can be scary for officials to face the issue with a fair and open mind. There's a lot of intentionally perpetuated myths about medical cannabis and patients which need to be dispelled. However, this is not a discretionary issue,
something to be ignored because officials don't like it, or because they are conditioned by the false belief that medical cannabis patients are an unsavory lot whose visible presence in the community is undesirable. In fact, medical cannabis is important public health issue which involves thousands of sick and suffering, but otherwise ordinary, people."
Medical cannabis is supported by the American Psychiatric Association, The American College of Physicans, the student division of the AMA.
Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works to overcome political and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation, education, litigation, grassroots actions, advocacy and services for patients and the caregivers. ASA has over 30,000 active members with chapters and affiliates in more than 40 states.
Please RSVP to rsvp@420ventura.com
