For MMJ dispensary owners, professionals in the medical cannabis industry and marijuana patients, next week will involve much more than exorbitantly priced flowers, romantic dinners and chocolates that come in heart-shaped boxes.
It is, after all, Medical Marijuana Week.
Typically, the week is seen as a time to celebrate progress in MMJ laws, the marijuana business and medical cannabis in general. This year, however, the week takes on added significance, as it comes amid a widespread federal crackdown on marijuana dispensaries and MMJ growing operations.
With that in mind, Americans for Safe Access is promoting Medical Marijuana Week as a time to take action as an industry, organizing MMJ events and rallies, putting together informational packages and coordinating campaigns to put pressure on the federal government to back off its aggressive stance toward the cannabis industry.
Among the steps ASA urges marijuana advocates and medical cannabis businesses to take next week:
-Phone up the White House on Monday at 202-456-1111 and “tell Pres. Obama to keep his promise to not use Justice Department resources to undermine state laws, stop putting politics before science, and act immediately to reclassify cannabis as medicine.”
– Take a few minutes on Valentine’s Day to call Congress (202-224-3121) and express the need for a federal reclassification of marijuana and legislation that allows patients access to medical cannabis.
– Contact your governor’s office on Wednesday and urge your state to officially join the petition to reclassify marijuana.
– Attend an ASA rally on Thursday in California, Washington, Maine, Arizona, New Jersey or Oregon.
– Make a donation to ASA to support medical cannabis and patients’ rights.
Other events in individual communities are planned as well, particularly in San Francisco, where President Obama is scheduled to visit on Thursday for a fundraiser. Marijuana advocates are planning a protest to coincide with his visit in an attempt to draw attention to the president’s policies on medical cannabis over the past year. There’s even a sign-making party for the protest tonight, kicking off Medical Marijuana Week in San Francisco a little early.
