See preliminary conference schedule.
Dec. 15 – In the aftermath of Proposition 19, California NORML will host a statewide conference to discuss the future of marijuana reform efforts in California at the David Brower Center in Berkeley on Saturday, January 29, 2011.
The conference will feature a public discussion with drug reform leaders, legislators, attorneys, physicians, medical marijuana groups and the press.
The first part of the conference will be devoted to lessons from the Prop 19 campaign;
where to go from here, and what changes in wording and tactics should be adopted in future legalization efforts. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is expected to introduce another legalization bill this year, and parallel efforts are underway to develop ballot language for a 2012 initiative.
The second major focus of the conference will be California’s medical marijuana system, which is badly in need of repair. Fourteen years after passage of Prop. 215, patient access remains problematic in many parts of the state, as local governments have moved to ban dispensaries and restrict cultivation by patients and collectives. The state’s current law governing distribution, sale, processing, delivery and cultivation, SB 420, is vague and ambiguous, leading to scores of lawsuits that remain to be resolved.
At the local level, activists have been pursuing innovative proposals to license collective gardens and sales. At the state level, advocates will be pushing for renewed legislation to protect patients’ rights, such as the Medical Cannabis Patient Rights Bill that was sponsored by then-Assemblyman Mark Leno but vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2008.
This timely event will present an opportunity for NORML members and friends to participate in an open public discussion of essential issues that will frame the struggle over the next two years. The conference will run from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm; the pre-registration fee of $30 includes lunch. The Brower Center is a smoke-free facility located at 2150 Allston St. and Oxford St. near the Berkeley Center BART stop.
See registration and sponsorship information.
We hope to see you there!