Global Ganja Report

A Nov. 9 rally in Sacramento to protest the US Department of Justice crackdown on California's medical marijuana industry brought out some 500 people, who gathered outside the Federal building to hear speakers from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Americans for Safe Access (ASA), and other organizations before marching through the downtown area.

ASA state director Don Duncan said that "no matter how you spin it, an attack on access to medical marijuana is an attack on patients. Not only is this crackdown bad for the economy, workers and much-needed tax revenue, it literally pushes patients into the illicit market and into harm's way. We are sick and tired of being the target of the Obama Administration, and we're calling on the Justice Department to stand down."

Numerous elected officials in California have also expressed opposition to the attacks, including several members of Congress, State Attorney General Kamala Harris, State senators Mark Leno and Leland Yee, State Assembly member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and Mendocino Supervisor John McCowen. Speakers at the rally included Ammiano, Steve DeAngelo of Oakland's Harborside Health Center, Dan Rush of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and Dale Gieringer of California NORML. (420 Times, Nov. 9; LAist, Nov. 7)

Photo by 420 Times