Sacramento NORML General Meeting
On Thursday, January 9th, at 7:00 downtown Sacramento,
our local NORML chapter meeting was held. In the back room of Perko’s on 3rd
and J, close to 30 people gathered to listen to speakers enjoy dinner and
commiserate with the cannabis community.
In attendance was Rosalyn Van Buren, city council candidate for District
Three, Ali Cooper, also running for city council in the fifth district, and Darin
Ferguson from UFCW 8, the cannabis union.
Broadcasting live via U-Stream, Ron Mullins opened the
meeting, giving updates on the latest city activity, the end of the administrative
pause and the starting of the licensing process for medical cannabis
dispensaries again. He also informed the
crowd of recent work being done to end the ban on outdoor cultivation in the
city of Sacramento.
Rosalyn Van Buren was the first guest speaker. She talked about her District Three bid for
City Council, how she heard about the issues dispensaries deal with through
Tina Burgstrom of “Valley Health Options” collective in Sacramento. Van Buren
toured a few of the local cannabis dispensaries earlier in the day and marveled
about all the information she had received from A Therapeutic Alternative
Director Kim Cargyle and others in her information gathering effort. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L39nZQlHjL0
It is really important for the cannabis community to retain
the District Three seat. The current
holder of the seat, Steve Cohn, has been instrumental in helping dispensaries
stay open. Before Steve Hansen was elected, Cohn was the only real proponent on
the city council for patient access.
After fielding questions from the crowd, Van Buren concluded.
The next speaker was Ali Cooper, running for city council District Five. He was extremely energetic and declared he
wanted to be the next “champion” for our cause of patient’s rights and full
legalization.
Cooper talked about his experiences, how he believed incarcerating
cannabis users is a waste of resources.
He also talked about the Strong Mayor initiative, and the proliferation
of box stores, another populist issue he is fighting for.
Bette Braden announced the next Sacramento NORML Women’s
Alliance meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, February 5th, at the
Sugar Plum vegan restaurant at 2315 K St., and their next fundraiser, on
April 12th, the Spring Fling. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1397401303843535/
Derrin Fergusin, union representative for UFCW 8, also spoke
to the group. This is the Union that represents cannabis workers. He announced
that any person can join the Union as an associate member for only $10 a month;
the more union members, the larger the collective bargaining power. Having a
strong industry Union will be key in the standardization of cannabis production
and distribution in a future legalized landscape. video of Bette and Derrin here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHCFv8MSFQw
Marcia Blount, president of the Brownie Mary Democratic Club,
went over a document, sponsored by SacNORML and Brownie Mary Dems, that breaks
down the four marijuana legalization initiatives trying to get on the ballot
for the 2014 election. Copies of the comparison chart are available at http://www.sacnorml.org/#!2014camarijuanalegalizationchart/c1cli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00Q83rv8Gpo
The meeting closed with the raffle. Hope to see all of you
at the next meeting!
#NORML #SAcNORML #CaNORML #cannabis #medicalcannabi #Legalization #marijuana #medicalmarijuana #weed #safeaccess #patientsrights #fulllegalization #legalizeit #legalizeca #fulllegal
#NORML #SAcNORML #CaNORML #cannabis #medicalcannabi #Legalization #marijuana #medicalmarijuana #weed #safeaccess #patientsrights #fulllegalization #legalizeit #legalizeca #fulllegal
