Search Results: demonstrations (13)

For legal cannabis to spread across the country, people need to speak up in more ways than with Facebook comments and on Gallup polls. Lucky for cannabis users, Wanda James can be loud enough for all of us. The pot entrepreneur and activist was the first black woman to open a dispensary in Colorado, and was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 2017 Cannabis Business Awards for her role in the commercial rise of the plant.

But even with all her success in pushing cannabis forward, James still has an ax to grind with state regulators and corporate interests. She’s frequently at government hearings speaking up for consumers’ rights, social consumption and fair pot policy, and is a regular presence at public demonstrations criticizing law enforcement or elected officials for anti-cannabis actions. Westword recently caught up with James to see what she’s been up to.

Dezy Saint-Nolde, better known by her activism name, Queen Phoenix, has emerged as a prominent organizer of protests and demonstrations in recent months. These included the thousands-strong November 10 protest against Donald Trump’s election, the February 18 Defend our Constitution march, a health-care rally on February 25, and a Demand Russia-Trump Ties Investigation march on March 18.

But Phoenix also believes that her activism made her the target of an undercover Denver Police Department investigation in which she was arrested and charged for offenses related to marijuana.

In a January cover story in Westword concerning DPD’s social-media surveillance and how it related to the department’s old “Spy Files” program, Phoenix shared her experience of having her house raided by cops in December on charges that she was distributing marijuana without a license.

Cannabis Culture

Advocates argue DOJ attacks unnecessarily harm over 1 million patients and may endanger Obama’s re-election effort
Hundreds of patients will hold rallies Thursday at 5 p.m. at local “Obama for America” campaign offices and other key locations in at least 15 cities in eight states across the country in an effort to draw attention to the Obama Administration’s aggressive efforts to shut down legal medical marijuana dispensaries and obstruct the passage of laws that would regulate such activity.
In addition to a lively rally in the nation’s capitol, demonstrations organized by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) are planned in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.
In Seattle, medical marijuana advocates are holding a press conference at City Hall on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. local time, featuring City Council member Nick Licata, State Rep. Roger Goodman, and State Senator Jeanna Kohl-Welles.

Dampfparade 2012

Rally Would Likely Have Been Largest Cannabis Demonstration In German History

A cannabis demonstration and parade planned for Saturday in Cologne, Germany — which was shaping up to be the largest marijuana protest ever held in Germany — is being shut down at the last minute by the Versammlungsbehörde, a local government office that oversees public gatherings.

“This is the first time a pro-cannabis march has been planned for Cologne, which is located in the most populous area of Germany,” Daniel S. of Duisburg, Germany, told Toke of the Town on Wednesday morning. (Dan in no way speaks for the parade or any associated organizations; he just happens to live nearby and knows some people involved in the parade’s planning.)
The march was shaping up to possibly be the largest demonstration of its kind ever in Germany, thanks in large part to a positive response on Facebook and word-of-mouth advertising.
Planned speakers included Lars Scheimann, the first German citizen to be granted a medical marijuana card to treat his Tourette’s and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Scheimann has since helped more than 60 other people get similar approval for medicinal cannabis to treat various conditions through his organization, “Cannabis Als Medizin” (Cannabis As Medicine).
World Famous Cannabis Cafe
Madeline Martinez, World Famous Cannabis Cafe: “As always, we strive to provide safe and legal access to services for Oregon Medical Marijuana Program registrants”
The World Famous Cannabis Café has announced what its press release calls “a new and exciting monthly event,” The Cannabis and Hemp Expo. The first of its kind in the Portland area, the Expo takes place on Sunday, June 10, from noon until 7:00 p.m. at the café, 322 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon.
 
“As always, we strive to provide safe and legal access to services for Oregon Medical Marijuana Program registrants,” said Madeline Martinez, proprietress of the café.  “We hope to generate enough interest in the community to have an expo on the second Sunday of every month.”

flickrhivemind.net

By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent

I wish Marijuana could still be honored and treated like it was when I was growing up. In those days, life was delineated by politics and cultures; it was easy to know who your friends were. If they smoked grass, were against the Vietnam War and liked the new long-grooved FM music that was floating off the radio, they were cool.
You were either cool or uncool. Hard to believe how binary we were in those days. 

Paula Rafiza/Canna Cerrado
Marijuana March, Brasília, Brazil, 2011

Editor’s note: Brazilian activist Sergio Vidal, a good friend of Toke of the Town, is the author of Brazil’s very first cannabis grow book. Here, he shares with us the progress being made in his country in marijuana law reform.
Many marijuana marches will occur today, May 5, worldwide. In Brazil, the movement to legalize marijuana just started to gain power in recent years. The first march took place 10 years ago in Rio de Janeiro.
After many years of struggle and diversification of activism, the movement has grown significantly, in spite of repression. Only last year Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) dismissed an action in respect of Marijuana Marches. The judges of the Supreme Court unanimously decided that marches and other demonstrations for change in laws and policies on drugs are absolutely legitimate and constitutional.

I And I Rootz

​Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and a coalition of advocacy and labor groups are staging a demonstration at noon in Sacramento on Wednesday, November 9 to protest the federal government’s escalated attack on California’s medical marijuana laws.

A lively rally of medical marijuana patients and supporters is set to occur in front of the Sacramento federal building and will feature state legislators, advocates, labor and dispensary operators impacted by the recent Department of Justice (DOJ) crackdown in California.

Village Voice Media

The Weed Blog

​Los Angeles, High Noon, Oct. 24


San Francisco, 11:30 a.m., Oct. 25
Advocates will be protesting the federal crackdown on medical marijuana when Obama comes to visit California next Monday and Tuesday, October 24 and 25, according to California NORML.

In Los Angeles, there will be a protest at high noon on Monday, October 24 at the Federal Building downtown, 255 East Temple Street. A press conference will be held with Proposition 215 coauthor Anna Boyce, who will be demanding a meeting with President Obama at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. (The President will be visiting elsewhere in west L.A., but security will make him inaccessible.)
In San Francisco, protesters are urged to gather on Tuesday, October 25 at the northwest corner of 3rd and Mission, near the W Hotel where Obama will be attending a fundraiser lunch. “The lunch starts at 11:30, but be there early so that we can stake out a visible presence amidst a likely crowd of other protesters,” advised CA NORML director Dale Gieringer.

Fox News

​Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Spent Undermining State and Local Medical Marijuana Laws
The Obama Justice Department (DOJ) held a press conference in Sacramento Friday announcing an array of enforcement actions against medical marijuana producers and distributors as well as landlords throughout California.
Patient advocates are calling President Obama’s enforcement effort harmful and unnecessary, representing a stark contradiction to his pledge of disengagement in medical marijuana states. The DOJ claimed it was carrying out civil and criminal enforcement actions against medical marijuana providers and sending “warning” letters to property owners leasing to dispensary operators.
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