Prop 215 was supposed to provide the framework for Safe Access to medical marijuana. Access that the people of California voted into law over 13 years ago. The officials of San Diego repeatedly refer to the Attorney General guidelines as a roadmap to Safe Access but argue vigorously to have even their mention kept from a jury. A jury, the final arbiters of whether we are really sick or if we are just degenerate stoners manipulating a law intended to provide solace for terminally ill patients.

Fear, uncertainty, and dread. This is the atmosphere we mmj patients endure in San Diego. The District Attorney disregards our doctor’s recommendations and treats us like criminals. Our Recs, which should provide prosecutorial immunity, are instead used as tools in the assistance of rounding us up.

This is what the DA would have. Strangers without the benefit of even an exam will be determining if your medical condition is valid Not your doctor, not your better judgment of what you want to put into your body. Just the rule of 13 1/2. 12 strangers, 1 judge, and half a chance… This is NOT what Dennis Perone intended.

So what are we going to do? I’ll tell you what I am going to do. I am going to stand up and be counted. Check out the review here to learn more about my initiative. I am going to speak louder when necessary, but mostly I am going to just not be silent. There are various city commissions and panels that you can express your discontent at. Don’t know what to say? We will help write you a script. Maybe you are too busy taking care of your family, your responsibilities or just maybe you’re afraid, you fear exposure. This plea is especially for you. Trust me I understand.

If Bonnie Dumanis and the Multi-Jurisdictional Task Force hadn’t kicked me out of the Cannabis closet in 2004 I may still be hiding under my rock. Seeing what is happening to those that do stand up for their rights, for our rights, it is really easy to just choose to not get involved. The right choices are almost never the easy ones. But maintain your anonymity, protect yourself, your family, your career, your reputation. Find an effective activist, talk to them about your concerns, and find out what you can do without risking exposure. If you like what they are doing then ask them what to do. We have so many ideas, but we need your help to take San Diego off the most hostile to mmj patients list.

Now you should know that the DEA raided a medical marijuana grower in Encinitas a little over a week ago. Well, I responded, I was about 5 miles away, but I was not able to get there in time. Sorry, Tim and Laura. I couldn’t have stopped anything but I am sure that any moral support at that time would have been appreciated.

The only good news from that day was that several people expressed interest in being part of a response system. Many more were concerned and wanted to be kept up to date. Well, right now I am just a guy with a cell phone, a twitter account, and an email list. But that is all changing real soon. I am working with several other concerned activists from all over the county as well as some business interests to improve the existing raid alert systems to include an organized response.

An organized and unified response is critical in letting the DEA know we see what they are doing and we are not happy. Also, the initial details lacked the clarity necessary for a timely response. Why? Because we do not know who to trust!

We have been developing a decentralized system for incident reporting. Message me and I will give you my ideas on how best to keep yourself in operation, thereby preserving my rights as an mmj patient to safe access.