Americans for Safe Access (ASA) won another important victory in court yesterday when we defeated an effort to dismiss an ASA lawsuit aimed at overturning Butte County's ban on the collective cultivation of medical cannabis. I am sending our press release with all the details. For the past five years, ASA has been fighting for patients' rights in Butte County ­ and all over California ­ to ensure that local governments do not roll back medical cannabis rights for patients and caregivers.

We need your help to be sure we can keep doing important legal work like this. Lawsuits like this one take hundreds of hours of behind the scenes work by our legal team. Important victories like this one in Butte County, our lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol, or our numerous successful Return of Property cases are the tip of an iceberg of work we do every day.

Please take a moment to join ASA and make a contribution today. Your help will make it possible for us to build on these victories and ensure we are here to defend your rights until California law is fully implemented and federal law is changed! Visit AmericansForSafeAccess.org/Donate and donate today!

State Civil Court Affirms Right to Cultivate Medical Marijuana Collectively Superior Court Judge Ruled Thursday against Butte County's Ban on Patient Collectives

Chico, CA -- Butte County Superior Court issued a strongly worded ruling Thursday, affirming the right of medical marijuana patients to cultivate collectively. In no uncertain terms, Superior Court Judge Barbara Roberts ruled that seriously ill patients cultivating collectively "should not be required to risk criminal penalties and the stress and expense of a criminal trial in order to assert their rights." Judge Roberts' ruling also rejected Butte County's policy of requiring all members to physically participate in the cultivation, thereby allowing collective members to "contribute financially."

In May 2006, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation's largest medical marijuana advocacy organization, filed a group lawsuit on behalf of a 7-person private patient collective, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages and attorneys fees. After a September 2005 warrantless search of his home in Paradise, California, by the Butte County Sheriff's Department, cultivator David Williams was forced to uproot and destroy more than two dozen plants or face arrest and prosecution. "We were told that it was not lawful to grow collectively for multiple patients," said 54-year old patient and collective member David Williams of the 2005 incident.

Thursday's Superior Court decision overruled a demurrer, filed by the County of Butte in an effort to dismiss the case. Judge Roberts found that "the destruction of plaintiffs' property was improper" if, in fact, the collective was valid under state law. "The next step," according to ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, "is to show that Williams was running a valid collective. At that point, the court is expected to make a final determination consistent with yesterday's ruling, which strongly vindicates the right of medical marijuana patients to associate together to grow the medicine they need."

ASA was compelled to file the Williams lawsuit after receiving repeated reports of unlawful behavior by Butte County law enforcement, as well as by other police agencies throughout the state. After uncovering Butte County's de facto ban on medical marijuana patient collectives, ASA decided to pursue the case to show that collectives and cooperatives are protected under state law. "The ruling not only affirms ASA's position that civil court is an 'appropriate forum to address the issues of medical patients' rights,'" said Elford. "It also sends a clear message to local law enforcement in California that they must respect the rights of patients to cultivate collectively."

For more information: Butte County Superior Court ruling from September 6, 2007 ASA's lawsuit challenging Butte County's ban on collective cultivation

# # #

With over 30,000 active members in more than 40 states, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works to overcome political and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation, education, litigation, grassroots actions, advocacy and services for patients and the caregivers.