General Meeting 2/9

News:
- Executive Director of SSDP Micah Dangle has stepped down; we now have an interim director through May, when we’ll vote on a new one
- Yesterday was the first day of to apply for a medical marijuana dispensary license in Denver, CO; very low turn-out due to large fees for applying; medical marijuana prices are expected to go up in this area
- New poll shows that 81% support medical marijuana; 56% say it should be able to be prescribed for anything at the doctor’s discretion
- 2006 death of 4 yr. old child due to psychotropic drugs has resulted in the mother being convicted on manslaughter; the parents had falsified medical information about their child in order to get federal benefits; all of the drugs were prescribed for various disorders, including bipolar disorder
- REGISTER FOR THE SSDP NATIONAL CONFERENCE, March 12-14; we’ll probably have our own suite there; there’ll be educational events, panels, and a job fair
Upcoming Events:
- We need people to flyer for our LEAP event next week; you can pick them up at our table starting in a few days
- We’re going to compile a petition in order to get the Good Samaritan on the November ballot; we’ll need lawyerly help with it, we’re in contact with people about this
- Last Sunday, 14 children were murdered at a birthday party in Mexico due to drug violence; there will a vigil in SF at the Civic Center this Thursday, 8:30-9:30, to commemorate these children; there will be media there, so we’re looking to get a big turnout; we’ll be meeting at 7:30 at the Downtown BART to head over
- LEAP event featuring James Anthony this coming Tues., 2/16; same meeting time and place; bring many people
- SAFER (group which promotes marijuana as safer than alcohol) Day of Action, April 1st; 2 goals: highlight relative safety of marijuana, promote debate on whether college students should be allowed to use marijuana as safe alternative to alcohol; We’ll be holding our day of action here
- MAPS conference in San Jose, April 15-18; they sent us some cool info which will be uploaded to the Facebook and the blog
- “Ecstasy Rising” Event with Q&A with MAPS afterward will be 2 weeks from today, 2/23
- Bruce Margolin is interested in coming to speak with us about Legalization; more about this will be forthcoming
- We’re still looking to get someone from the Tax, Regulate, and Control Cannabis 2010 campaign to come talk to us about that legislation