WAMM members march through the center of Santa Cruz, CA, carrying marijuana plants and portraits of deceased members.
More than 100 of the 200 members of the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) marched down Pacific Avenue in the center of downtown Santa Cruz, CA in 2005. Onlookers applauded as the WAMM members passed carrying marijuana plants and portraits of 155 members who have died from their illnesses. Founded in 1993 by Valerie and Michael Corral, WAMM is the United States oldest continuously operating medical cannabis collective. In 2002 the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) raided the WAMM Garden on private secluded property in the Santa Cruz Mountains and destroyed the collective’s crop of state-legal marijuana plants. According to a statement by WAMM several of the group’s members died as a result of not having access to their marijuana. After the DEA raid, WAMM with the support of the American Civil Liberties Union and the City of Santa Cruz successfully sued the Federal Government and continues to grow “safe, organic medical marijuana” for its members. Under the Federal Controlled Substances act of 1970, marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug having high potential for abuse, no medical use, and not safe to use without medical supervision. In 1996 California voters approved Proposition 215 which removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients with a written recommendation from their physician. In opposition to Federal law at the end of 2013, 20 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws that allow people to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. In 2014, first the State of Colorado and then Washington State voted to allow the legal sale and possession of marijuana for recreational use. Photo by Chuck Nacke
Size: 3000px × 2025px
Location: Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, California, USA
Photo credit: © Chuck Nacke / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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