Motivated and ready to fight for their rights, patients and medical marijuana supporters from throughout the state came to Burbank for the Americans for Safe Access conference and workshop.

Hundreds of advocates came to the event, which started with a session on moving a compassionate agenda at the state and national levels, then broke into smaller regional focus groups to discuss local issues and strategies to regulate and protect controlled access to cannabis through dispensing collectives, a number of which had members in attendance.    

Winning better tolerance also became a hot topic after an incident with the rental facility forced the conference to relocate.

A lot of work ahead — Americans for Safe Access (ASA) Director Steph Sherer (above) welcomed participants Jan. 13 to the statewide conference and workshop, and the group outlined an ambitious agenda for change.

Regional breakout sessions spoke to local needs and concerns while it made networking easy.

The Farmacy, a local dispensary, provided free information to attendees, only to have armed DEA thugs raid its facility. Oaksterdam News photos by Chris Conrad