Richard Cowan to lead medical marijuana defense outfit

Well, As soon as I get back to the 0ffice and my address book, I'll have to give him a call. My old friend Richard Cowan, former NORML national director, and publisher of MarijuanaNews.com has agreed to head something called the Dispensary Defense Group, whose mission is to defend medical marijuana dispensaries -- mostly from unfriendly gestures by law enforcement, I'd warrant. Considering all the cities placing "temporary" moratoria on dispensaries and/or harassing them, there probably can't be too much effective defense. I don't know whether Dick's group will be working with Americans for Safe Access, which has already taken it upon itself to provide legal defense for dispensaries and their operators and secured a number of legal victories. The DDG is sponsored by Weedmaps, an online guide to dispensaries, and at least one dispensary and an evaluation group. I'll have to call. Dick will have information that will be useful for my book, and it's been a long time since we talked. I'm sure we'll have things to catch up on.