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Other sections on this page: About the WAMM
Model | Members | Friends
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Valerie Corral - WAMM co/founder
In
1973, Valerie Corral was in an automobile accident that left her so severely
epileptic. She often suffered from m five seizures a day, She began
using marijuana as an adjunct medicine. This treatment replaced a rigorous
pharmaceutical regimen. With deliberate application and mindful monitoring,
marijuana was to eventually become the sole medication that has controlled
her seizures for well over a decade |
Mike and Val corral
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In 1992, Val was arrested with her husband, Mike for the
cultivation of five marijuana
plants. Spurred by this arrest, she became the first patient in the
state of California to challenge existing law, based on the defense of necessity,
and win. This victory ushered Val into the legal, political and social
foreground of this health issue. Val was instrumental in changing the law
of California with proposition 215, which enabled citizens to democratically
express their support for those who choose marijuana as a medicine.
In response to public will and dire necessity, the Wo/Men's Alliance
for Medical Marijuana was born. Later that year, they were rearrested
for cultivation and distribution to other patients.
In her capacity as director of WAMM over
the last eleven years, Valerie has testified before
California State legislative committees of . She has
received Proclamations and Resolutions from SC City and SC County.
and was Santa Cruz County Women's
Commission Woman of the Year in 1997.
As a member of the County Drug Commission, she does
outreach, and provide education
to public officials and law enforcement, She has worked abroad as well
as in California and Washington, presenting her scientific observations to
the British Parliament House of Lords, Tony Banks,
Multiple Sclerosis & Medical Marijuana DPF
Conference 1997, and serving as a Canadian federal case expert witness, in
the case :Her Majesty the Queen vs. Terry Parker 1998, and speaking at Netherlands
Seminar on Marijuana and the Goddess 2000. Closer to home,
Val has served as an expert witness in medical marijuana cases
regarding Prop. 215. She was a guest teacher in UCSC Alcohol Individuals
and Other Drugs in Society, Giovanna Morelli.(1999 & 2000 & 2001).
She coauthored Santa Cruz City Ordinance in 2001., gave
testimony to Senate Health Committee, Senator Vasconcellos
was appointed by Attorney General Bill Lockyer to the
Statewide Task Force on Medical Marijuana. Val has served as guest
speaker to numerous other city councils, county supervisors, classrooms,
health services agencies, universities and colleges. She
also Co-developed with the County of Santa Cruz a Medical
Marijuana ID Card Program.
Val has also published several scholarly articles on the
application of marijuana
to medical problems.
On September 5, 2002, Val and Mike were arrested again. In
response to their arrest, the
city of Santa Cruz allowed WAMM to distribute marijuana on the steps
of city hall in September 17.
Presently, Val and Mike are involved in two lawsuits
against the federal government
resulting from their arrests, including an unprecedented case in
which the city and county of Santa Cruz have signed on as co-plaintiffs, acknowledging
WAMM as an integral part of the Santa Cruz Health Care system.
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About
the WAMM Organization
WAMM
has emerged as a unique model, a patient self-help alliance, and an alternative
to the inflated prices of an illicit black market. Need rather than financial
capability affirm the inherent value of medical marijuana. A handful of
seriously ill patients has grown into a collective membership of more than 250
seriously intentioned citizens.
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Val Corral and a patient working in the
garden.
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Active in education and
research, we provide data regarding our findings. Information collected since
1993 regarding the efficacy of different marijuana varieties and measured
effects on different symptoms is the basis for our study. I have recently
completed a second paper, Differential Effects of Medical Marijuana Based on
Strain & Route of Administration: A Three-Year Observational Study, peer
reviewed and published in 2001. Our
financial support is entirely dependent upon donations and funding. |
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We are not a
“buyer’s club,” we do not sell nor buy marijuana, rather approved
clients with a physician's recommendation receive services at no cost. We have
assigned a new value to marijuana, the relief that it provides from suffering.
Patient/members withdraw provisions from a common holding. Each member receives
according to need and returns to WAMM according to ability. There are no
financial or other demands required for participation. |
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About our members
WAMM
is a legitimate and necessary community service of Santa Cruz County serving
more than 250 seriously ill men and women who suffer from life threatening
illness. We do so as a legitimate city agent, functioning in compliance with
HS11362.5 and acting in accordance with Santa Cruz City Ordinance SC 2000-06
& 2000-12.
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receive a multitude of services including medical relief, but the creation of
community is an aspect of paramount concern to those disenfranchised by illness.
We enlist a collective council responsible for initiating ideas and responding
to internal problems. During our weekly support and supply meetings participants
join together to find much needed emotional and social support. Sick and dying
people often face discrimination, intolerance and arrest. Problem solving,
attention to the personal, empowerment, consciousness and awareness are among
the gifts that we are called upon to share. |
Val Corral and patient
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| Our family of members finds a
collective voice, a means of relief, and a sense of value within the support
systems of WAMM. Over the years clients have emerged from the isolation and fear
of a life threatening condition to become part of the WAMM community. And when
they face what we must all someday face, the inevitability of death, our care
teams often include other WAMM members.
Our friends in the community
Wamm often invites
speakers to speak at our meetings.
Here is a list of the 2005 speakers. If you have an interesting perspective
or profession dealing with healing, caregiving, or otherwise and would like
to share it at a WAMM meeting, please email: WAMM. |
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To contact us:-
WAMM
309 Cedar ST #39
Santa Cruz, California 95060.
Note: The address above is NOT our physical
location. Only stamped mail will be accepted here. No drop offs
please. Thank you!
email us
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