California AAMC Director, National Political Affairs Director, founding member and AAMC Board member Ryan Landers died on April 2, 2016 at the age 44. Whether you know Ryan Landers or not, he has impacted your life and will for years to come. If you enjoy the privilege to use Medical Cannabis today you have Ryan Landers to thank. Ryan’s commitment to bring safe affordable access to medical marijuana patients started prior to the filing of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 also known as Prop 215 in California.

In July 1995, prior to the passing of Prop 215, Ryan was the Sacramento County Director for the Californians for Compassionate Use and spearheaded the signature gathering for that region! The spokesman and Poster Boy for the “yes on Prop 215” Campaign entailed education of doctors, outreach to the media, public, patients, local officials, law enforcement and legislators at the Capitol, continued public speaking events and of course, getting those signatures to pass prop 215 with a 55.6% approval by the voters.

Ryan was instrumental in leading the way for the rest of the country to move forward with more progressive medical marijuana laws and to provide safe affordable access to patients as we know it today.

Ryan’s passion did not change after the passage of Prop 215, in fact, Ryan had to work even harder to make sure the State laws were being upheld. Ryan believed in equal rights for all patients and to have access where ever it was necessary and he would often exercise that right to make a point such as the case when he got arrested in 1997 for smoking a joint on K street mall in Sacramento, CA. this was the first case ever filed by the county and then dropped for medical purposes. This would be the first of many cases for Ryan to defend and ultimately lead him to become an expert witness for medical Cannabis patient’s rights in our current Court system.

Ryan would then start up a support group for patients that had been arrested, tried or facing court cases in several counties including Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, San Joaquin and surrounding communities in Northern California.

His objective was to overcome the stigma associated with medical marijuana and to assist in court cases and instruct patients how to proceed with their cases. He also educated judges, attorneys, and juries for a successful outcome to their cases. Ryan was always willing to help patients in the local community including receiving pro-bono attorney work for those patients with high profile cases and always educating patients and referring them to doctors to get their recommendations to avoid any legal issues. Ryan’s work on high profile cases did not stop him from working on those smaller cases as he felt they were just as important.

It was September 1998 when Ryan again would be confronted by local law enforcement at his home regarding the cultivation of Medical Cannabis, however, after producing his recommendation and a letter from the Sacramento County District Attorney the Police officers would leave his home and the cultivation site intact telling him to have a nice day.

Ryan would continue to lobby for patients' rights with law enforcement, local and State officials for years to come. Always clean shaven, cropped hair, wearing a suit and tie, Ryan would often say “how can any official take us seriously if we don’t dress and act professionally”. It was this persistence and professionalism that would set Ryan apart from the rest and earn him the “Freedom Fighter of the month” award in May 1999 by High Times Magazine.

It would be six months later in November 1999 when Ryan would then challenge the system with his second home invasion robbery in 13 months where 2 lbs. of Cannabis was stolen. Travelers insurance would be the target this time filing a claim on his insurance policy. Travelers Insurance would issue a check within 6 days for a total $9,750.00 with the instruction to send in the police report when he received it. That police report was sent in 3 weeks which closed the case. This was a monumental feat for Ryan and patients as this was the first time in history where Travelers insurance or any insurance company paid on a Cannabis claim.

Ryan would encounter Narcotics Task Force Raid interaction again in June 2000 and would answer their questions leaving the 18 plants in the backyard alone, only to come back again in October just prior to harvesting. Flying overhead for 15 min. in a County helicopter and lighting up his house, then only to have to deal with ground unit deputies who were being very rude and in a vicious manner. Once again, no search was performed and no plants were taken.

In the struggle to move forward with the implementation of prop 215 Ryan saw the need to address the Capitol Legislators in private meetings and hearings on various bills. Ryan’s achievements read like a book in California history. Testifying on SB 535 Senator Vasconcellos Bill in (1997) with amendments accepted for passage and obtained 1 million dollars for Medical Marijuana Research. In opposition (1999) SB 2089 Senator Johannessen, he was able to kill that Bill which limited patients to 2 plants and 1/4 oz. which was half of Ryan’s daily use. Ryan would continue to testify at the capitol on behalf of patients’ rights and oppose those bills that infringed on patients’ rights or the rights to privacy on such bills as (1999) SB 847, (1999) SB 848 and SB 187 (2001). Through Ryan’s dedicated lobbying efforts he was then called on by the department of Justice to join in the Attorney General task force on Medical Marijuana and helped with securing sweeping amendments to SB 187 all of which ensured the patient protection and privacy which would become later known as SB 420 By Senator Vasconcellos. Thanks to Ryan’s dedicated hard work to this bill it has remained in effect and protected patients’ rights for 12 years and has saved many lives and helped keep patients out of the court rooms and jails.

Ryan continued to work with the California State Capitol & legislators for another decade protecting patient’s rights and coming up with solutions addressing their concerns. The State legislators would finally see the importance and need to implement a regulation package protecting medical patients and securing those rights for patients as a strong force was moving forward for adult use.

In recent years Ryan would work on the following bills, AB 2312, SB 1262, AB 2500, AB 604, AB 1588, SB 1193 and SB 289 a DUI bill that targeted medical marijuana patients with having more than 5 Nano grams in their system. This bill would have put every patient at risk of being arrested if you had consumed or had any Cannabis in your system while being behind the wheel. As you are aware, cannabis can remain in your system for 30 days and with those daily users it can even go longer with edibles. This Bill was defeated three years in a row and is currently back at the capitol under another bill number this year. Other bills that Ryan worked on and summited opposition and requesting amendments which ultimately passed in 2016 are, AB 266, AB 243 and SB 643 commonly known as Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act “MMRSA”. Ryan was not in favor of this regulation package, he opposed these bills. He submitted his concerns to the Legislators as it ultimately would compromise patients’ rights and would strip away all the work he had done on SB 420, MMRSA passed in October 2015 and will take effect on January 1, 2018.

Ryan’s fundamental belief was in Medical Cannabis use. He opposed legalization and felt that medical research was necessary before moving forward with legalization. He would not address adult use or legalization unless it infringed on patients’ rights, at that point, he would stand up, protest and defend his stance and fight against those initiatives such as he did with the “NO on Prop 19” campaign in 2012. This was no easy feat for Ryan, now he was debating against those close friends and activists that he admired, loved, worked alongside of and protested with for years going back to the filing of prop 215. Even during this time while going up against his fellow advocates he was treated with utmost respect and returned that respect. Needless to say Prop 19 would fail at the polls, the public would see through the pitfalls of this initiative and this made Ryan very happy with a successful outcome on the ”No on Prop 19 campaign”.

The state was only one facet in his level of activism. There was the fact that he spent a majority of his time during the course of 21 years educating and addressing City Council meetings, County Board of Supervisors meetings, private meetings and law enforcement in 7+ counties in Northern California for implementation of a local ordinances for safe affordable access for patients. The City of Sacramento would be his first order of business to help regulate a Medical Cannabis industry. Ryan would be instrumental in setting up a model ordinance which stands to this day and should be implemented in every local community.

Ryan’s commitment started with patient advocate groups to keep him in touch with the patients’ needs for a safe regulatory structure and crossed all lines of government including the California judicial system. He donated his time to the following activist groups, just to mention a few.

Californians for Compassionate Use - July 1995 to Apr 2016
Sacramento Director and Poster Boy for Prop 215

American Alliance for Medical Cannabis “AAMC” - Jan 2001 to Apr 2016
California State Director / National Political Affairs Director

Compassionate Coalition – Jan 2004 to Apr 2016
National Senior Advisor

Sac Patients Alliance - 2007 to Apr 2012
Political Affairs Advisor to Joy Cole

Crusaders for Patients’ Rights – July 2010 to Jan 2013
Patient Advocacy Director

Medicinal Cannabis Court Witness – Aug 2010 to Apr 2016
Expert testimony witness for Medical Cannabis cases.

Ryan was featured in a wide range of media events from radio, TV, news print, magazine, and received a number of honored awards. Starting from local news coverage on ABC, NBC, Fox, Good Morning America, Discovery News, Associated Press, Community access cable shows, Tokyo Television, High Times magazine, Cannabis Culture magazine, the Sacramento Bee, Sacramento News and Review “SNR” and Sac Alternative Magazine. He was featured and honored for the following awards that he took pride in:

May 1999- Freedom Fighter Award, High Times Magazine

2005- Cannabis Activists of the Decade, Sac. Activists & Club owners

Oct 2010- Named “Mr. Compassion”, Sacramento News & Review

Dec 2010- Top 100 most interesting people in Sacramento,

2014- Top 10 most influential people in Sacramento, Sac. Alternative Mag.

One thing is for sure, whether Ryan was starting up a support group for Vets! Holding up protests signs at the local city offices, County BOS, court house, the federal court house or even the White House, when it was time to medicate, he would do it, even if he had to go on the balcony at the State capitol. Ryan had earned that right after all, he had served his country in the Navy during the Gulf War, and when he was in pain he needed to spark up a joint. Likewise when going into a courthouse he would often spill his joints in front of security Guards just to get a reaction and be able exercise his rights. Whether you call him Ryan, Mr. Compassion, a Freedom Fighter, a Warrior, an Activist, a friend, a teacher or a mentor, we have truly lost a hero, an Icon in the our movement, you will be missed, but never forgotten my friend and fellow Advocate.

Ryan Peter Landers was born on November 26, 1971 in Visalia, California and passed away at the age of 44 on April 2, 2016 in Sacramento, California at 5:10 pm. Preceded in death by his cat Rascal and good friend and fellow activist Joy Cole. He leaves behind 2 adopted sons, Nathaniel, David and 4 grandchildren, his father Bob, stepmother April, brothers Bob Jr. and Erik, sister Sonja Servillo and their extended families.

Memorial services were held on Friday April 8, 2016 at 2:00 pm at the North Sacramento Funeral Home, 725 El Camino Ave, Sacramento, California. Private interment was on Monday April 11th, 2pm at the Exeter Cemetery in Exeter, CA.

Anyone visiting the grave site is welcome to leave flowers or you can make donations in Ryan’s name to The American Alliance for Medical Cannabis. http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/contribute.htm

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