Accepted medicinal use of marijuana is more than just a pipe dream to the American Medical Marijuana Association.

In an effort to educate medical marijuana patients about their rights, AMMA is offering a one-day Medical Marijuana School Saturday at the Northern California Center for the Arts at 314 West Main Street in Grass Valley.

“We need to alert people that there are risks in being a medical (marijuana) patient and the biggest risk is prison,” said Shelly Arnold, who will be teaching a cannabis cooking class at Saturday’s event. “We want to let people know that we really are on a mission here. It’s not a party. The purpose of this school is to teach people what their rights are so they can be informed. It’s open to anyone. You will not receive your medical marijuana card and this is not a bong party. This is an educational forum put on by the American Medical Marijuana Association.”

The school will encourage attendees to earn their “Prop 215 Diploma” by attending classes, seminars and panel discussions, viewing exhibits, displays and videos and reading handouts and booklets on medical marijuana. According to AMMA, those who “graduate” from the school will gain a thorough knowledge of their rights under the Compassionate Use Act and decide if marijuana can help treat their conditions.

“Our school gives residents of Placer, Nevada and El Dorado counties and others the chance to cut through all the confusion about medical marijuana and find out how the law and the medicine applies to them,” AMMA Legal Director Edie Lerman said in a written statement. “We will have doctors, lawyers, patients and activists on hand to share their knowledge and experience and we hope that any questions someone might have will be answered at Medical Marijuana School.”

Arnold, a medical marijuana caregiver, receives medical cannabis from doctors and medical lawyers and cooks the shake into butter.

“I’m teaching a cooking class so people can have containers of butter and take it home and make Rice Crispy treats and brownies,” she said. “I’ll show how to make oil and butter and a recipe or two you can do with it. Another woman is going to make Scampi out of medical marijuana butter.”

Also featured at the school will be an interactive display/question and answer session titled “How does your garden grow?”

“Basically what we’re doing is joining three counties to get people information on Proposition 215,” Arnold said. “There will be classes on how to know your rights and what the risks of growing are due to the fact we have many law enforcement officials who do not recognize Prop. 215.”

Arnold said people suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other illnesses need marijuana to ease their pain and often have to acquire it illegally which sometimes involves dealing with criminals.

“People are getting busted so I went in front of the (South Lake Tahoe) City Council and I asked City Council if they would please give us some guidelines so the medical marijuana patients in this town can receive their medicine without having to go through the black market.”