Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office misrepresented the position of California Attorney General Jerry Brown today, implying that the state’s top law enforcement official said that all sales of cannabis are illegal. That never happened. On Saturday, KFI Radio in Los Angeles broadcast a previously recorded statement by the Attorney General Brown in which he says, “Unfortunately, in some communities, Los Angeles in particular, there’s a lot of exploitation and just getting into the drug business, the dope business.”
Pundits at the notoriously conservative radio station (home to Rush Limbaugh and anti-gay crusader “Dr. Laura” Schlesinger) then added their own spin to the Attorney General’s comments. The reporters opined “California’s Attorney General says he supports efforts by LA prosecutors to go after marijuana dispensaries selling pot to patients. Jerry Brown says marijuana’s illegal to sell, no matter what, but he says the state’s medical marijuana laws are very confusing about who is allowed to provide the drug to patients.”
Really? No recorded evidence supports that expansive interpretation of the Attorney General’s comments. In fact, a spokesman told Americans for Safe Access today that the report was inaccurate and Brown has not changed his position. That didn’t stop the Jane Usher from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office from picking up where the ideologues at KFI left off, and taking it even further. She read the commentator’s expansive interpretation and the Attorney Generals comments back-to-back, never indicating to Councilmembers that she was mixing the two and muddying the waters.
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Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
Welcome to About Medical Cannabis. The site is designed to provide some practical resources for organizing and operating a medical cannabis patients’ collective or cooperative, which provides medicine to legally qualified medical cannabis patients.
My goal is to help new operators organize and operate their collectives in ways that are as safe and legitimate as possible in the current legal climate. A well-run collective is good for patients and for the grassroots movement to defend medical cannabis rights. A poorly run collective, however, is dangerous for patients and brings the integrity of our movement into question. Patients, operators, and advocates will all benefit from making our collectives the best they can be.
This site contains answers to frequently asked questions and other useful information. Of course, you will want to talk to an attorney and accountant before you open your collective. My advice is not a substitute for help from other professionals.
Operating a medical cannabis dispensing collective is a very important and compassionate project. It is also a lot of hard work. You should think hard about your level of commitment and the risk you’re willing to take before you begin this project. Some operators would do better for themselves, the patients, and the grassroots movement for medical cannabis if they decided not to operate dispensing collectives. There are easier and safer ways to earn a living. This is a line of work that is most appropriate for people who are committed to compassion – and to the cause of medical cannabis. If you are not committed to upholding the letter and the spirit of the law and to conducting your business affairs in an ethical and reputable manner, then you should not pursue this line of work. You will do more harm than good.
New operators also do well to reflect honestly upon their motives for opening a dispensing collective. Your motives will influence how you operate your collective and the decisions you make regarding your patients and community. The consequences for making bad decisions are serious for you, the patients, the community, and medical cannabis in general. If you say that your motive is compassion, then your actions should reflect this. Neighbors, elected officials, and police officers can tell when you’re being insincere. Do not put yourself and others at risk by failing to examine your motives.
I need to include a disclaimer to be very clear about my participation in conversations with new collective operators: I am not an attorney or an accountant. The contents of this message do not constitute professional legal or financial advice, nor am I recommending that you take any specific actions. This information is for educational purposes only. The contents are my own opinions.
Good luck with your project. Please keep me posted on your progress and let me know how I can help.
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