Jun 4, 2012 | MMJ News
By Chris Roberts
Source:SF Weekly
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It doesn’t take much to join a collective or cooperative in California, be it a grocery store or a medical cannabis dispensary. In the former, perhaps all you need is a small fee; in the latter, a doctor’s recommendation and the scrill required to purchase some medical bud.
It certainly doesn’t require a shovel or a turn digging in the dirt, despite Attorney General Kamala Harris’ best efforts to make the state’s medical marijuana users get down and dirty.
The California Supreme Court this week denied Harris’ appeal in People v. Colvin, in which the attorney general sought to uphold charges against a Hollywood-based dispensary operator. Harris had argued that every member of a collective — the legal model under which medical marijuana dispensaries operate — must “come together” in “some way” in order for the collective to enjoy legal protection.
The idea of forcing wheelchair-using AIDS and cancer patients to turn the dirt in order to enjoy their preferred medicine was a bit absurd, but it appeared Harris was serious about it. So both the seriously ill and healthy-looking young folk alike have the court to thank for keeping their hands clean (aside from the sticky, that is).
In this case, dispensary operator William Frank Colvin was driving a pound of marijuana from Hollywood Holistic Inc to a second dispensary he owned. He was denied a medical defense (and was prosecuted by Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who Harris defeated in the 2010 AG race), and was convicted because, the trial court found, “transportation had nothing to do with the cultivation process.”
On appeal, an appeals court in February overturned his conviction, allowed the state’s medical marijuana laws to be entered as a defense, and questioned Harris’ “vague” definition of a collective.
The court wrote:
The Attorney General does not specify how many members must participate or in what way or ways they must do so, except to imply that Holistic, with its 5,000 members and 14 growers, is simply too big to allow any “meaningful” participation in the cooperative process; hence, it cannot be a “cooperative” or a “collective” in the way section 11362.775 intended. But this interpretation of section 11362.775 would impose on medical marijuana cooperatives requirements not imposed on other cooperatives. A grocery cooperative, for example, may have members who grow and sell the food and run a store out of which the cooperative’s products are sold. But not everyone who pays a fee to become a member participates in the cooperative other than to shop at it.
Harris could not be reached for comment.
The California Supreme Court’s decision not to hear Harris’ appeal of the appeals court decision bodes well for other medical marijuana cases awaiting a high court ruling, according to Joe Elford, lead counsel for Americans for Safe Access.
“This landmark case also affirms the right of patients to purchase extracted or concentrated forms of medical marijuana and the right to transport medication from an off-site cultivate site,” said Elford, whose organization will also argue on behalf of Jovan Jackson, a San Diego-area dispensary operator also denied a medical defense.
ASA also has a stake in Pack v. Long Beach, which could decide the future of storefront dispensing collectives. The Supreme Court agreed to review that case; a decision is pending in the next few months.
Thus far in office, Harris hasn’t been much help — or harm — to medical marijuana patients, who campaigned heavily on her behalf in 2010. Harris has not done much to prosecute medical marijuana, but also deferred to the Legislature the responsibility to update now-Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2008 Attorney General Guidelines, which are used by law enforcement as well as cities as the rulebook for medical cannabis in California.
May 22, 2012 | Collective Operations
Medical marijuana is valuable and sought after item. A dispensary needs solid procedures in place to assure that its medicine isn’t being stolen. This will demand repeated physical counts of the products on hand and also accurate collection/accounting of sales. Preferably the dispensary’s point-of-sales program (POS) will track the dispensary’s inventory. You’ll need the ability to know what the present inventory available is at any particular time. A deviation report (POS count vs. actual) is your best way to identify problems. In case your greenroom/sales register employee switches shifts mid-day, you’ll choose to cross verify by performing a count then as well. You may encounter an instance exactly where one strain of medical marijuana is a few grams short but a different strain is a few grams over (but overall totals balance). This would reveal that the incorrect product was run through the POS system. You have to be far more concerned with the overall variance total (which combines all the various strains).The variance report is a superb process to have in place and will deter personnel from trying to steal.
(more…)
May 22, 2012 | Collective Operations
Encounters with Law Enforcement
The laws and attitudes toward the cannabis plant are ever changing. Currently, in California simple possession of marijuana is an infraction. Still, there are people who will be unfortunate enough to have an unpleasant contact with . From experience here are some suggestions. First off, always be polite. DO NOT GET BELIGERANT. It’s one thing to discuss your rights as an American citizen, and it’s another thing when you act aggressively toward law enforcement. Usually there are three stages to the typical encounter, the first stage is questioning, the second is detained, and the third is arrest. (more…)
May 10, 2012 | Collective Operations
FAQs
Why should I buy your guidebook? This is the most comprehensive book on the market. This book provides information on all aspects of opening a medical marijuana collective/dispensary and starting a legal medical marijuana grow – it is also priced extremely low given the quality of the material.
Aren’t there other books like this? No. The other books are written solely by lawyers or former dispensary owners. This book combines the expertise of medical marijuana owners, medical marijuana experts, and lawyers. This book also provides specific details on how to operate a successful Collective or grow in California. A lot of the other books are standardized with very little state specific information.
Will this book keep me out of jail? Hopefully, but you should understand that there is an underlying level or risk in this business that is beyond your control. You need to be able to accept the fact that anyone growing or possessing large quantities marijuana is at risk.
My City has banned dispensaries, can I still open? It’s probably best you open a discreet medical marijuana delivery service rather than a storefront dispensary. The regulation and legality of delivery services is still being determined but it is likely unconstitutional to ban these entities.
Aren’t the laws still changing? The core laws aren’t changing but the local laws are constantly changing. Any major changes will be available on our website and we encourage you to join our mailing list.
May 10, 2012 | Collective Operations, Proposed MMJ Law Changes
Per the California Attorney General’s Guidelines:
“Under California law, medical marijuana patients and primary caregivers may “associate within the State of California in order collectively or cooperatively to cultivate marijuana for medical purposes.” (§ 11362.775.) The following guidelines are meant to apply to qualified patients and primary caregivers who come together in order to collectively or cooperatively cultivate (physician-recommended) marijuana/cannabis.
Business Forms: Any group that is (a.) collectively or (B.) cooperatively cultivating and distributing marijuana for medical purposes should be organized and operated in a manner that ensures the security of the crop and safeguards against diversion for non-medical purposes. “
The attorney’s general guidelines were developed to help cooperatives and collectives operate within the law, and to help law enforcement determine whether they are doing so. (more…)
