Monday, December 14, 2009, by Adrian Glick Kudler
Last week the City Council decided they'd cap marijuana dispensaries in the city at 70, picking that number because it "sounded reasonable to them," according to the LA Times. Councilmember Jose Huizar, who proposed the cap, actually had a rationale for picking that particular number, according to TIME: it allows "two dispensaries for each of the city's 35 community planning areas -- because he felt that was what the cash-strapped city should adequately regulate." (Eagle Rock in Huizar's district is an especially dispensary-thick neighborhood--the public safety director of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council tells the magazine there are 13 dispensaries in a two and a half mile radius and says, "It's literally the wild, wild West." [Not East?]) The City Council has to make up dispensary caps because they don't know how many people are using dispensaries; patient registration is voluntary. A spokesperson for Americans for Safe Access estimates that "tens of thousands reside in Los Angeles."
Fishy times ahead for dispensaries?>>>
The council hasn't voted on the full dispensary ordinance yet because they can't agree on a proposed addition that would prohibit dispensaries near private residences (prohibitions around schools, public parks, and places of worship were already included), and doubling the distance dispensaries need to be from these "sensitive-use areas," from 500 ft to 1,000 ft. Blogdowntown mapped out how that would look for downtown. Medical marijuana users might need to start familiarizing themselves with the Seafood District. [Image via blogdowntown]
· Trouble Ahead for Medical Marijuana in California [TIME]
· Visualizing the Debate Over Marijuana Dispensary Locations [blogdowntown]
→ Los Angeles
→ Jose Huizar
→ LA City Council
→ Marijuana
→ Marijuana Dispensaries
Monday, December 14, 2009
Colorado's Green Rush: Medical Marijuana
By Jim Spellman, CNN
December 14, 2009 9:31 a.m. EST
Denver, Colorado (CNN) -- Driving down Broadway, it's easy to forget you are in the United States. Amid the antique stores, bars and fast-food joints occupying nearly every block are some of Denver's newest businesses: medical marijuana dispensaries.
The locals call this thoroughfare "Broadsterdam." As in Amsterdam, Netherlands, these businesses openly advertise their wares, often with signs depicting large green marijuana leaves.
"The American capitalist system is working," said attorney and medical marijuana advocate Rob Corry.
It's a matter of supply and demand.
"The demand has always been there," he said, "and the demand is growing daily because more doctors are willing to do this, and now businesses, entrepreneurs, mom-and-pop shops are cropping up to create a supply."
Colorado voters legalized medical marijuana in 2000. For years, patients could get small amounts from "caregivers," the term for growers and dispensers who could each supply only five patients. In 2007, a court lifted that limit and business boomed.
Between 2000 and 2008, the state issued about 2,000 medical marijuana cards to patients. That number has grown to more than 60,000 in the last year.
State Sen. Chris Romer, a Democrat whose south Denver district includes Broadsterdam, said the state receives more than 900 applications a day.
"It's growing so fast, it's like the old Wild West," Romer said. "This reminds me of 1899 in Cripple Creek, Colorado, when somebody struck gold. Every 49er in the country is making it for Denver to open a medical marijuana dispensary."
They're calling it the Green Rush.
Interactive: Taking your medicine

Video: Marijuana family business
Corry, who has represented defendants in medical marijuana cases for years, is taking a different role: He has formed the Colorado Wellness Association, a trade group representing medical marijuana growers and providers.
"We want to be the Better Business Bureau of marijuana," he said.
On the 28th floor of a downtown building with a great view of the Rocky Mountains, Corry's office is adorned with vintage posters. One reads "Marihuana: Assassin of Youth!"
In the corner sits a plastic 6-foot marijuana plant. It's a prop from the TV show "Weeds," about a suburbanite mother who begins selling marijuana to make extra cash, Corry said.
The lagging economy has created an opening for medical marijuana, Corry said. As governments struggle for new sources of revenue, the prospect of taxing medical marijuana can be enticing.
The dispensaries are "paying taxes, hiring employees, renting out space, purchasing supplies and moving this economy along," he said. "Local governments need to get on the bandwagon and start realizing this is a major source of revenue and it can help us cure our bankrupt governments."
The association aims to get a larger supply of marijuana into the dispensaries and make sure it is safe, Corry said.
See the different ways to use marijuana
"What we're looking at is quality control," he said. "We have the technology to make sure there's no harmful toxins, pesticides."
Bob Winnicki is a 35-year-old analyst and co-owner of Full Spectrum Laboratories, which the wellness association uses for testing.
"We're trying to get away from smelling, texture, color" as a measure of quality cannabis, he said, adding that he prefers "hard analytical data."
Wearing a dress shirt and tie under a white lab coat, Winnicki opens envelopes with samples of marijuana dropped off by growers and dispensers. He puts the marijuana into test tubes and mixes it with a solution to create a greenish liquid. The test tube goes into a machine that performs a chemical analysis.
The active ingredient in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. But Winnicki said it's other, less understood components that may provide much of the claimed medicinal benefits.
Winnicki is not a marijuana user, he said. In July, he took a break from medical school to start the lab because he loves "the science" behind medical marijuana and thinks the market is wide open, he said.
"There's a lot of money to be had in it, and there's a lot of jobs and growth that can come out of it," he said.
Across the city, entrepreneurs are trying to get in on the Green Rush. In a northwest Denver neighborhood, Aaron Randle is tending to his new shop, Sunnyside Alternative Medicine.
He opened in September and said he has about 100 customers so far.
Read about a mother and son who grow marijuana
"I've been an electrician for eight years and before that I had a cable contracting company. It's always been a dream to work for myself," he said. "I'm very passionate about marijuana."
I personally haven't tried it yet, but I'm not saying someday before I'm done I won't.
--State Sen. Chris Romer on medical marijuana
RELATED TOPICS
Medical Marijuana
Denver
Customers drop by his modest storefront operation and take a seat in a small waiting room. It's no different than a dentist's office except the magazine rack is stuffed with High Times, a publication for marijuana buffs, instead of Sports Illustrated and parenting magazines.
One at a time, customers survey a display case full of marijuana strains as well as marijuana-infused brownies, taffy and lollipops. Maui Waui and Purple Kush are popular strains. It costs $50 for an eighth of an ounce, $54 with tax. Purchases go into a plastic prescription bottle and then into a white bag that reads, "Prescriptions. Thank You!"
Randle proudly displays his business license on the wall.
"There's a lot of jobs created because of medical marijuana," he said. "You have employees that work at the dispensaries, then you have vendors that are getting paid. ... Real estate is booming right now. Warehouses are getting rented out for grow operations."
What Randle calls "vendors" are marijuana growers, a mix of people who operate "grow houses," where the plants are cultivated using elaborate lighting systems, or small-scale farmers who operate in rural areas.
Zack Moore is a grower with a small greenhouse operation in southern Colorado. He also is a medical marijuana patient. A snowboarding accident knocked out his two front teeth, and he smokes marijuana for relief from various aches and pains, he said.
He rolls a joint and lights up before having a seat in a rocking chair in the afternoon sun. With a basket of marijuana in front of him, he uses toenail scissors to trim the dried plants. When he's done, he will have made about $6,000 for six months work, he said.
Though he hopes to do better next season, he's happy to be working.
"I build houses for a living. There's not many houses to be built right now."
Not everyone is happy with the changes the legalization of medical marijuana has brought to the state.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said the amendment to the state constitution that allowed the new businesses is flawed.
"Colorado has seen a rapid proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries and patients since the Justice Department earlier this year announced it would not actively prosecute medical marijuana businesses -- despite the fact that marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law," he said in an October statement.
"Amendment 20, written by marijuana-legalization proponents, is very vague. Our state lawmakers must give clarification to Amendment 20 and create a regulatory scheme for the growing medical marijuana industry."
State Sen. Romer concurs. "Right now it's easier to get a medical marijuana license than it is to get a liquor license," he said.
Currently, patients need to see a doctor only one time to get a recommendation that enables them to buy medical marijuana. Patients can choose to pay $90 to file with the state and receive a card identifying them as medical marijuana patients. The cards do not expire.
To become a provider or grower of medical marijuana, entrepreneurs need to have a patient name them as a caregiver when they file for a medical marijuana card.
Romer said he doesn't want to limit legitimately sick people's access to medical marijuana, but he doesn't want to see the state law turned into de facto legalization of marijuana.
"Amendment 20 never dealt with where you got the medical marijuana," he said. "We're going to license the growers and we're going to license the caregivers."
Romer wants to keep marijuana out of the hands of teenagers and hopes to channel some of the revenues into programs to treat substance abuse.
One of the most difficult aspects for lawmakers is how to define true medical need. Romer is keeping an open mind.
"I think you're having a lot of baby boomers who, all of us, are feeling a lot of aches and pains [and] are going to decide to try medical marijuana," he said. "I personally haven't tried it yet, but I'm not saying someday before I'm done I won't."
December 14, 2009 9:31 a.m. EST
Denver, Colorado (CNN) -- Driving down Broadway, it's easy to forget you are in the United States. Amid the antique stores, bars and fast-food joints occupying nearly every block are some of Denver's newest businesses: medical marijuana dispensaries.
The locals call this thoroughfare "Broadsterdam." As in Amsterdam, Netherlands, these businesses openly advertise their wares, often with signs depicting large green marijuana leaves.
"The American capitalist system is working," said attorney and medical marijuana advocate Rob Corry.
It's a matter of supply and demand.
"The demand has always been there," he said, "and the demand is growing daily because more doctors are willing to do this, and now businesses, entrepreneurs, mom-and-pop shops are cropping up to create a supply."
Colorado voters legalized medical marijuana in 2000. For years, patients could get small amounts from "caregivers," the term for growers and dispensers who could each supply only five patients. In 2007, a court lifted that limit and business boomed.
Between 2000 and 2008, the state issued about 2,000 medical marijuana cards to patients. That number has grown to more than 60,000 in the last year.
State Sen. Chris Romer, a Democrat whose south Denver district includes Broadsterdam, said the state receives more than 900 applications a day.
"It's growing so fast, it's like the old Wild West," Romer said. "This reminds me of 1899 in Cripple Creek, Colorado, when somebody struck gold. Every 49er in the country is making it for Denver to open a medical marijuana dispensary."
They're calling it the Green Rush.
Interactive: Taking your medicine

Video: Marijuana family business
Corry, who has represented defendants in medical marijuana cases for years, is taking a different role: He has formed the Colorado Wellness Association, a trade group representing medical marijuana growers and providers.
"We want to be the Better Business Bureau of marijuana," he said.
On the 28th floor of a downtown building with a great view of the Rocky Mountains, Corry's office is adorned with vintage posters. One reads "Marihuana: Assassin of Youth!"
In the corner sits a plastic 6-foot marijuana plant. It's a prop from the TV show "Weeds," about a suburbanite mother who begins selling marijuana to make extra cash, Corry said.
The lagging economy has created an opening for medical marijuana, Corry said. As governments struggle for new sources of revenue, the prospect of taxing medical marijuana can be enticing.
The dispensaries are "paying taxes, hiring employees, renting out space, purchasing supplies and moving this economy along," he said. "Local governments need to get on the bandwagon and start realizing this is a major source of revenue and it can help us cure our bankrupt governments."
The association aims to get a larger supply of marijuana into the dispensaries and make sure it is safe, Corry said.
See the different ways to use marijuana
"What we're looking at is quality control," he said. "We have the technology to make sure there's no harmful toxins, pesticides."
Bob Winnicki is a 35-year-old analyst and co-owner of Full Spectrum Laboratories, which the wellness association uses for testing.
"We're trying to get away from smelling, texture, color" as a measure of quality cannabis, he said, adding that he prefers "hard analytical data."
Wearing a dress shirt and tie under a white lab coat, Winnicki opens envelopes with samples of marijuana dropped off by growers and dispensers. He puts the marijuana into test tubes and mixes it with a solution to create a greenish liquid. The test tube goes into a machine that performs a chemical analysis.
The active ingredient in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. But Winnicki said it's other, less understood components that may provide much of the claimed medicinal benefits.
Winnicki is not a marijuana user, he said. In July, he took a break from medical school to start the lab because he loves "the science" behind medical marijuana and thinks the market is wide open, he said.
"There's a lot of money to be had in it, and there's a lot of jobs and growth that can come out of it," he said.
Across the city, entrepreneurs are trying to get in on the Green Rush. In a northwest Denver neighborhood, Aaron Randle is tending to his new shop, Sunnyside Alternative Medicine.
He opened in September and said he has about 100 customers so far.
Read about a mother and son who grow marijuana
"I've been an electrician for eight years and before that I had a cable contracting company. It's always been a dream to work for myself," he said. "I'm very passionate about marijuana."
I personally haven't tried it yet, but I'm not saying someday before I'm done I won't.
--State Sen. Chris Romer on medical marijuana
RELATED TOPICS
Medical Marijuana
Denver
Customers drop by his modest storefront operation and take a seat in a small waiting room. It's no different than a dentist's office except the magazine rack is stuffed with High Times, a publication for marijuana buffs, instead of Sports Illustrated and parenting magazines.
One at a time, customers survey a display case full of marijuana strains as well as marijuana-infused brownies, taffy and lollipops. Maui Waui and Purple Kush are popular strains. It costs $50 for an eighth of an ounce, $54 with tax. Purchases go into a plastic prescription bottle and then into a white bag that reads, "Prescriptions. Thank You!"
Randle proudly displays his business license on the wall.
"There's a lot of jobs created because of medical marijuana," he said. "You have employees that work at the dispensaries, then you have vendors that are getting paid. ... Real estate is booming right now. Warehouses are getting rented out for grow operations."
What Randle calls "vendors" are marijuana growers, a mix of people who operate "grow houses," where the plants are cultivated using elaborate lighting systems, or small-scale farmers who operate in rural areas.
Zack Moore is a grower with a small greenhouse operation in southern Colorado. He also is a medical marijuana patient. A snowboarding accident knocked out his two front teeth, and he smokes marijuana for relief from various aches and pains, he said.
He rolls a joint and lights up before having a seat in a rocking chair in the afternoon sun. With a basket of marijuana in front of him, he uses toenail scissors to trim the dried plants. When he's done, he will have made about $6,000 for six months work, he said.
Though he hopes to do better next season, he's happy to be working.
"I build houses for a living. There's not many houses to be built right now."
Not everyone is happy with the changes the legalization of medical marijuana has brought to the state.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said the amendment to the state constitution that allowed the new businesses is flawed.
"Colorado has seen a rapid proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries and patients since the Justice Department earlier this year announced it would not actively prosecute medical marijuana businesses -- despite the fact that marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law," he said in an October statement.
"Amendment 20, written by marijuana-legalization proponents, is very vague. Our state lawmakers must give clarification to Amendment 20 and create a regulatory scheme for the growing medical marijuana industry."
State Sen. Romer concurs. "Right now it's easier to get a medical marijuana license than it is to get a liquor license," he said.
Currently, patients need to see a doctor only one time to get a recommendation that enables them to buy medical marijuana. Patients can choose to pay $90 to file with the state and receive a card identifying them as medical marijuana patients. The cards do not expire.
To become a provider or grower of medical marijuana, entrepreneurs need to have a patient name them as a caregiver when they file for a medical marijuana card.
Romer said he doesn't want to limit legitimately sick people's access to medical marijuana, but he doesn't want to see the state law turned into de facto legalization of marijuana.
"Amendment 20 never dealt with where you got the medical marijuana," he said. "We're going to license the growers and we're going to license the caregivers."
Romer wants to keep marijuana out of the hands of teenagers and hopes to channel some of the revenues into programs to treat substance abuse.
One of the most difficult aspects for lawmakers is how to define true medical need. Romer is keeping an open mind.
"I think you're having a lot of baby boomers who, all of us, are feeling a lot of aches and pains [and] are going to decide to try medical marijuana," he said. "I personally haven't tried it yet, but I'm not saying someday before I'm done I won't."
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Slow burn: New Maine marijuana rules will take time to implement
A task force has until the end of the month to recommend how Maine should implement its new medical marijuana law, which calls for a patient registry and dispensaries.
Maine Gov. John Baldacci convened the 14-member group to "implement the will of the people" after nearly 60 percent of voters backed Question 5 in November. He said the group will ensure there are "appropriate safeguards in place to protect the public health and safety."
As soon as the votes were counted, state officials started hearing from people "interested in getting or growing marijuana," said Lucky Hollander, director of legislative relations at the Department of Health and Human Services.
The group's recommendations are due by Dec. 31, and then the Legislature will begin its review. Final rules are expected to be in place in the spring.
Baldacci's executive order forming the task force directs members to consider what's taken place in 13 other states that allow medical marijuana, including the four — Rhode Island, New Mexico, Colorado and California — that are dispensary states.
By supporting the change, voters backed a citizen initiative that resuscitated a bill state lawmakers had rejected. The new law permits people with "debilitating medical conditions," as diagnosed by a physician licensed in Maine, to use medical marijuana if they get written certification from the physician vouching for the drug's therapeutic benefits.
The law also changes the description of the medical conditions that warrant medical use of marijuana, including cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, hepatitis C, Chron's disease and conditions that produce "intractable pain."
"With this new law, there are currently tens of thousands of those qualified patients in the state of Maine," said Jonathan Leavitt, Question 5's official proponent and coordinator with Maine Citizens for Patients Rights.
Patients, upon registering with the state, would get an identification card qualifying them to possess no more than 2 1⁄2 ounces of marijuana. Residents can receive the drug from a caregiver who they are linked to in the registration process, or if needed, possess up to six plants to obtain the drug themselves.
There will be nonprofit dispensaries, which will be able to "acquire, possess, cultivate, manufacture, use, deliver, transfer or transport" the drug without fear of prosecution. There is no limit to the number of patients a dispensary can serve.
Allen St. Pierre, a native Mainer and executive director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said dispensary operators, possibly including those already doing business in other states, likely will look to locate to locales where "the local mores and values" support the law and already attract retail businesses.
Josh Stanley, owner of the Denver-based Peace in Medicine Center, a medicinal cannabis dispensary that also offers yoga and nutrition classes, said he's reviewing Maine's law and gauging public opinion to see if the state could serve as a good satellite location for his company.
"We're in the middle of looking at the legislative rulings in that state," he said. "We want to work closely with legislators to see what they want to see."
St. Pierre said local governing bodies also likely will be more receptive than in the past since "today, across the country, baby boomers are in control," and "they have a much different attitude about marijuana than the prior generation."
Ethan Nadelmann of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance has said dispensaries won't populate Maine like they do Los Angeles because of stricter provisions here. In Maine, unlike California, all dispensaries will need state licenses.
Until the new rules are finalized, however, it's unclear what form the dispensaries will take or where they'll end up. The law, however, allows communities to limit the number of dispensaries operating locally.
Maine's law also directs DHHS to establish application and renewal fees that will cover administering the law. Leavitt said "revenue from this new program should be paying for Maine's expansion of its agricultural base."
At Tuesday's task force meeting, the confidentiality of those who participate was at issue. The panel opposes making the names public on the Internet or elsewhere, but members agreed the names would be made available to police in a "silent registry" if needed as part of an investigation.
Ten years ago, voters approved a medical marijuana program that let them possess the drug, but the measure didn't address how the public could legally access it.
Under the new law, "eligible patients must have documents and part of it includes information that a physician has reviewed the use of medical marijuana and that the physician feels that it might or may provide therapeutic value," said Bill Savage, senior assistant attorney general.
Still, it's not expected the state's doctors will universally adopt the option.
"I think that doctors, just like the population at large, are going to have widely divergent views about this," said Andy MacLean, the deputy executive vice president at the Maine Medical Association.
The association hasn't taken a position on the law but is willing to aid in its implementation and ensure doctors are aware of certain concerns, including potential liability issues, MacLean said.
"We are talking about an unregulated substance that may have impurities in it," he said.
The law doesn't require doctors to recommend medial marijuana use, MacLean said.
Sanford physician Bill Chernin agreed that opinion among doctors varies but thinks "most of us are fairly open-minded," so long as use of medical marijuana proves beneficial to the patient and the drug doesn't make its way "to another segment of the population."
He said he's had patients who say they smoke marijuana at night to help them sleep or to perk their appetite or decrease anxiety.
"For some of them it does do the trick and maybe what I have to offer is no better and may be more dangerous," he said. "I think we all recommend marijuana use in excess can have its downfalls as well."
The law before the task force also says someone visiting Maine can use medical marijuana if they have a registration card or its equivalent from another state. But Savage said other states' laws will apply should a user from Maine be in another state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Adam D. Krauss
akrauss@fosters.com
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Maine Gov. John Baldacci convened the 14-member group to "implement the will of the people" after nearly 60 percent of voters backed Question 5 in November. He said the group will ensure there are "appropriate safeguards in place to protect the public health and safety."
As soon as the votes were counted, state officials started hearing from people "interested in getting or growing marijuana," said Lucky Hollander, director of legislative relations at the Department of Health and Human Services.
The group's recommendations are due by Dec. 31, and then the Legislature will begin its review. Final rules are expected to be in place in the spring.
Baldacci's executive order forming the task force directs members to consider what's taken place in 13 other states that allow medical marijuana, including the four — Rhode Island, New Mexico, Colorado and California — that are dispensary states.
By supporting the change, voters backed a citizen initiative that resuscitated a bill state lawmakers had rejected. The new law permits people with "debilitating medical conditions," as diagnosed by a physician licensed in Maine, to use medical marijuana if they get written certification from the physician vouching for the drug's therapeutic benefits.
The law also changes the description of the medical conditions that warrant medical use of marijuana, including cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, hepatitis C, Chron's disease and conditions that produce "intractable pain."
"With this new law, there are currently tens of thousands of those qualified patients in the state of Maine," said Jonathan Leavitt, Question 5's official proponent and coordinator with Maine Citizens for Patients Rights.
Patients, upon registering with the state, would get an identification card qualifying them to possess no more than 2 1⁄2 ounces of marijuana. Residents can receive the drug from a caregiver who they are linked to in the registration process, or if needed, possess up to six plants to obtain the drug themselves.
There will be nonprofit dispensaries, which will be able to "acquire, possess, cultivate, manufacture, use, deliver, transfer or transport" the drug without fear of prosecution. There is no limit to the number of patients a dispensary can serve.
Allen St. Pierre, a native Mainer and executive director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said dispensary operators, possibly including those already doing business in other states, likely will look to locate to locales where "the local mores and values" support the law and already attract retail businesses.
Josh Stanley, owner of the Denver-based Peace in Medicine Center, a medicinal cannabis dispensary that also offers yoga and nutrition classes, said he's reviewing Maine's law and gauging public opinion to see if the state could serve as a good satellite location for his company.
"We're in the middle of looking at the legislative rulings in that state," he said. "We want to work closely with legislators to see what they want to see."
St. Pierre said local governing bodies also likely will be more receptive than in the past since "today, across the country, baby boomers are in control," and "they have a much different attitude about marijuana than the prior generation."
Ethan Nadelmann of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance has said dispensaries won't populate Maine like they do Los Angeles because of stricter provisions here. In Maine, unlike California, all dispensaries will need state licenses.
Until the new rules are finalized, however, it's unclear what form the dispensaries will take or where they'll end up. The law, however, allows communities to limit the number of dispensaries operating locally.
Maine's law also directs DHHS to establish application and renewal fees that will cover administering the law. Leavitt said "revenue from this new program should be paying for Maine's expansion of its agricultural base."
At Tuesday's task force meeting, the confidentiality of those who participate was at issue. The panel opposes making the names public on the Internet or elsewhere, but members agreed the names would be made available to police in a "silent registry" if needed as part of an investigation.
Ten years ago, voters approved a medical marijuana program that let them possess the drug, but the measure didn't address how the public could legally access it.
Under the new law, "eligible patients must have documents and part of it includes information that a physician has reviewed the use of medical marijuana and that the physician feels that it might or may provide therapeutic value," said Bill Savage, senior assistant attorney general.
Still, it's not expected the state's doctors will universally adopt the option.
"I think that doctors, just like the population at large, are going to have widely divergent views about this," said Andy MacLean, the deputy executive vice president at the Maine Medical Association.
The association hasn't taken a position on the law but is willing to aid in its implementation and ensure doctors are aware of certain concerns, including potential liability issues, MacLean said.
"We are talking about an unregulated substance that may have impurities in it," he said.
The law doesn't require doctors to recommend medial marijuana use, MacLean said.
Sanford physician Bill Chernin agreed that opinion among doctors varies but thinks "most of us are fairly open-minded," so long as use of medical marijuana proves beneficial to the patient and the drug doesn't make its way "to another segment of the population."
He said he's had patients who say they smoke marijuana at night to help them sleep or to perk their appetite or decrease anxiety.
"For some of them it does do the trick and maybe what I have to offer is no better and may be more dangerous," he said. "I think we all recommend marijuana use in excess can have its downfalls as well."
The law before the task force also says someone visiting Maine can use medical marijuana if they have a registration card or its equivalent from another state. But Savage said other states' laws will apply should a user from Maine be in another state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Adam D. Krauss
akrauss@fosters.com
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Medical Marijuana Acquires 20 Acre Property to be Used as Research Facility
Rochester, New York 12/12/2009 09:00 AM GMT (TransWorldNews)
Medical Marijuana, Inc. (PKS. MJNA) has acquired 20 acres of mountain valley property in Southern California. The property is planned on being used, within government guidelines, as a research facility to target specific strains of Cannabis to be used to treat a variety of medical conditions.
MicroCap Insider is a web-based financial portal that publishes a free penny stock newsletter providing stock alerts on companies positioned to deliver high-yield gains to investors. Sign Up for our Free Stock Newsletter
Currently, California law bases a patient's medical cannabis on the physician's recommendation. For instance if the patient is in need of a pain therapy they would use an Indica dominant strain. If the patient needs a more energetic and less cloudy high they would use a Sativa dominant strain. By developing the most efficient strains for specific medical conditions Medical Marijuana will be able to more effectively help patients to treat their illness.
Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA), an Oregon Corporation, was founded in March 2009 for the purpose of providing advanced business solutions to the rapidly expanding Medical Marijuana industry. MJNA provides integrated tax oversight and collection solutions to local, state and federal governments, while also providing business management solutions to the industry that will confidently ensure compliance with local, state and federal regulations.
Investors interested in receiving small cap stock alerts through the penny stock newsletter published by MicroCap Insider can sign up for free by visiting our website
About Us
MicroCap Insider is a leading penny stock web site with extensive experience in the OTC market, providing top stock picks, investing tips and exclusive research on small cap stocks on the verge of producing large financial gains.
Please click here to read the full disclaimer
Medical Marijuana, Inc. (PKS. MJNA) has acquired 20 acres of mountain valley property in Southern California. The property is planned on being used, within government guidelines, as a research facility to target specific strains of Cannabis to be used to treat a variety of medical conditions.
MicroCap Insider is a web-based financial portal that publishes a free penny stock newsletter providing stock alerts on companies positioned to deliver high-yield gains to investors. Sign Up for our Free Stock Newsletter
Currently, California law bases a patient's medical cannabis on the physician's recommendation. For instance if the patient is in need of a pain therapy they would use an Indica dominant strain. If the patient needs a more energetic and less cloudy high they would use a Sativa dominant strain. By developing the most efficient strains for specific medical conditions Medical Marijuana will be able to more effectively help patients to treat their illness.
Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC: MJNA), an Oregon Corporation, was founded in March 2009 for the purpose of providing advanced business solutions to the rapidly expanding Medical Marijuana industry. MJNA provides integrated tax oversight and collection solutions to local, state and federal governments, while also providing business management solutions to the industry that will confidently ensure compliance with local, state and federal regulations.
Investors interested in receiving small cap stock alerts through the penny stock newsletter published by MicroCap Insider can sign up for free by visiting our website
About Us
MicroCap Insider is a leading penny stock web site with extensive experience in the OTC market, providing top stock picks, investing tips and exclusive research on small cap stocks on the verge of producing large financial gains.
Please click here to read the full disclaimer
Grand Rapids official: Allowing medical marijuana sales from homes preferable to stand-alone marijuana dispensaries
GRAND RAPIDS -- Allowing medical marijuana sales from the homes of those who grow is preferable to allowing stand-alone marijuana dispensaries, City Planning Director Suzanne Schulz said Thursday.
"We are going to have people doing it anyway," Schultz told the city's Planning Commission.
The commission tabled the matter, vowing to discuss it next month despite several members who said they were aghast at the prospect of allowing marijuana distribution in neighborhoods.
"Obviously it's an emotional issue," Commission Vice Chairman Paul Potter said.
"We have to educate ourselves or we will make a decision that is not fact-based."
Schulz said her proposal to allow home distribution would allow the city to outlaw larger dispensaries that could cause problems.
State law approved last year allows distribution by state-licensed caregivers who are limited to five patients each. Caregivers are allowed to raise 12 marijuana plants for each one of their patients.
Not allowing home distribution would open the city to accusations it was illegally outlawing a legitimate business, Schulz said.
The state law allows licensed caregivers to supply marijuana to patients who get recommendations from medical doctors for a handful of diseases such as AIDs, chemotherapy reactions and seizures.
To date, the state has issued 6,125 medical marijuana patient registrations and has registered 2,572 caregivers, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The ordinance proposed by Schulz also would allow distribution from pharmacies, medical clinics or doctors' offices.
Although pharmacists and doctors are barred from distributing marijuana by federal law, Schulz said the ordinance would allow caregivers to use their facilities for distribution.
The ordinance also could accommodate possible changes in federal law, she said.
The Grand Rapids Police Department is opposed to having marijuana dispensaries in residential neighborhoods, Sgt. Holly Botts said.
But complying with the law will be difficult for police because they won't be able to determine which marijuana distributors are legitimate, said Botts, who works in the vice unit.
"The law is very gray," she said. "Trust me, every agency in the state is encountering things they don't have answers for.
Botts said most police agencies are basing their concern on California's 12 years of experience with legalized medical marijuana.
"They have an ungodly number of dispensaries," she said.
"Our concern is getting a grip on it before it gets out of control."
Olon Tucker, owner of the Medical Marijuana Learning Center, told commissioners he wants to create a business educating caregivers and patients.
Limiting medical marijuana to pharmacies and clinical settings would deny business opportunities in what has become a billion-dollar industry in California, he said.
By Jim Harger | The Grand Rapids Press
December 10, 2009, 9:03PM
"We are going to have people doing it anyway," Schultz told the city's Planning Commission.
The commission tabled the matter, vowing to discuss it next month despite several members who said they were aghast at the prospect of allowing marijuana distribution in neighborhoods.
"Obviously it's an emotional issue," Commission Vice Chairman Paul Potter said.
"We have to educate ourselves or we will make a decision that is not fact-based."
Schulz said her proposal to allow home distribution would allow the city to outlaw larger dispensaries that could cause problems.
State law approved last year allows distribution by state-licensed caregivers who are limited to five patients each. Caregivers are allowed to raise 12 marijuana plants for each one of their patients.
Not allowing home distribution would open the city to accusations it was illegally outlawing a legitimate business, Schulz said.
The state law allows licensed caregivers to supply marijuana to patients who get recommendations from medical doctors for a handful of diseases such as AIDs, chemotherapy reactions and seizures.
To date, the state has issued 6,125 medical marijuana patient registrations and has registered 2,572 caregivers, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The ordinance proposed by Schulz also would allow distribution from pharmacies, medical clinics or doctors' offices.
Although pharmacists and doctors are barred from distributing marijuana by federal law, Schulz said the ordinance would allow caregivers to use their facilities for distribution.
The ordinance also could accommodate possible changes in federal law, she said.
The Grand Rapids Police Department is opposed to having marijuana dispensaries in residential neighborhoods, Sgt. Holly Botts said.
But complying with the law will be difficult for police because they won't be able to determine which marijuana distributors are legitimate, said Botts, who works in the vice unit.
"The law is very gray," she said. "Trust me, every agency in the state is encountering things they don't have answers for.
Botts said most police agencies are basing their concern on California's 12 years of experience with legalized medical marijuana.
"They have an ungodly number of dispensaries," she said.
"Our concern is getting a grip on it before it gets out of control."
Olon Tucker, owner of the Medical Marijuana Learning Center, told commissioners he wants to create a business educating caregivers and patients.
Limiting medical marijuana to pharmacies and clinical settings would deny business opportunities in what has become a billion-dollar industry in California, he said.
By Jim Harger | The Grand Rapids Press
December 10, 2009, 9:03PM
L.A. council puts off vote on medical marijuana dispensaries
The issue probably won't be considered until next year, after the city Planning Department prepares maps showing where the outlets could be located.
By John Hoeffel
December 10, 2009
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday shunted a vote on its much-delayed medical marijuana ordinance most likely into next year, worried that the draft proposal could eliminate most dispensaries and lead to just a few "big-box" pot stores in isolated industrial areas.
The unexpected decision slowed the breakneck schedule the council had adhered to in recent weeks in its drive to pass an ordinance before the end of the year. The council has been on fast-forward since October, when a judge ruled that the city's moratorium on dispensaries was invalid, leaving Los Angeles with almost no power to shut down hundreds that have opened without permission in the last two years.
But key council members had second thoughts about the council's decision Tuesday to require dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet from any residences. The council, at the end of a marathon session, voted for the amendment even though city planners warned that it might eliminate most locations.
"I think by doing that, we just gutted the entire work that we have done," said council President Eric Garcetti, who pressed for the delay.
He said that he believed the council's decision Tuesday to cap the number of dispensaries at 70 "is very cynical when in reality we know there's going to be about five or 10 mega-dispensaries that would be in industrial parks, and that's it."
Overnight, the council appeared to shift its stance from speedily enacting a very restrictive ordinance that could be softened later to making sure the ordinance is right the first time. "I'm glad that we're not rushing something through," Garcetti said. "We can't get this wrong."
Over the objections of several members, the council decided to wait until the Planning Department can finish maps that show how many sites are available 500 feet and 1,000 feet from so-called sensitive uses, such as schools, parks, churches and residences.
S. Gail Goldberg, the city planning director, said she would like to finish both versions for each of the city's 35 community plan areas by next Wednesday, when the council is scheduled to review them. "I actually have my mapping people not doing anything else right now," she said. "I want to get this done."
Councilman Ed Reyes, who oversaw the effort to write an ordinance, urged the council to "just take a deep breath" and wait for the maps.
"We are going to find that we have literally restricted this thing out of the city and that we will see ourselves in court because of the position we put ourselves in," he said.
The council has known for years that it was likely to restrict dispensary locations. More than four years ago, then-Police Chief William J. Bratton recommended that dispensaries be kept from neighborhoods, schools and recreational areas. The first draft ordinance, written 20 months ago, prohibited dispensaries within a 1,000-foot radius of a list of sensitive uses that is similar to those in the current draft.
Reyes said he asked for the maps several months ago. City planners did submit sample maps in September for two community plan areas using 1,000-foot buffers.
Goldberg said the planning department, with its limited resources, was unable to complete the maps before the council altered the location criteria, which means the mappers have to take new data into account.
"This was a huge task for the Planning Department to take on," she said.
Alan Bell, a senior city planner, said that creating the maps involves analyzing multiple sets of data and making calculations for every radius drawn. "It's not as simple as pushing a button," he said. "I have to say what we've done in the last few months has been unprecedented."
Garcetti said he studied his council district Tuesday night and could not find any locations for dispensaries. "I was worried that all the work we had done and everything that we wanted to do had gone to the wind," he said. After some debate over removing residences from the list, Garcetti asked the council to wait for the maps. "Then we'll be able to do something that is . . . logical and fair," he said.
A few council members urged the council not to put off a vote on the ordinance.
"We could have voted today. We have enough information. We don't need the maps," said Councilman Jose Huizar. "We have come a long way, and I think we have an ordinance that strikes a balance between neighborhood concerns and access."
Reyes said he did not think the delay would make much difference and could lead to a better ordinance. "Let's be frank," he told the council, "not much is going to happen between now and the holidays."
But Councilman Richard Alarcon said, "I say we do it and then we can truly have happy holidays."
john.hoeffel@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
By John Hoeffel
December 10, 2009
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday shunted a vote on its much-delayed medical marijuana ordinance most likely into next year, worried that the draft proposal could eliminate most dispensaries and lead to just a few "big-box" pot stores in isolated industrial areas.
The unexpected decision slowed the breakneck schedule the council had adhered to in recent weeks in its drive to pass an ordinance before the end of the year. The council has been on fast-forward since October, when a judge ruled that the city's moratorium on dispensaries was invalid, leaving Los Angeles with almost no power to shut down hundreds that have opened without permission in the last two years.
But key council members had second thoughts about the council's decision Tuesday to require dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet from any residences. The council, at the end of a marathon session, voted for the amendment even though city planners warned that it might eliminate most locations.
"I think by doing that, we just gutted the entire work that we have done," said council President Eric Garcetti, who pressed for the delay.
He said that he believed the council's decision Tuesday to cap the number of dispensaries at 70 "is very cynical when in reality we know there's going to be about five or 10 mega-dispensaries that would be in industrial parks, and that's it."
Overnight, the council appeared to shift its stance from speedily enacting a very restrictive ordinance that could be softened later to making sure the ordinance is right the first time. "I'm glad that we're not rushing something through," Garcetti said. "We can't get this wrong."
Over the objections of several members, the council decided to wait until the Planning Department can finish maps that show how many sites are available 500 feet and 1,000 feet from so-called sensitive uses, such as schools, parks, churches and residences.
S. Gail Goldberg, the city planning director, said she would like to finish both versions for each of the city's 35 community plan areas by next Wednesday, when the council is scheduled to review them. "I actually have my mapping people not doing anything else right now," she said. "I want to get this done."
Councilman Ed Reyes, who oversaw the effort to write an ordinance, urged the council to "just take a deep breath" and wait for the maps.
"We are going to find that we have literally restricted this thing out of the city and that we will see ourselves in court because of the position we put ourselves in," he said.
The council has known for years that it was likely to restrict dispensary locations. More than four years ago, then-Police Chief William J. Bratton recommended that dispensaries be kept from neighborhoods, schools and recreational areas. The first draft ordinance, written 20 months ago, prohibited dispensaries within a 1,000-foot radius of a list of sensitive uses that is similar to those in the current draft.
Reyes said he asked for the maps several months ago. City planners did submit sample maps in September for two community plan areas using 1,000-foot buffers.
Goldberg said the planning department, with its limited resources, was unable to complete the maps before the council altered the location criteria, which means the mappers have to take new data into account.
"This was a huge task for the Planning Department to take on," she said.
Alan Bell, a senior city planner, said that creating the maps involves analyzing multiple sets of data and making calculations for every radius drawn. "It's not as simple as pushing a button," he said. "I have to say what we've done in the last few months has been unprecedented."
Garcetti said he studied his council district Tuesday night and could not find any locations for dispensaries. "I was worried that all the work we had done and everything that we wanted to do had gone to the wind," he said. After some debate over removing residences from the list, Garcetti asked the council to wait for the maps. "Then we'll be able to do something that is . . . logical and fair," he said.
A few council members urged the council not to put off a vote on the ordinance.
"We could have voted today. We have enough information. We don't need the maps," said Councilman Jose Huizar. "We have come a long way, and I think we have an ordinance that strikes a balance between neighborhood concerns and access."
Reyes said he did not think the delay would make much difference and could lead to a better ordinance. "Let's be frank," he told the council, "not much is going to happen between now and the holidays."
But Councilman Richard Alarcon said, "I say we do it and then we can truly have happy holidays."
john.hoeffel@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
Christopher Joesph Ryan: Suffering From MS
Christopher Ryan can't speak much or barely whisper but when you bring up the subject of marijuana he lights up when we talk about the changing of law and the treatments of a safe drug he's smoked most his life, before having children. talking.
I'll never forget my first time smoking cannabis: memories of rubbing my hands all over my body and enjoying what must have been a strain intended for a nice body high, while standing atop a slanted bolder in the center of a deep valley that was previously a river at one point in time and the sun glazing through the trees and a nice spring breeze following memories of my parents, a tray I always knocked over when I swept my hands of feet under the living room couch, watching my dad roll his cigarettes with orange papers wondering why Jesus was smoking cigarettes, the pool parties, especially the pool party where they blindfolded one of their friends to play 'Pin The Tail On The Donkey' and watch him freak out after his finger ended up in Vaseline; My parents smoked marijuana too!
I had no idea.. until of course, obviously the sweet smell of Mary Jane. The first conversation I had was with my Mom, she was mad and ground me for a week. I stopped asking her and wouldn't dare ask for dad's opinion for the consequences of being grounded. So I smoked it behind their back and that worked out every single time, except once. But then again having your dealer meet you at the end of your parents long ass drive way isn't really under the radar when your parents are actually watching you.
As I get to the door my dad strait up asked me, "Did you use that money I gave you to buy marijuana?".
Last time I got grounded for a week. Seven days! That's too long when your young!
"No", I replied. He knew I was lying and searched me. I felt bad for lying because he was on four-arm crutches at the time and it was hard for him to even search me so I reached toward my favorite hiding place and handed if over. "You don't need to be smoking this shit."
"But I smoke cigarettes and mom 'nor you care about that".
"Pot is illegal Brandon". Ok, couldn't argue that one.
Two months later my parents divorce and I become their Drug Dealer.
The MS has shut down virtually all of his muscles including the ones in his throat and we just found out that he now has Pneumonia, therefor he cannot even marijuana due to a chance of possibly dying from asphyxiation. This obviously makes Christopher's situation a uniquely blatant deviation from the realistic fact that, for him cannabis will provide a sober, quick, safer and measurable alternative to give this disabled veteran not just a better way of life, like it does with myself and any body with chronic pain but the closest-cure that I have ever come across.
His only chance at this point is to stop the progression and neurological pain is for medical grade cannabis to finally become decriminalized, regulated and dispensed for chronically ill patients in Missouri so that they themselves will have their free right to medicate, like people do legally on a regular basis in other countries and states instead of putting themselves in harms way to possess illegally, a risk to the majority, not worth losing their jobs, unemployment, medical insurance and disability.
For now, God forbid if they catch you with it, you will most likely go to jail without your medicine and be tortured by the loss of a lot of time away from your family and instead be around violent inmates..
Besides vaporizing cannabis (which my father cannot do, due to his respiratory concerns) the one drug that is the most effective, closest in treatment when it comes to potency and plenty of cannabanoids (Check out here for more info on cannabanoids as well) is an oral spray used in Canada and the UK called Sativex.
by Brandon Ryan, President Kansas City NORML. Posted Wednesday, December 9th, 2009.
I'll never forget my first time smoking cannabis: memories of rubbing my hands all over my body and enjoying what must have been a strain intended for a nice body high, while standing atop a slanted bolder in the center of a deep valley that was previously a river at one point in time and the sun glazing through the trees and a nice spring breeze following memories of my parents, a tray I always knocked over when I swept my hands of feet under the living room couch, watching my dad roll his cigarettes with orange papers wondering why Jesus was smoking cigarettes, the pool parties, especially the pool party where they blindfolded one of their friends to play 'Pin The Tail On The Donkey' and watch him freak out after his finger ended up in Vaseline; My parents smoked marijuana too!
I had no idea.. until of course, obviously the sweet smell of Mary Jane. The first conversation I had was with my Mom, she was mad and ground me for a week. I stopped asking her and wouldn't dare ask for dad's opinion for the consequences of being grounded. So I smoked it behind their back and that worked out every single time, except once. But then again having your dealer meet you at the end of your parents long ass drive way isn't really under the radar when your parents are actually watching you.
As I get to the door my dad strait up asked me, "Did you use that money I gave you to buy marijuana?".
Last time I got grounded for a week. Seven days! That's too long when your young!
"No", I replied. He knew I was lying and searched me. I felt bad for lying because he was on four-arm crutches at the time and it was hard for him to even search me so I reached toward my favorite hiding place and handed if over. "You don't need to be smoking this shit."
"But I smoke cigarettes and mom 'nor you care about that".
"Pot is illegal Brandon". Ok, couldn't argue that one.
Two months later my parents divorce and I become their Drug Dealer.
The MS has shut down virtually all of his muscles including the ones in his throat and we just found out that he now has Pneumonia, therefor he cannot even marijuana due to a chance of possibly dying from asphyxiation. This obviously makes Christopher's situation a uniquely blatant deviation from the realistic fact that, for him cannabis will provide a sober, quick, safer and measurable alternative to give this disabled veteran not just a better way of life, like it does with myself and any body with chronic pain but the closest-cure that I have ever come across.
His only chance at this point is to stop the progression and neurological pain is for medical grade cannabis to finally become decriminalized, regulated and dispensed for chronically ill patients in Missouri so that they themselves will have their free right to medicate, like people do legally on a regular basis in other countries and states instead of putting themselves in harms way to possess illegally, a risk to the majority, not worth losing their jobs, unemployment, medical insurance and disability.
For now, God forbid if they catch you with it, you will most likely go to jail without your medicine and be tortured by the loss of a lot of time away from your family and instead be around violent inmates..
Besides vaporizing cannabis (which my father cannot do, due to his respiratory concerns) the one drug that is the most effective, closest in treatment when it comes to potency and plenty of cannabanoids (Check out here for more info on cannabanoids as well) is an oral spray used in Canada and the UK called Sativex.
by Brandon Ryan, President Kansas City NORML. Posted Wednesday, December 9th, 2009.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Medical pot supporters rally at state Capitol - Denver
DENVER—Acknowledging that they have an image problem, supporters of medical marijuana held a rally at the Colorado Capitol on Friday to support better regulation of their industry.
About a dozen people braved subfreezing temperatures on the west steps of the Capitol to speak on behalf of the Colorado Patients and Providers Coalition, which says it wants to reassure Coloradans that the medical marijuana industry is legitimate.
Coalition president Josh Stanley says the industry has a problem because of a lack of regulation and abuse and the group is working with state lawmakers on reforms.
"We have to acknowledge we have an image problem. What we're trying to do is provide a level of legitimacy and we need to weed out those who are abusing the system," Stanley said.
Stanley said his coalition is working with Colorado state lawmakers to write regulations that will go before the Legislature next year.
Colorado Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said he plans to introduce legislation in January that would require dispensaries to buy licenses, as well as pay the state's 2.9 percent sales tax.
He said giving the state the ability to regulate the industry will give dispensaries more legitimacy.
Colorado voters approved medical marijuana in 2000, but the number of dispensaries took off earlier this year after the Obama administration signaled it would defer to state laws on marijuana.
State Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, said some dispensaries are little more than head shops and the industry needs further regulation to ensure patients get the drugs they need and aren't abusing them.
Erik Santus said he started using marijuana for gout after narcotics failed to ease his pain. He said better regulation will provide some assurance that patients don't lose their newly found benefits.
"These are people who want off pills and don't want to hurt their body," he said.
Rashin D'Angelo, co-owner of the Rocky Mountain Healing Center, said her business takes referrals from doctors to provide psychotherapy, chiropractors, acupuncture and other treatment to medical marijuana patients to help them cope with their medical problems.
She said she doesn't dispense marijuana and it isn't used on the premises. She said that also will help the industry improve its reputation and provide more legitimacy.
"We're helping the industry become well-rounded. It helps remove some of the stigma of medical marijuana. It's just one piece of wellness health care," she said
By STEVEN K. PAULSON Associated Press Writer
About a dozen people braved subfreezing temperatures on the west steps of the Capitol to speak on behalf of the Colorado Patients and Providers Coalition, which says it wants to reassure Coloradans that the medical marijuana industry is legitimate.
Coalition president Josh Stanley says the industry has a problem because of a lack of regulation and abuse and the group is working with state lawmakers on reforms.
"We have to acknowledge we have an image problem. What we're trying to do is provide a level of legitimacy and we need to weed out those who are abusing the system," Stanley said.
Stanley said his coalition is working with Colorado state lawmakers to write regulations that will go before the Legislature next year.
Colorado Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said he plans to introduce legislation in January that would require dispensaries to buy licenses, as well as pay the state's 2.9 percent sales tax.
He said giving the state the ability to regulate the industry will give dispensaries more legitimacy.
Colorado voters approved medical marijuana in 2000, but the number of dispensaries took off earlier this year after the Obama administration signaled it would defer to state laws on marijuana.
State Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, said some dispensaries are little more than head shops and the industry needs further regulation to ensure patients get the drugs they need and aren't abusing them.
Erik Santus said he started using marijuana for gout after narcotics failed to ease his pain. He said better regulation will provide some assurance that patients don't lose their newly found benefits.
"These are people who want off pills and don't want to hurt their body," he said.
Rashin D'Angelo, co-owner of the Rocky Mountain Healing Center, said her business takes referrals from doctors to provide psychotherapy, chiropractors, acupuncture and other treatment to medical marijuana patients to help them cope with their medical problems.
She said she doesn't dispense marijuana and it isn't used on the premises. She said that also will help the industry improve its reputation and provide more legitimacy.
"We're helping the industry become well-rounded. It helps remove some of the stigma of medical marijuana. It's just one piece of wellness health care," she said
By STEVEN K. PAULSON Associated Press Writer
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The Cheesecake Lady goes Pro - and throws a Holiday Hash Bash to Celebrate!
By Joel Warner (Denver Westword)
Fri., Dec. 4 2009 @ 4:30PM
The story of the Cheesecake Lady reads like a home-grown Horatio Alger tale -- one featuring considerable amounts of ganja.
The Cheesecake Lady, aka Jessica LeRoux, has long been legendary in the local pre-concert tailgating scene for strolling through parking lots with her crazy hat and wavy hair and offering up heavenly treats at unbeatable prices.
Now LeRoux, one of the state's first marijuana caregivers, is using the booming medical marijuana scene to go mainstream -- and she's making a splash. Her commercial kitchen currently bakes up sixteen types of cannabis-infused cheesecakes and chocolates, recipes she's been perfecting for seventeen years, all of which she sells at dispensaries around the state under the name "Twirling Hippy Confections, LLC." For the holidays she's added special varieties like pumpkin walnut and cranberry pecan cheesecakes, and she hopes to expand to frozen, ready-to-eat dinners.
On her path to success, the Cheesecake Lady hasn't forgotten the little guy. That's why she's raising money for down-and-out patients by way of her second "Semi-Occasional Cheesecake Charity Ball and Holiday Hash Bash" at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton Street, this Sunday from 4 to 11 p.m.
The party, which includes a hash competition, music from the likes of Lion Vibes and Mountain Standard Time and dispensary information tables, is open to anyone eighteen and older who forks over a $20 donation, though patients with a medical marijuana get a discount, plus access to a medication area.
So why not join in the fun -- and pay tribute to Colorado's first lady of weed.
Fri., Dec. 4 2009 @ 4:30PM
The story of the Cheesecake Lady reads like a home-grown Horatio Alger tale -- one featuring considerable amounts of ganja.
The Cheesecake Lady, aka Jessica LeRoux, has long been legendary in the local pre-concert tailgating scene for strolling through parking lots with her crazy hat and wavy hair and offering up heavenly treats at unbeatable prices.
Now LeRoux, one of the state's first marijuana caregivers, is using the booming medical marijuana scene to go mainstream -- and she's making a splash. Her commercial kitchen currently bakes up sixteen types of cannabis-infused cheesecakes and chocolates, recipes she's been perfecting for seventeen years, all of which she sells at dispensaries around the state under the name "Twirling Hippy Confections, LLC." For the holidays she's added special varieties like pumpkin walnut and cranberry pecan cheesecakes, and she hopes to expand to frozen, ready-to-eat dinners.
On her path to success, the Cheesecake Lady hasn't forgotten the little guy. That's why she's raising money for down-and-out patients by way of her second "Semi-Occasional Cheesecake Charity Ball and Holiday Hash Bash" at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton Street, this Sunday from 4 to 11 p.m.
The party, which includes a hash competition, music from the likes of Lion Vibes and Mountain Standard Time and dispensary information tables, is open to anyone eighteen and older who forks over a $20 donation, though patients with a medical marijuana get a discount, plus access to a medication area.
So why not join in the fun -- and pay tribute to Colorado's first lady of weed.
Medical Marijuana has Become a Growth Industry in Colorado
(Denver Westword)
Behind a locked, unmarked door in a Colorado Springs strip mall, the state's largest marijuana dispensary is open for business.
The operation's aromatic showroom is packed floor to ceiling with pot and anything and everything related to it. "Welcome to Cannabis Therapeutics. Intended for prescribed medical use only!" announces a large sign on the wall.
Glass cases display Baggie upon Baggie of pot — 35 varieties in all. Those looking for cheap medicine can go for the $250-an-ounce, bargain-basement Holland's Hope or upgrade to $300-an-ounce Thunderstruck or $400-an-ounce Purple Haze. Big spenders can opt for top-shelf meds such as a crop of Chocolate Chunk priced at $500 an ounce. It's all available to buy loose or ready to smoke in pre-rolled blunts. And, for green thumbs, cloned marijuana seedlings sit in a bubbling tray of water, waiting for the right buyer.
Today an older woman is here buying some Silver Skunk to help ease lingering pain from a shattered right femur she suffered in a car accident, as well as recurring migraines and fibromyalgia. "I don't like marijuana, but I have no choice," she says as she pays part of her $136 bill in cash and puts the rest on a debit card.
A mother in a track suit leaves her teenage daughter pouting in the lobby while she shops; a younger fellow in baggy jeans and a hoodie samples some Mexican True Blue.
A staffer is ready to help newbies who've just coughed up their $25 annual membership fee establish what mixture of sativa and indica, the two core strains of medical marijuana, is appropriate for their particular illness. For multiple sclerosis, it's best to go with a cross breed that's at least 65 percent indica, known for its relaxing physical high. Sufferers of debilitating stress, on the other hand, typically opt for sativa, which provides more of a mental high.
To administer the medicine, there is a smorgasbord of colorful glass pipes and bongs available, courtesy of a Manitou Springs glass blower. For those who don't want to smoke their determined dosage, there are vaporizers to help clients inhale it, as well as THC pills, THC oils, THC butter, THC fudge, ice cream, bubble gum, hot chocolate mix, cheese, fountain drinks, roll-on pain relievers and bubble bath. Stashed away in a cabinet are jars filled with marijuana marinating in Don Julio and Cazadores tequila.
"It's not about getting high," says Michael Lee, the owner of Cannabis Therapeutics. "It's about getting medicated." Lee founded the operation three years ago under the auspices of Colorado's Amendment 20. The constitutional amendment — approved by voters in 2000 — allows people with cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, muscle spasms, severe pain, severe nausea and other medical conditions to use marijuana.
With a recommendation from a licensed Colorado doctor, patients can obtain a state-issued Medical Marijuana Registry identification card to show to police — though it does nothing to change the fact that the federal government still considers marijuana illegal. Patients may cultivate their own medicine or designate a primary caregiver to provide it for them. Lee and his colleagues at Cannabis Therapeutics, for example, are designated caregivers to more than 600 patients around the state.
This arrangement has proved lucrative: Lee, 44, says his dispensary earns about $105,000 a month, $75,000 of which he says goes back out the door for more monthly product. This onetime owner of a Colorado Springs flooring company insists, however, that his current occupation is more than a business.
"I clinically died. I can't lie. I won't lie," he declares, gesturing to a faded news clipping on the wall. It describes a car crash years ago in Santa Barbara, California, in which a young passenger was killed, and notes that "the driver, Michael Lee, 19, suffered head and internal injuries, and his condition is listed as critical."
After being clinically dead for 41 minutes and spending eleven days in a coma, he turned to marijuana for healing. Years later, lingering pain and muscle spasms led Lee, who is also a member of local mega-churches New Life and Radiant, to become one of Colorado's first certified medical marijuana patients, and he soon found himself helping other people who used marijuana for pain and illness. Now there's no more established operation around for getting medicated.
Lee has signed contracts with seven Colorado growers — all legal under Amendment 20, he promises, because they're registered caregivers for some of his patients. Each grower provides him with roughly a pound and a half of dried marijuana per month. Cannabis Therapeutics is also insured, says Lee, who convinced his insurance agency to design a dispensary policy just for him.
He also has a good relationship with the Colorado Springs police, having invited them in for a tour in 2006 after the cops caught wind of the operation.
"It was very educational," says Lieutenant Catherine Buckley of the visit. "It was not something the officers see on a daily basis."
When the Environmental Protection Agency poked around in response to a complaint about alleged chemical dumping, they couldn't find a single health or safety violation. All in all, says Lee, who goes by the nickname "the Herbologist" on websites like www.rollitup.org and www.weedtracker.com, everything here is square with Amendment 20. After all, his lawyer, Warren Edson, co-authored the law.
That leaves Lee in the center of a booming state industry. The number of patients who've received a medical marijuana ID card recently crested 5,000, twice what it was a year ago. And while it's hard to determine the absolute number of active dispensaries, there are at least two dozen, along with clinics dedicated to helping people obtain marijuana ID cards, lawyers and tax attorneys hanging shingles as authorities in pot law, even an ad hoc university churning out potential new dispensary owners and employees.
"In the last year, it is my understanding that the number of dispensaries in Colorado has grown from two to about thirty," says Keith Stroup, founder of the national pot lobbying group NORML. "Without question, there are more medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado than in any state other than California."
But the cottage industry is fraught with problems. Many doctors refuse to recommend marijuana, in part because possessing and smoking pot is still a federal offense, while a bad few could be exploiting the medical marijuana laws for financial gain. As an unregulated and gray-area industry, there are also inconsistent practices, high prices, oversized egos, safety concerns and possible black-market involvement — not to mention disregard, if not outright hostility, from law enforcement and city officials.
A major change could be on the way. On March 18, the Colorado Board of Health — the advisory board for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment — will consider new medical marijuana regulations.
Along with expanding Medical Marijuana Registry application requirements, the proposal would require caregivers to offer additional services to their patients besides providing them with pot. Most significant would be the reinstatement of a five-patient-per-caregiver limit the state health board put in place after Amendment 20's passage, a restriction that deterred the growth of Colorado dispensaries until it was overturned in Denver District Court in 2007.
The new rules "could have an impact on the large-scale operations," says Ron Hyman, registrar of vital statistics for the CDPHE. "I would say it probably will."
The changes could make business more difficult for Lee — but by that point, he may have already moved on. When an anonymous caller threatened to kidnap his young son several months ago, it was one frustration too many. Lee moved his family, got a German shepherd to guard his son and started thinking about selling his dispensary.
"I'm done. I don't care anymore. I've seen a dark side to this," fumes Lee. "I clinically died. I demand life to be fair!" His face turns crimson and his temper bubbles to the surface. Exasperated, he decides to let off some steam. Excusing himself for a minute, he gestures to an employee to fetch him his foot-long Technicolor pipe.
"I'm gonna go medicate."
For a bunch of supposedly lazy stoners, Colorado's marijuana activists are a committed bunch. At 9 a.m. on a recent Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at Regis University in northwest Denver for the Colorado Marijuana Reform Seminar and Activist Boot Camp.
"I think this speaks volumes about our movement," Brian Vicente, executive director of the drug-policy reform organization Sensible Colorado, told the group.
There were nicely dressed middle-aged folks, older couples in knitted sweaters and younger guys wearing backpacks decorated with Grateful Dead patches. A full day of activities lay ahead: sessions on lobbying strategies and media relations, plus panels featuring Denver City Councilman Chris Nevitt, Colorado State Representative Paul Weissmann and Colorado ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein. Lunch would feature sandwiches donated by Cheba Hut, a restaurant chain offering its signature "'Toasted' Subs" in Boulder and Fort Collins.
And just so everybody knows, Vicente reminded the group, "This is a non-smoking workshop. We are here to change the laws, not break the laws."
Vicente and his colleagues have big plans for Colorado, building on years of victories. In 2005, Denver became one of the first cities in the country to have its voters "decriminalize" marijuana by making it legal for people over 21 to possess up to an ounce of it. Two years later, the city's voters agreed that law enforcement should make adult marijuana possession its lowest priority. Part of the plan today is to strategize about ways to pass similar initiatives in other Colorado communities. While an attempt to pass a state law decriminalizing up to an ounce of marijuana failed in 2006, activists here believe it's only a matter of time before such legislation passes.
"This will be the nail in the coffin of the drug war," Vicente continued. "Colorado will be seen as the place that ended the government's ninety-year prohibition of marijuana."
It all started with Amendment 20. The law allows a person suffering from certain illnesses or that individual's caregiver to possess up to two ounces of marijuana or six marijuana plants, but it doesn't specify much about the relationship between patients and caregivers. To help fill in the holes, in 2004 the CDPHE developed a five-patient maximum for caregivers, says Hyman. "We were trying to determine how many patients a caregiver could provide for that would be significant and reasonable," he explains.
But when Chief Denver District Judge Larry Naves suspended that limit in 2007 because it lacked public input, caregivers were allowed to take on as many patients — and their marijuana quotients — as they liked, even make a business out of it.
That, it turns out, was part of the plan all along for Amendment 20, the only medical marijuana law in the nation that's a constitutional amendment.
"The plan was to write it into our constitution so it couldn't be tweaked," says Edson, the law's co-author. "There is a reason there are no limits to the number of people you can be a caregiver for. There is a reason a caregiver isn't specifically designated as a doctor or a nurse. It is left open to a broad range of individuals."
For one thing, if doctors were responsible for actually providing patients with marijuana, the federal government might retaliate by revoking their Drug Enforcement Administration-issued licenses, which allow them to prescribe narcotics.
Furthermore, Edson had noticed the inklings of a dispensary industry developing in California, whose open-ended 1996 medical marijuana law led to an industry there that now boasts hundreds of such businesses. He decided that an entrepreneurial take on medical marijuana would encourage product diversity, innovative practices and competitive prices, all to the benefit of patients.
"I like to see some of these places where a patient has some options," he says. "Where it's not just one guy in his basement with one type of medicine."
So while other states included impediments to dispensaries in their medical marijuana laws or eventually had lawmakers implement such restrictions, in Colorado the free-market approach was allowed to flourish.
The results were evident at the activist boot camp. In a side room, staffers in vendor booths handed out brochures and business cards for dispensary operations, not to mention marijuana-friendly medical clinics and drug-law-savvy lawyers.
Denver real-estate broker Michael Griffin says he's recently picked up three clients, all looking to open 1,500- to 3,000-square-foot dispensaries in the area: "People are noticing it as a viable business. Once it's legal, I think it's no different than a liquor store."
Michelle LaMay has also found a niche. Last fall, the longtime Denver activist launched "Cannabis University," a day-long, $250 program that gives students a run-down on marijuana laws and growing practices. It's for patients wanting to produce their own medicine, and a mini-MBA for those wishing to break into the business.
"I'm hoping the vast number of caregivers and dispensaries will have to hire some people. And maybe they will hire our students," she says.
While they go by different names, dispensaries or caregiver cooperatives operate under roughly the same model. Patients who wish to buy pot must designate that operation as their primary caregiver on their medical marijuana license by filling out a state health department application. Since the law doesn't say where the pot has to come from, dispensaries can theoretically pick it up anywhere: indoor grow rooms overseen by a dispensary's owner or employees; out-of-sight backyard gardens tended by patients; middlemen hawking stuff from large, clandestine outfits squirreled away in the mountains or in networks of fluorescent-lit basements.
According to Amendment 20, the marijuana is legal as soon as it gets into a patient or caregiver's hands, so no need to ask too much about its provenance.
Many dispensaries operate quietly, relying on word of mouth, while a few advertise openly. If Edson's predictions are correct, local dispensary owners could eventually be servicing a statewide client base of 50,000 registered patients.
"It's a full-on gold rush," says Paul Saurini, producer of Marijuana Radio, a weekly pot-themed radio podcast recorded in a slick studio in the Santa Fe Arts District and broadcast in many a dispensary. "People are rushing here to make a buck. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but I think it's a fascinating moment for the movement."
To get a Colorado Medical Marijuana ID card, Colorado residents first need a doctor who will recommend them for the confidential state registry. And to get that recommendation, many patients turn to the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Wheat Ridge. Of the 5,000 people on the registry, about 2,700 relied on its services.
One of those is Sandra, who's been on the registry since 2005, but who, like all medical marijuana patients, has to go through the state's annual renewal process. That means another visit to the foundation's 1,500-square-foot, third-floor office in a professional building on Wadsworth Boulevard.
Sandra, her pigtails streaked with gray, sits in a solemn, bare-walled waiting room surrounded by people filling out paperwork or watching a marijuana video on TV. It's a scene that's playing out in similar waiting rooms across the country: the nonprofit, known as the THC Foundation, also has clinics in medical marijuana-friendly states like Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Montana, California, Nevada and Michigan.
Eventually, Sandra is called into the office of Eric Eisenbud, a lanky Colorado ophthalmologist. Before Eisenbud has a chance to review Sandra's history — her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 1995, her MS-related leg spasms that qualify her for medical marijuana, and the recent discovery that she has degenerative disc disease in her spine — Sandra blurts out, "Thank you for being here for us." She's well aware how hard it is to find a doctor who will recommend patients for the registry. Before she found the THC Foundation in 2006, she asked her primary care physician to recommend her for medical marijuana — and says the doctor nearly threw her out.
Eisenbud's heard hard-luck stories like this before. "My feeling is that a large number of doctors in Colorado are open-minded, but they've been misinformed," he says later. Much of the confusion and apprehension in the medical community stems from the fact that after Amendment 20 passed, then-attorney general Ken Salazar warned doctors that they could face federal charges if they participated in the program. It doesn't help that the Colorado Medical Society hasn't taken a stance and that the American Medical Association has said it won't recognize the medical use of marijuana without further studies. (Other prominent medical groups, such as the American College of Physicians and the British Medical Association, have endorsed the idea of medical marijuana.)
Many doctors play it safe by not dabbling in marijuana at all. At Denver Health Medical Center, physicians are allowed to write letters to help patients get registered, says hospital spokeswoman Dee Martinez. But patient Eric Easter counters that notion, saying his doctors refused to recommend him for the state registry: "They said they don't do this even if you were dying of AIDS."
"That's where we come in," says Paul Stanford, the Portland-based founder of the THC Foundation. "When we first moved into Colorado, in 2006, there were only 700 medical marijuana cards statewide." Now, three years later, the Wheat Ridge clinic sees about seventy new patients a week, says Scott Carr, the foundation's regional manager in Colorado. Carr also believes the foundation has helped the medical community warm up to medical marijuana. According to the state, more than 500 doctors have now signed for patients here, and some insurance carriers cover THC Foundation visits. "I've had HMO nurses call and ask what the best vaporizer is for patients to buy," says Carr. The clinic even has a competitor — an operation called CannaMed that opened in Denver offering similar services. CannaMed representatives did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.
But the THC Foundation also has at least one critic: its former doctor on duty, Shawn Elke Glazer. "They're all about making as much money as possible until marijuana gets legalized," says Glazer, a former Libertarian candidate for state representative who now runs the Colorado Green Cross medical clinic in Wheat Ridge.
She believes the THC Foundation signs up as many people as possible so they'll fork over the $200 visit fee, whether they warrant medical marijuana or not. The fact that a marijuana dispensary now operates in the same building as the foundation raises red flags as well, since it could put the clinic in violation of a 2003 Supreme Court ruling saying that doctors can't assist patients in obtaining marijuana.
Stanford calls that nonsense, but Glazer isn't the only one who has questioned the foundation's motives. In 2005, the Oregon justice department began looking into the Portland-based nonprofit for potential IRS violations, such as a $100,000 reimbursement it made to Stanford. "It's an ongoing thing. It has caused a little extra scrutiny, but it hasn't caused any problems whatsoever," Stanford says.
Carr notes that the Wheat Ridge clinic only works with patients who have medical records proving they qualify for the state law and turns away those who don't. He also adamantly denies association with any dispensary, including the one that operates in the same building. The owners of that business, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, concur that there's no connection.
Sandra has no complaints about the THC Foundation, and she'll follow it when it relocates to bigger digs near Speer Boulevard and I-25. Yes, the cost of the visit on top of the $90 annual state registration fee isn't easy on her budget, especially since she spends about $300 a month on marijuana. Still, she's grateful for its existence: "Thank goodness the service is here and it's helping me. This place is safe."
In the past, she didn't feel so safe obtaining her medicine. In 2005, before the THC Foundation opened, she went to a Loveland doctor who charged her more than $400 for the service. Then, to get marijuana, she relied on an operation run out of a former Denver church called the Colorado Compassion Club. The club operated at night and had armed guards at the doors, Sandra says. "There were all these people, and I didn't feel safe at all. It was like being in a bread line."
After that, Sandra was referred to Ken Gorman, a well-known Denver pot activist and one-time write-in candidate for governor.
"I don't have my medical certification up to date," she remembers telling Gorman when she reached him by phone. "Are you sick?" he replied. "That's all I need to know."
"Here was someone I'd never met, and he was so kind to me," says Sandra, who decided to make him her caregiver. She never got a chance to follow through. That weekend, on February 17, 2007, Gorman was shot and killed in his home.
Gorman's death, which is still unsolved, sent shockwaves through the medical marijuana community. It also created a vacuum that permanently changed the industry in Colorado.
Today there are storefront operations like Cannabis Medical, the Healing Center, North Reasonable Access Denver, Denver Patients Caregivers Cooperative and the Kind Room, and delivery services like Confidential Caregivers Unlimited and the Organic Medicine Club. Among them are settings to suit every taste, from dorm-room-like operations with mismatched thrift-store furniture and mega-sized posters of killer kind bud to dentist-office-like venues complete with cushy couches and bubbling aquariums.
Because state law doesn't explicitly sanction dispensaries, the businesses try to protect themselves by making sure that everyone involved is either a patient or a caregiver. "Most of their employees are patients themselves and are listed caregivers for some of these people," Edson says. "And most of the dispensary owners are listed as caregivers for some of the people. But the equivalent of a pharmacy just doesn't exist under the amendment." That's why dispensary owners typically consult with a cadre of lawyers, squirrel away documentation listing their patients and are reluctant to talk to the press. "We hate to be this evasive," says Daniel Tsirlin, co-owner of Alternative Medicine of Southeast Denver, a newly opened dispensary. "Why not let people know? On the other hand, you don't want to be the first to do anything. Be the second."
That's a good approach, judging by the comments of Jeff Sweetin, special agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain field division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"We are investigating some dispensaries throughout this region," Sweetin says, without giving specifics. "The DEA investigates large, well-organized, well-funded organizations. Some of these dispensaries rise to that level." Sweetin is concerned that elements of the medical marijuana scene are tied up with organized crime, in part because Amendment 20 doesn't include rules about where dispensaries can buy their pot.
Early last year, authorities busted a multimillion-dollar marijuana ring involving dozens of indoor grow operations in the north metro region — and Sweetin believes there's a connection to the medical marijuana scene. "It's the largest, most organized indoor grow operation I have ever seen," he says. "I don't believe that's coincidence. I believe they purposely moved that operation to Colorado."
For the most part, however, he says the dispensaries are the problem of local and state agencies — and so far, no one seems to know exactly what to do about them.
Police officers are frustrated by trying to differentiate between illegal drug users and state-certified patients and caregivers, says Captain William Nagle of Denver's Vice and Drug Control Bureau, especially since the only time state health employees can verify certifications is during weekday business hours — not the most conducive time for drug cops. When mistaken raids have occurred, judges have sometimes demanded that law enforcement return the confiscated marijuana and paraphernalia — though police say that by doing so, they could be breaking federal law themselves.
Dispensary owners have grievances, too. While they operate without problem in Denver, other cities haven't been as welcoming. Former Aurora dispensary owner John Chipman says he was hardly up and running before he was run out of town because a city ordinance there didn't allow businesses to operate in violation of federal law. "They said they don't have pit bulls, they don't have massage parlors and they don't want any dispensaries," he says.
Others have problems with crime. Last November, Fort Collins dispensary owner James Masters told reporters that his operation had been burglarized or vandalized nine times in a month. While Masters couldn't be reached for comment, several sources claim these crimes were part of a rash of medical marijuana robberies — including, according to Carr, an attempted break-in at the THC Foundation.
Patients have their own complaints, grumbling that the current business climate is filled with grandstanding and ego clashes, slapdash practices and exorbitant prices. There's no easy way for them to shop around to find better options, however, since they're required to designate only one caregiver.
Officials, law enforcement, caregivers and patients can agree on one thing: The industry should be regulated. They say they'd like to see consistent health standards and better communication between police, government agencies and medical marijuana operations, not to mention dispensary-specific rules and licenses. But since Amendment 20 is written into the Constitution, there's no easy way to tweak the law without a vote of the people, not to mention courting antagonism from either the state's growing medical marijuana community or the federal government.
"The reason you don't have clear and positive regulatory enforcement is that a lot of entities are afraid to piss off the feds by setting up any kind of regulatory environment," says Matthew Kumin, a San Francisco attorney who consults for numerous California dispensaries. "You have something that should be happening more but isn't because of fear."
Michael Lee runs his soil-dusted hands under the faucet at Cannabis Therapeutics. He's spent the morning planting new strains of marijuana seedlings in a grow room, preparing for his next big endeavor. He just got a call finalizing his purchase of $20,000 worth of dirt that he'll use to fill a 30-foot-by-97-foot plot of land he's obtained at an undisclosed spot along the Front Range. Eventually, he says, he'll ask United States Department of Agriculture officials to inspect the site, since his plan is to grow certified organic marijuana.
That way, even if he does sell Cannabis Therapeutics, he'll still be involved with producing medicine for it and other dispensaries. He'll also continue to operate Genovations Laboratories, the research-and-development company for marijuana-infused products that he runs out of a secure warehouse space near Cannabis Therapeutics. There, thanks to an expensive extraction machine and a full-scale chemistry lab, he's pulling THC out of plants and inserting it into tinctures, foods, maybe someday into self-replicating yeast. "I can medicate your hot dogs," he says. "I can medicate your hamburgers."
And while Lee may shift his business focus away from his dispensary, he and other owners say the proposed new regulations won't go through without a fight. "We're probably going to rent buses. We are going to try to get 1,000 patients there," says Edson of the March 18 Colorado Board of Health hearing. "I've been dealing with these [medical marijuana] folks for ten-plus years. I don't think the attorney general's office and the health department appreciates what is about to happen."
The health department's Hyman understands that the meeting will be "energetic." The point, he says, is to include as many people as possible in the process, which is what Judge Naves said the department didn't do when he struck down the five-person-per caregiver rule in 2007.
Lee believes it will take another vote to make changes to Amendment 20, and despite his talk of selling Cannabis Therapeutics, he has many more plans. A few doors down from the dispensary, he's opened a patient activity resource center, where, amid a pool table, a massage chair and a cappuccino machine, patients meet with caregivers and receive alternative treatments for their conditions.
"It can't just be about weed," he says. "You're going to see more places like this once the bar is set, because the state will say places like this can stay open while others have to close."
And he has even bigger dreams for the day marijuana becomes legal for everyone: A gentlemen's club, ready from day one, with prices starting at $500 an ounce. After all, he says with a grin as he reaches for his bowl, "Why shouldn't I be a household name?"
Behind a locked, unmarked door in a Colorado Springs strip mall, the state's largest marijuana dispensary is open for business.
The operation's aromatic showroom is packed floor to ceiling with pot and anything and everything related to it. "Welcome to Cannabis Therapeutics. Intended for prescribed medical use only!" announces a large sign on the wall.
Glass cases display Baggie upon Baggie of pot — 35 varieties in all. Those looking for cheap medicine can go for the $250-an-ounce, bargain-basement Holland's Hope or upgrade to $300-an-ounce Thunderstruck or $400-an-ounce Purple Haze. Big spenders can opt for top-shelf meds such as a crop of Chocolate Chunk priced at $500 an ounce. It's all available to buy loose or ready to smoke in pre-rolled blunts. And, for green thumbs, cloned marijuana seedlings sit in a bubbling tray of water, waiting for the right buyer.
Today an older woman is here buying some Silver Skunk to help ease lingering pain from a shattered right femur she suffered in a car accident, as well as recurring migraines and fibromyalgia. "I don't like marijuana, but I have no choice," she says as she pays part of her $136 bill in cash and puts the rest on a debit card.
A mother in a track suit leaves her teenage daughter pouting in the lobby while she shops; a younger fellow in baggy jeans and a hoodie samples some Mexican True Blue.
A staffer is ready to help newbies who've just coughed up their $25 annual membership fee establish what mixture of sativa and indica, the two core strains of medical marijuana, is appropriate for their particular illness. For multiple sclerosis, it's best to go with a cross breed that's at least 65 percent indica, known for its relaxing physical high. Sufferers of debilitating stress, on the other hand, typically opt for sativa, which provides more of a mental high.
To administer the medicine, there is a smorgasbord of colorful glass pipes and bongs available, courtesy of a Manitou Springs glass blower. For those who don't want to smoke their determined dosage, there are vaporizers to help clients inhale it, as well as THC pills, THC oils, THC butter, THC fudge, ice cream, bubble gum, hot chocolate mix, cheese, fountain drinks, roll-on pain relievers and bubble bath. Stashed away in a cabinet are jars filled with marijuana marinating in Don Julio and Cazadores tequila.
"It's not about getting high," says Michael Lee, the owner of Cannabis Therapeutics. "It's about getting medicated." Lee founded the operation three years ago under the auspices of Colorado's Amendment 20. The constitutional amendment — approved by voters in 2000 — allows people with cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, muscle spasms, severe pain, severe nausea and other medical conditions to use marijuana.
With a recommendation from a licensed Colorado doctor, patients can obtain a state-issued Medical Marijuana Registry identification card to show to police — though it does nothing to change the fact that the federal government still considers marijuana illegal. Patients may cultivate their own medicine or designate a primary caregiver to provide it for them. Lee and his colleagues at Cannabis Therapeutics, for example, are designated caregivers to more than 600 patients around the state.
This arrangement has proved lucrative: Lee, 44, says his dispensary earns about $105,000 a month, $75,000 of which he says goes back out the door for more monthly product. This onetime owner of a Colorado Springs flooring company insists, however, that his current occupation is more than a business.
"I clinically died. I can't lie. I won't lie," he declares, gesturing to a faded news clipping on the wall. It describes a car crash years ago in Santa Barbara, California, in which a young passenger was killed, and notes that "the driver, Michael Lee, 19, suffered head and internal injuries, and his condition is listed as critical."
After being clinically dead for 41 minutes and spending eleven days in a coma, he turned to marijuana for healing. Years later, lingering pain and muscle spasms led Lee, who is also a member of local mega-churches New Life and Radiant, to become one of Colorado's first certified medical marijuana patients, and he soon found himself helping other people who used marijuana for pain and illness. Now there's no more established operation around for getting medicated.
Lee has signed contracts with seven Colorado growers — all legal under Amendment 20, he promises, because they're registered caregivers for some of his patients. Each grower provides him with roughly a pound and a half of dried marijuana per month. Cannabis Therapeutics is also insured, says Lee, who convinced his insurance agency to design a dispensary policy just for him.
He also has a good relationship with the Colorado Springs police, having invited them in for a tour in 2006 after the cops caught wind of the operation.
"It was very educational," says Lieutenant Catherine Buckley of the visit. "It was not something the officers see on a daily basis."
When the Environmental Protection Agency poked around in response to a complaint about alleged chemical dumping, they couldn't find a single health or safety violation. All in all, says Lee, who goes by the nickname "the Herbologist" on websites like www.rollitup.org and www.weedtracker.com, everything here is square with Amendment 20. After all, his lawyer, Warren Edson, co-authored the law.
That leaves Lee in the center of a booming state industry. The number of patients who've received a medical marijuana ID card recently crested 5,000, twice what it was a year ago. And while it's hard to determine the absolute number of active dispensaries, there are at least two dozen, along with clinics dedicated to helping people obtain marijuana ID cards, lawyers and tax attorneys hanging shingles as authorities in pot law, even an ad hoc university churning out potential new dispensary owners and employees.
"In the last year, it is my understanding that the number of dispensaries in Colorado has grown from two to about thirty," says Keith Stroup, founder of the national pot lobbying group NORML. "Without question, there are more medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado than in any state other than California."
But the cottage industry is fraught with problems. Many doctors refuse to recommend marijuana, in part because possessing and smoking pot is still a federal offense, while a bad few could be exploiting the medical marijuana laws for financial gain. As an unregulated and gray-area industry, there are also inconsistent practices, high prices, oversized egos, safety concerns and possible black-market involvement — not to mention disregard, if not outright hostility, from law enforcement and city officials.
A major change could be on the way. On March 18, the Colorado Board of Health — the advisory board for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment — will consider new medical marijuana regulations.
Along with expanding Medical Marijuana Registry application requirements, the proposal would require caregivers to offer additional services to their patients besides providing them with pot. Most significant would be the reinstatement of a five-patient-per-caregiver limit the state health board put in place after Amendment 20's passage, a restriction that deterred the growth of Colorado dispensaries until it was overturned in Denver District Court in 2007.
The new rules "could have an impact on the large-scale operations," says Ron Hyman, registrar of vital statistics for the CDPHE. "I would say it probably will."
The changes could make business more difficult for Lee — but by that point, he may have already moved on. When an anonymous caller threatened to kidnap his young son several months ago, it was one frustration too many. Lee moved his family, got a German shepherd to guard his son and started thinking about selling his dispensary.
"I'm done. I don't care anymore. I've seen a dark side to this," fumes Lee. "I clinically died. I demand life to be fair!" His face turns crimson and his temper bubbles to the surface. Exasperated, he decides to let off some steam. Excusing himself for a minute, he gestures to an employee to fetch him his foot-long Technicolor pipe.
"I'm gonna go medicate."
For a bunch of supposedly lazy stoners, Colorado's marijuana activists are a committed bunch. At 9 a.m. on a recent Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at Regis University in northwest Denver for the Colorado Marijuana Reform Seminar and Activist Boot Camp.
"I think this speaks volumes about our movement," Brian Vicente, executive director of the drug-policy reform organization Sensible Colorado, told the group.
There were nicely dressed middle-aged folks, older couples in knitted sweaters and younger guys wearing backpacks decorated with Grateful Dead patches. A full day of activities lay ahead: sessions on lobbying strategies and media relations, plus panels featuring Denver City Councilman Chris Nevitt, Colorado State Representative Paul Weissmann and Colorado ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein. Lunch would feature sandwiches donated by Cheba Hut, a restaurant chain offering its signature "'Toasted' Subs" in Boulder and Fort Collins.
And just so everybody knows, Vicente reminded the group, "This is a non-smoking workshop. We are here to change the laws, not break the laws."
Vicente and his colleagues have big plans for Colorado, building on years of victories. In 2005, Denver became one of the first cities in the country to have its voters "decriminalize" marijuana by making it legal for people over 21 to possess up to an ounce of it. Two years later, the city's voters agreed that law enforcement should make adult marijuana possession its lowest priority. Part of the plan today is to strategize about ways to pass similar initiatives in other Colorado communities. While an attempt to pass a state law decriminalizing up to an ounce of marijuana failed in 2006, activists here believe it's only a matter of time before such legislation passes.
"This will be the nail in the coffin of the drug war," Vicente continued. "Colorado will be seen as the place that ended the government's ninety-year prohibition of marijuana."
It all started with Amendment 20. The law allows a person suffering from certain illnesses or that individual's caregiver to possess up to two ounces of marijuana or six marijuana plants, but it doesn't specify much about the relationship between patients and caregivers. To help fill in the holes, in 2004 the CDPHE developed a five-patient maximum for caregivers, says Hyman. "We were trying to determine how many patients a caregiver could provide for that would be significant and reasonable," he explains.
But when Chief Denver District Judge Larry Naves suspended that limit in 2007 because it lacked public input, caregivers were allowed to take on as many patients — and their marijuana quotients — as they liked, even make a business out of it.
That, it turns out, was part of the plan all along for Amendment 20, the only medical marijuana law in the nation that's a constitutional amendment.
"The plan was to write it into our constitution so it couldn't be tweaked," says Edson, the law's co-author. "There is a reason there are no limits to the number of people you can be a caregiver for. There is a reason a caregiver isn't specifically designated as a doctor or a nurse. It is left open to a broad range of individuals."
For one thing, if doctors were responsible for actually providing patients with marijuana, the federal government might retaliate by revoking their Drug Enforcement Administration-issued licenses, which allow them to prescribe narcotics.
Furthermore, Edson had noticed the inklings of a dispensary industry developing in California, whose open-ended 1996 medical marijuana law led to an industry there that now boasts hundreds of such businesses. He decided that an entrepreneurial take on medical marijuana would encourage product diversity, innovative practices and competitive prices, all to the benefit of patients.
"I like to see some of these places where a patient has some options," he says. "Where it's not just one guy in his basement with one type of medicine."
So while other states included impediments to dispensaries in their medical marijuana laws or eventually had lawmakers implement such restrictions, in Colorado the free-market approach was allowed to flourish.
The results were evident at the activist boot camp. In a side room, staffers in vendor booths handed out brochures and business cards for dispensary operations, not to mention marijuana-friendly medical clinics and drug-law-savvy lawyers.
Denver real-estate broker Michael Griffin says he's recently picked up three clients, all looking to open 1,500- to 3,000-square-foot dispensaries in the area: "People are noticing it as a viable business. Once it's legal, I think it's no different than a liquor store."
Michelle LaMay has also found a niche. Last fall, the longtime Denver activist launched "Cannabis University," a day-long, $250 program that gives students a run-down on marijuana laws and growing practices. It's for patients wanting to produce their own medicine, and a mini-MBA for those wishing to break into the business.
"I'm hoping the vast number of caregivers and dispensaries will have to hire some people. And maybe they will hire our students," she says.
While they go by different names, dispensaries or caregiver cooperatives operate under roughly the same model. Patients who wish to buy pot must designate that operation as their primary caregiver on their medical marijuana license by filling out a state health department application. Since the law doesn't say where the pot has to come from, dispensaries can theoretically pick it up anywhere: indoor grow rooms overseen by a dispensary's owner or employees; out-of-sight backyard gardens tended by patients; middlemen hawking stuff from large, clandestine outfits squirreled away in the mountains or in networks of fluorescent-lit basements.
According to Amendment 20, the marijuana is legal as soon as it gets into a patient or caregiver's hands, so no need to ask too much about its provenance.
Many dispensaries operate quietly, relying on word of mouth, while a few advertise openly. If Edson's predictions are correct, local dispensary owners could eventually be servicing a statewide client base of 50,000 registered patients.
"It's a full-on gold rush," says Paul Saurini, producer of Marijuana Radio, a weekly pot-themed radio podcast recorded in a slick studio in the Santa Fe Arts District and broadcast in many a dispensary. "People are rushing here to make a buck. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but I think it's a fascinating moment for the movement."
To get a Colorado Medical Marijuana ID card, Colorado residents first need a doctor who will recommend them for the confidential state registry. And to get that recommendation, many patients turn to the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Wheat Ridge. Of the 5,000 people on the registry, about 2,700 relied on its services.
One of those is Sandra, who's been on the registry since 2005, but who, like all medical marijuana patients, has to go through the state's annual renewal process. That means another visit to the foundation's 1,500-square-foot, third-floor office in a professional building on Wadsworth Boulevard.
Sandra, her pigtails streaked with gray, sits in a solemn, bare-walled waiting room surrounded by people filling out paperwork or watching a marijuana video on TV. It's a scene that's playing out in similar waiting rooms across the country: the nonprofit, known as the THC Foundation, also has clinics in medical marijuana-friendly states like Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Montana, California, Nevada and Michigan.
Eventually, Sandra is called into the office of Eric Eisenbud, a lanky Colorado ophthalmologist. Before Eisenbud has a chance to review Sandra's history — her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 1995, her MS-related leg spasms that qualify her for medical marijuana, and the recent discovery that she has degenerative disc disease in her spine — Sandra blurts out, "Thank you for being here for us." She's well aware how hard it is to find a doctor who will recommend patients for the registry. Before she found the THC Foundation in 2006, she asked her primary care physician to recommend her for medical marijuana — and says the doctor nearly threw her out.
Eisenbud's heard hard-luck stories like this before. "My feeling is that a large number of doctors in Colorado are open-minded, but they've been misinformed," he says later. Much of the confusion and apprehension in the medical community stems from the fact that after Amendment 20 passed, then-attorney general Ken Salazar warned doctors that they could face federal charges if they participated in the program. It doesn't help that the Colorado Medical Society hasn't taken a stance and that the American Medical Association has said it won't recognize the medical use of marijuana without further studies. (Other prominent medical groups, such as the American College of Physicians and the British Medical Association, have endorsed the idea of medical marijuana.)
Many doctors play it safe by not dabbling in marijuana at all. At Denver Health Medical Center, physicians are allowed to write letters to help patients get registered, says hospital spokeswoman Dee Martinez. But patient Eric Easter counters that notion, saying his doctors refused to recommend him for the state registry: "They said they don't do this even if you were dying of AIDS."
"That's where we come in," says Paul Stanford, the Portland-based founder of the THC Foundation. "When we first moved into Colorado, in 2006, there were only 700 medical marijuana cards statewide." Now, three years later, the Wheat Ridge clinic sees about seventy new patients a week, says Scott Carr, the foundation's regional manager in Colorado. Carr also believes the foundation has helped the medical community warm up to medical marijuana. According to the state, more than 500 doctors have now signed for patients here, and some insurance carriers cover THC Foundation visits. "I've had HMO nurses call and ask what the best vaporizer is for patients to buy," says Carr. The clinic even has a competitor — an operation called CannaMed that opened in Denver offering similar services. CannaMed representatives did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.
But the THC Foundation also has at least one critic: its former doctor on duty, Shawn Elke Glazer. "They're all about making as much money as possible until marijuana gets legalized," says Glazer, a former Libertarian candidate for state representative who now runs the Colorado Green Cross medical clinic in Wheat Ridge.
She believes the THC Foundation signs up as many people as possible so they'll fork over the $200 visit fee, whether they warrant medical marijuana or not. The fact that a marijuana dispensary now operates in the same building as the foundation raises red flags as well, since it could put the clinic in violation of a 2003 Supreme Court ruling saying that doctors can't assist patients in obtaining marijuana.
Stanford calls that nonsense, but Glazer isn't the only one who has questioned the foundation's motives. In 2005, the Oregon justice department began looking into the Portland-based nonprofit for potential IRS violations, such as a $100,000 reimbursement it made to Stanford. "It's an ongoing thing. It has caused a little extra scrutiny, but it hasn't caused any problems whatsoever," Stanford says.
Carr notes that the Wheat Ridge clinic only works with patients who have medical records proving they qualify for the state law and turns away those who don't. He also adamantly denies association with any dispensary, including the one that operates in the same building. The owners of that business, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, concur that there's no connection.
Sandra has no complaints about the THC Foundation, and she'll follow it when it relocates to bigger digs near Speer Boulevard and I-25. Yes, the cost of the visit on top of the $90 annual state registration fee isn't easy on her budget, especially since she spends about $300 a month on marijuana. Still, she's grateful for its existence: "Thank goodness the service is here and it's helping me. This place is safe."
In the past, she didn't feel so safe obtaining her medicine. In 2005, before the THC Foundation opened, she went to a Loveland doctor who charged her more than $400 for the service. Then, to get marijuana, she relied on an operation run out of a former Denver church called the Colorado Compassion Club. The club operated at night and had armed guards at the doors, Sandra says. "There were all these people, and I didn't feel safe at all. It was like being in a bread line."
After that, Sandra was referred to Ken Gorman, a well-known Denver pot activist and one-time write-in candidate for governor.
"I don't have my medical certification up to date," she remembers telling Gorman when she reached him by phone. "Are you sick?" he replied. "That's all I need to know."
"Here was someone I'd never met, and he was so kind to me," says Sandra, who decided to make him her caregiver. She never got a chance to follow through. That weekend, on February 17, 2007, Gorman was shot and killed in his home.
Gorman's death, which is still unsolved, sent shockwaves through the medical marijuana community. It also created a vacuum that permanently changed the industry in Colorado.
Today there are storefront operations like Cannabis Medical, the Healing Center, North Reasonable Access Denver, Denver Patients Caregivers Cooperative and the Kind Room, and delivery services like Confidential Caregivers Unlimited and the Organic Medicine Club. Among them are settings to suit every taste, from dorm-room-like operations with mismatched thrift-store furniture and mega-sized posters of killer kind bud to dentist-office-like venues complete with cushy couches and bubbling aquariums.
Because state law doesn't explicitly sanction dispensaries, the businesses try to protect themselves by making sure that everyone involved is either a patient or a caregiver. "Most of their employees are patients themselves and are listed caregivers for some of these people," Edson says. "And most of the dispensary owners are listed as caregivers for some of the people. But the equivalent of a pharmacy just doesn't exist under the amendment." That's why dispensary owners typically consult with a cadre of lawyers, squirrel away documentation listing their patients and are reluctant to talk to the press. "We hate to be this evasive," says Daniel Tsirlin, co-owner of Alternative Medicine of Southeast Denver, a newly opened dispensary. "Why not let people know? On the other hand, you don't want to be the first to do anything. Be the second."
That's a good approach, judging by the comments of Jeff Sweetin, special agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain field division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"We are investigating some dispensaries throughout this region," Sweetin says, without giving specifics. "The DEA investigates large, well-organized, well-funded organizations. Some of these dispensaries rise to that level." Sweetin is concerned that elements of the medical marijuana scene are tied up with organized crime, in part because Amendment 20 doesn't include rules about where dispensaries can buy their pot.
Early last year, authorities busted a multimillion-dollar marijuana ring involving dozens of indoor grow operations in the north metro region — and Sweetin believes there's a connection to the medical marijuana scene. "It's the largest, most organized indoor grow operation I have ever seen," he says. "I don't believe that's coincidence. I believe they purposely moved that operation to Colorado."
For the most part, however, he says the dispensaries are the problem of local and state agencies — and so far, no one seems to know exactly what to do about them.
Police officers are frustrated by trying to differentiate between illegal drug users and state-certified patients and caregivers, says Captain William Nagle of Denver's Vice and Drug Control Bureau, especially since the only time state health employees can verify certifications is during weekday business hours — not the most conducive time for drug cops. When mistaken raids have occurred, judges have sometimes demanded that law enforcement return the confiscated marijuana and paraphernalia — though police say that by doing so, they could be breaking federal law themselves.
Dispensary owners have grievances, too. While they operate without problem in Denver, other cities haven't been as welcoming. Former Aurora dispensary owner John Chipman says he was hardly up and running before he was run out of town because a city ordinance there didn't allow businesses to operate in violation of federal law. "They said they don't have pit bulls, they don't have massage parlors and they don't want any dispensaries," he says.
Others have problems with crime. Last November, Fort Collins dispensary owner James Masters told reporters that his operation had been burglarized or vandalized nine times in a month. While Masters couldn't be reached for comment, several sources claim these crimes were part of a rash of medical marijuana robberies — including, according to Carr, an attempted break-in at the THC Foundation.
Patients have their own complaints, grumbling that the current business climate is filled with grandstanding and ego clashes, slapdash practices and exorbitant prices. There's no easy way for them to shop around to find better options, however, since they're required to designate only one caregiver.
Officials, law enforcement, caregivers and patients can agree on one thing: The industry should be regulated. They say they'd like to see consistent health standards and better communication between police, government agencies and medical marijuana operations, not to mention dispensary-specific rules and licenses. But since Amendment 20 is written into the Constitution, there's no easy way to tweak the law without a vote of the people, not to mention courting antagonism from either the state's growing medical marijuana community or the federal government.
"The reason you don't have clear and positive regulatory enforcement is that a lot of entities are afraid to piss off the feds by setting up any kind of regulatory environment," says Matthew Kumin, a San Francisco attorney who consults for numerous California dispensaries. "You have something that should be happening more but isn't because of fear."
Michael Lee runs his soil-dusted hands under the faucet at Cannabis Therapeutics. He's spent the morning planting new strains of marijuana seedlings in a grow room, preparing for his next big endeavor. He just got a call finalizing his purchase of $20,000 worth of dirt that he'll use to fill a 30-foot-by-97-foot plot of land he's obtained at an undisclosed spot along the Front Range. Eventually, he says, he'll ask United States Department of Agriculture officials to inspect the site, since his plan is to grow certified organic marijuana.
That way, even if he does sell Cannabis Therapeutics, he'll still be involved with producing medicine for it and other dispensaries. He'll also continue to operate Genovations Laboratories, the research-and-development company for marijuana-infused products that he runs out of a secure warehouse space near Cannabis Therapeutics. There, thanks to an expensive extraction machine and a full-scale chemistry lab, he's pulling THC out of plants and inserting it into tinctures, foods, maybe someday into self-replicating yeast. "I can medicate your hot dogs," he says. "I can medicate your hamburgers."
And while Lee may shift his business focus away from his dispensary, he and other owners say the proposed new regulations won't go through without a fight. "We're probably going to rent buses. We are going to try to get 1,000 patients there," says Edson of the March 18 Colorado Board of Health hearing. "I've been dealing with these [medical marijuana] folks for ten-plus years. I don't think the attorney general's office and the health department appreciates what is about to happen."
The health department's Hyman understands that the meeting will be "energetic." The point, he says, is to include as many people as possible in the process, which is what Judge Naves said the department didn't do when he struck down the five-person-per caregiver rule in 2007.
Lee believes it will take another vote to make changes to Amendment 20, and despite his talk of selling Cannabis Therapeutics, he has many more plans. A few doors down from the dispensary, he's opened a patient activity resource center, where, amid a pool table, a massage chair and a cappuccino machine, patients meet with caregivers and receive alternative treatments for their conditions.
"It can't just be about weed," he says. "You're going to see more places like this once the bar is set, because the state will say places like this can stay open while others have to close."
And he has even bigger dreams for the day marijuana becomes legal for everyone: A gentlemen's club, ready from day one, with prices starting at $500 an ounce. After all, he says with a grin as he reaches for his bowl, "Why shouldn't I be a household name?"
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Cannabutter Recipe
Cannabutter can be used in any recipe that calls for regular butter or margarine. Be sure to label the cannabutter very clearly to avoid any confusion in the fridge!
INGREDIENTS
* 4oz (115g) Butter
* 1/8oz (3.5g) Cannabis Buds/Hash OR
* 1/4oz (7g) Cannabis Leaves
EQUIPMENT
* Small Saucepan
* Wooden Spoon
* Sieve (optional)
METHOD
1. Melt the butter slowly in a pan. Add 1/8oz (3.5g) finely ground cannabis, and simmer on low heat for around 30 min. This allows the cannabis to infuse fully into the butter. Take care to keep the heat low, and stir continuously as the butter can burn easily.
2. After 30 minutes, pour the butter into a jug or tub. As you do this, if you want to remove the bud/hash/leaf, you can pass it through a fine sieve. You won't be wasting any "good stuff," since all the THC should have dissolved into the butter, but if you don't mind getting green bits in your teeth, you can just as easily leave it in.
3. Allow the cannabutter to set for around an hour, or until relatively hard, before using.
4. Cut into small cubes, seal in a Ziploc and freeze for later use. Don't forget to label it!
GRILLED PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY WAFFLES
2 Frozen waffles. I prefer Kashi to Ego, but it's your call.
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Butter
METHOD
Heat a skillet or any old frying pan on medium heat
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in pan
Smear peanut butter over one side of frozen waffle. Make sure to get as much gooey goodness as possible in the holes!
Add your favorite jelly or jam to one side of the other waffle
Place peanut butter waffle (peanut butter side up!) in a pan and let cook for two minutes
Place 2nd waffle (jelly side down!) on top of peanut butter waffle in the pan
Flip entire waffle sandwich 2-3 times each side for even grilling
ENJOY!!!
INGREDIENTS
* 4oz (115g) Butter
* 1/8oz (3.5g) Cannabis Buds/Hash OR
* 1/4oz (7g) Cannabis Leaves
EQUIPMENT
* Small Saucepan
* Wooden Spoon
* Sieve (optional)
METHOD
1. Melt the butter slowly in a pan. Add 1/8oz (3.5g) finely ground cannabis, and simmer on low heat for around 30 min. This allows the cannabis to infuse fully into the butter. Take care to keep the heat low, and stir continuously as the butter can burn easily.
2. After 30 minutes, pour the butter into a jug or tub. As you do this, if you want to remove the bud/hash/leaf, you can pass it through a fine sieve. You won't be wasting any "good stuff," since all the THC should have dissolved into the butter, but if you don't mind getting green bits in your teeth, you can just as easily leave it in.
3. Allow the cannabutter to set for around an hour, or until relatively hard, before using.
4. Cut into small cubes, seal in a Ziploc and freeze for later use. Don't forget to label it!
GRILLED PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY WAFFLES
2 Frozen waffles. I prefer Kashi to Ego, but it's your call.
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Butter
METHOD
Heat a skillet or any old frying pan on medium heat
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in pan
Smear peanut butter over one side of frozen waffle. Make sure to get as much gooey goodness as possible in the holes!
Add your favorite jelly or jam to one side of the other waffle
Place peanut butter waffle (peanut butter side up!) in a pan and let cook for two minutes
Place 2nd waffle (jelly side down!) on top of peanut butter waffle in the pan
Flip entire waffle sandwich 2-3 times each side for even grilling
ENJOY!!!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
HARVEST TIME!!!
THERE IS MORE TO HARVESTING CANNABIS PLANTS THAN JUST CUTTING THEM DOWN!
It's our favorite time of year here at Grower's Grove. Harvest is a multi-staged process and to help guide you through it, we have compiled some information that should get you on your way to a healthy and bountiful harvest.
There is more to harvesting cannabis plants than just cutting them down. Before harvesting, the plants should be fed plain water only with no fertilizer (nutrients). This is to remove any fertilizer that has built up in the plants themselves, and the hydroponic media or soil they were grown in. After the plants are harvested, they have to be manicured and dried.
Even with a small indoor or outdoor garden (less than 20 plants) it can take a few hours to harvest, manicure, and hang the buds for drying. A large garden (more than 50 plants) may take a full days work, or longer. The plants must be manicured and hung to dry right after they are cut down, and this can be time consuming.
Make sure you leave yourself a steady 6 hours of time to work, the first time you harvest a small garden. Make sure you leave yourself a full day to work, the first time you harvest a large garden. You can base the time it will take to harvest future crops based on the amount of time it takes to harvest your first crop.
If you have grown a particular strain before, you will have a good idea when it will be ready to harvest. If you are a first time grower or if haven't grown a particular strain before, try to get you seeds from someone who can tell you not only what strain it is, but also the expected harvest time.
The reason why it is so important to know when the plants will be ready to harvest is because prior to harvest, you will need to remove the fertilizer contained in the plants. The plants themselves and the hydroponic media or soil the plants were growen in will store some of the nutrients that have been fed to them.
Cannabis plants need fertilizer so they can grow, mature, and produce THC. In order to remove fertilizer from plants, you feed them water with no nutrients for one or more feeding just before they are harvested. Tap water will have some chemicals present, it is best to use distilled water or water treated with reverse osmosis for this purpose.
When you know the approximate time the plants will be ready to harvest, you will be able to wait right before you are going to harvest and give them water with no nutrients. In this way they are allowed to grow for the maximum amount of time (large harvest) before being flushed.
The plants will use up the fertilizer they have stored in them and growth will not slow down, if done properly. If nutrients are not flushed from the cannabis plants, the resulting cannabis will taste bad and may also be hard to ignite.
If you are growing hydroponic cannabis, start cleaning about 7 days before harvest. This can be done by changing the solution and using only distilled water or water treated with reverse osmosis (no nutrients). Some growers will change the water two or more times before harvest because the media may still hold nutrients after the first flush.
With soil you need to change to distilled water or water treated with reversed osmosis about 14 days before harvest. Avoid slow release fertilizers because they are hard to remove. Soil growers that have to use slow release fertilizer should employ regular nutrients for the last month.
With hydroponics, if you know that the cannabis strain will be ready to harvest 10 weeks after flowering is started switch to water only feeding about 9 weeks after flowering. With soil, if you know that the cannabis strain will be ready to harvest in the middle of September, switch to water only feeding about the beginning of September.
When growing in soil. you can stop watering the plants 2 days prior to harvest. This is not essential but it will speed the drying process. Do not stop the flow of water to hydroponic plans. If you do, they will wilt and begin to die within a few minutes to a few hours.
HARVESTING CANNABIS PLANTS
The optimal time to harvest cannabis plants is when THC production has reached it maximum. A rough guide as to when to harvest is to wait until 50%-80% of the white pistils (hairs) have turned dark (usually brown or red). But a better method of determining when to harvest is to wait until certain trichomes on the plant have matured.
Trichomes are small appendages that look like hairs, they are produced by cannabis and other plants. Some trichomes on cannabis plants develop a resin gland at the top. These trichomes are rich source of THC, and monitoring them will allow you to best judge when the plants are ready for harvesting.
On cannabis plants, trichomes with resin glands form in the highest concentration on buds. They start out clear, turn a milky color, then turn amber (light brown). To best judge when to harvest, wait until about a week or two before the expected harvest time (just before you go to water only feeding) and look at the trichomes on the largest buds on each plant daily.
The best time to harvest a cannabis plant is when a majority of the trichomes have turned to a milky translucent color. Not all the trichomes will mature at the exact some time. so harvest when most of the plants are ready. Or harvest each bud separately.
It is nearly impossible to see the trichomes with the human eye, so some type of magnification is needed. An inexpensive way to effectively view them is to use a pocket microscope rated at somewhere between 20x to 70x.
There is another type of trichome that can be found on cannabis plants, they are called cystolith trichomes. This type of trichome is mainly found on the underside of leaves. They look like small hairs with no resin gland at the top. Cystolith trichomes are not a source of THC.
When grown indoors, most cannabis strains will be ready to harvest 7-12 weeks after starting a flowering light cycle (12 hours on and 12 hours off per 24 hour period). Most mainly indica strains will be ready to harvest in 7-9 weeks. Mainly sativa strains can take up to 12 weeks to reach maturity.
You can harvest the plants by cutting them down at the base of the stem (with a pair of scissors or some other type of cutting tool), just above where the plant meets the hydroponic media or soil. This will allow you to harvest the entire plant at the same time. Alternatively, you can wait for each branch to mature and cut it off separately.
Once you have grown a strain, you will be able to better estimate the best time to start giving it distilled or reverse osmosis water to flush nutrients, and when yo harvest future crops. Indoors you can be pretty sure that a strain will be ready in the same amount of time, if you provide the same conditions each time you grow it.
Indoor growing conditions will remain constant, unless you change something. When you grow outdoors, you can't assume that a particular strain will be ready in the exact some amount of time, each time you grow it. This is because you are not able to provide consistent conditions outdoors.
After the cannabis plants have been harvested, they must be manicured and dried. Manicuring and drying the cannabis harvest is a very important part in the cultivation process. You may want to smoke the cannabis you have grown without waiting, but this not a good idea.
DRYING AND CURING CANNABIS
Right after all the plants have been harvested, it is time to manicure them. Manicuring is simply cutting off the leaves that were growing from the buds. Cut off all the leaves surrounding the bud, so that just the bud remains.
Work over a glass table or some kind of smooth flat surface. This will make it easy to collect all the material that has been cut away from the buds. It is lower in THC than the buds, but rather than throw it away, you can use it to make hash oil.
When manicuring the buds, use a pair of scissors with small blades (to reach hard to get leaves) that is comfortable on your hands. If you have a small crop, you can handle the plants with you bare hands. With a large crop, wear powder free latex gloves.
The latex gloves will collect trichome resin in a similar manner to the way live cannabis plants are rubbed to make hashish. The latex gloves have to be power free or the powder will get mixed into the resin.
Do not touch anything other than the plants once you have put the gloves on. If you have to do something, remove the gloves you are wearing and put them in a plastic bag, prior to doing whatever it is that has to be done.
When finished, put on a pair of new gloves. Material on the first pair can be collected later. When you are finished manicuring all the plants, remove the gloves and place them in a plastic bag (to catch resin that drops off).
Put the plastic bag with the gloves in a freezer for 2-3 hours. The trichome resin can easily be peeled from the frozen latex gloves and consumed the same way you would use hashish.
If absolutely necessary, you can wait to manicure the buds. However, the job will take more time if you wait. Manicuring right after the plants are harvested will also speed the drying process.
Instead of smoking cannabis directly after it is harvested and manicured, it is best to dry and cure it. Some new growers might be in such a rush to try the cannabis that they don't want to dry the crop, or they might be tempted to put buds in a microwave oven to dry them out.
DRYING CANNABIS AFTER HARVEST
You probably don't want to smoke cannabis that is harsh and bad tasting. If you don't take time to dry the bud, you will not get the best possible smell and taste your crop is capable of producing.
Proper drying and curing will also ensure maximum potency of the cannabis you have grown. Cannabis is not potent just after harvest. Some of the THC is in a non-psychoactive acidic form. Drying cannabis the right way will convert the non-psychoactive acidic compounds into psychoactive THC.
The area where the drying is done should be dark. Light and high temperatures (higher than about 80 degrees) will cause THC to break down into less desirable chemicals, this will lower the potency of the finished product.
A good way to dry the crop is to hang the buds upside down by the stem, from some string or wire. the drying cannabis must have some circulation blowing over it at all times. A gentle breeze that circulates over all the plants is necessary.
A fan or two will circulate air within the drying room. Fans will aid in drying the plants evenly, and reducing the chances of mold. If mold starts and is allowed to grow, it might ruin all of your crop. Mold looks like white fuzz and has an odor that is unpleasant.
You will have to keep the temperature and humidity within a certain range for optimal results. Conditions should remain constantly somewhere within the following ranges, temperature should be between 65-75 degrees F, relative humidity should be between 45%-55%.
At temperatures lower than 65 degrees, drying time will be lengthened. At temperatures higher than 75 degrees, the heat will cause the outer portion of the bud to dry quicker than the inner part, and the taste will suffer.
At humidity levels lower than 45%, the cannabis will dry too fast and the taste will suffer. At humidity levels higher then 55% the cannabis will take a long time to dry, and it will be prone to mold.
Keep a hygrometer and a thermometer in the drying area, close to the plants. A hygrometer will allow you to keep an eye on the relative humidity level in the room and a thermometer will display the temperature. Some hygrometers have built in thermometers so you can measure the temperature and humidity together.
Depending on the time of year and your location, a heater or air conditioner may be necessary to adjust the temperature. To control humidity, a dehumidifier can lower humidity and humidifier can be used to raise humidity. There are warm mist humidifiers and cool mist humidifiers.
A warm mist humidifier will raise the temperature while a cool mist humidifier will not affect the temperature. There are also humidifiers that allow you to switch between warm or cool mist. If you are going to purchase a humidifier for this purpose, take your climate into consideration and buy an appropriate humidifier.
Warm mist models will actually hear the water and release warm humidity. Cool mist water isn't cooled, it just means that water is not heated. In most cases a cool mist will work best. To be safe you can get a humidifier that lets you switch between warm and cool mist.
CURING CANNABIS
It will take at least a week or two to dry the crop with temperatures between 65-75 degrees F and relative humidity between 45%-55%. You will know when the cannabis is dry if the stems snap or break (rather then fold) when they are bent. Try smoking a small bud (1/2 gram or less) in a joint to be sure it is dry enough.
At this time, small buds will be dry enough to smoke. But larger buds should be cured (slow dried) to ensure that the cannabis is as potent and tasty as possible. If necessary, you can set aside buds that are less than 1/2 gram for smoking, while larger buds cure.
The cure lasts a week or two. The aim of that you are doing is evenly finishing the slow dry process, so that mold will not grow when the buds are stored long term. Also, by the end of the cure, any remaining inactive THC will be converted to active THC (that increases potency).
To cure the crop, you will need one or more containers made out of glass or plastic. Some people say plastic can impart a taste to the cannabis.
Containers that have a rubber seal work best, but any type of container with a tight fitting lid will do. One quart canning jars do a very good job if you are curing a few pounds or less. They have a rubber seal and hold 2 or more ounces of cannabis per one quart jar.
Gently place your cannabis in the containers (cut buds to size if they are too big to fit in the container) and put the top on. Store the containers in a dark area where the temperature is between 50-65 degrees and the humidity is between 40%-60%.
You will have to open the containers for a few minutes to allow moisture to escape by fanning with your hand. If any moisture builds up on the inside of the cap on your container, wipe it off. Do this preferably 2-6 times daily, at regular 4-12 hour intervals.
You should also re-arrange the buds by giving them a quarter-turn once a day. This will ensure that different parts of the buds are exposed to the air in the container. Keep up this routine for 7-10 days. When properly dried, cannabis will burn evenly when smoked in a join (if stems are removed).
The taste will be a good as it can be, and the THC will have reached a point where it is ready to be ingested or stored. You can keep any cannabis that will be consumed within a few months (1 year maximum) in the same containers used for curing, without having to keep opening them to release moisture.
If the cannabis is to be stored for more then a few months, you can use a vacuum sealer (designed for storing food) to seal the cannabis in an airtight environment. If stored in a dark area that is between 40-55 degrees F, the cannabis in vacuum sealed plastic will remain potent for up to 5 years.
Dry cannabis can be stored in a frost-free freezer, but some of the THC on the outer part of the buds may be damaged when frozen. A refrigerator is in the right temperature range but they tend to be humid (unless you can control the humidity).
If stored in an area of high humidity for months or years, even vacuum sealed cannabis can eventually become as humid as the surrounding air. This will necessitate drying it again before smoking. But, unless mold develops, humidity itself will not degrade the THC or make the cannabis any less potent.
Light will degrade some of the THC, so dark containers can be used for storage. If you place the cannabis in a see through container, it will have to be located in a dark area that is not exposed to light or high temperatures.
Always make sure to properly dry your cannabis potency at a maximum level, keep any exposure to air, heat, and light at a minimum.
HAPPY HARVEST!!!
By Jesse Martin
It's our favorite time of year here at Grower's Grove. Harvest is a multi-staged process and to help guide you through it, we have compiled some information that should get you on your way to a healthy and bountiful harvest.
There is more to harvesting cannabis plants than just cutting them down. Before harvesting, the plants should be fed plain water only with no fertilizer (nutrients). This is to remove any fertilizer that has built up in the plants themselves, and the hydroponic media or soil they were grown in. After the plants are harvested, they have to be manicured and dried.
Even with a small indoor or outdoor garden (less than 20 plants) it can take a few hours to harvest, manicure, and hang the buds for drying. A large garden (more than 50 plants) may take a full days work, or longer. The plants must be manicured and hung to dry right after they are cut down, and this can be time consuming.
Make sure you leave yourself a steady 6 hours of time to work, the first time you harvest a small garden. Make sure you leave yourself a full day to work, the first time you harvest a large garden. You can base the time it will take to harvest future crops based on the amount of time it takes to harvest your first crop.
If you have grown a particular strain before, you will have a good idea when it will be ready to harvest. If you are a first time grower or if haven't grown a particular strain before, try to get you seeds from someone who can tell you not only what strain it is, but also the expected harvest time.
The reason why it is so important to know when the plants will be ready to harvest is because prior to harvest, you will need to remove the fertilizer contained in the plants. The plants themselves and the hydroponic media or soil the plants were growen in will store some of the nutrients that have been fed to them.
Cannabis plants need fertilizer so they can grow, mature, and produce THC. In order to remove fertilizer from plants, you feed them water with no nutrients for one or more feeding just before they are harvested. Tap water will have some chemicals present, it is best to use distilled water or water treated with reverse osmosis for this purpose.
When you know the approximate time the plants will be ready to harvest, you will be able to wait right before you are going to harvest and give them water with no nutrients. In this way they are allowed to grow for the maximum amount of time (large harvest) before being flushed.
The plants will use up the fertilizer they have stored in them and growth will not slow down, if done properly. If nutrients are not flushed from the cannabis plants, the resulting cannabis will taste bad and may also be hard to ignite.
If you are growing hydroponic cannabis, start cleaning about 7 days before harvest. This can be done by changing the solution and using only distilled water or water treated with reverse osmosis (no nutrients). Some growers will change the water two or more times before harvest because the media may still hold nutrients after the first flush.
With soil you need to change to distilled water or water treated with reversed osmosis about 14 days before harvest. Avoid slow release fertilizers because they are hard to remove. Soil growers that have to use slow release fertilizer should employ regular nutrients for the last month.
With hydroponics, if you know that the cannabis strain will be ready to harvest 10 weeks after flowering is started switch to water only feeding about 9 weeks after flowering. With soil, if you know that the cannabis strain will be ready to harvest in the middle of September, switch to water only feeding about the beginning of September.
When growing in soil. you can stop watering the plants 2 days prior to harvest. This is not essential but it will speed the drying process. Do not stop the flow of water to hydroponic plans. If you do, they will wilt and begin to die within a few minutes to a few hours.
HARVESTING CANNABIS PLANTS
The optimal time to harvest cannabis plants is when THC production has reached it maximum. A rough guide as to when to harvest is to wait until 50%-80% of the white pistils (hairs) have turned dark (usually brown or red). But a better method of determining when to harvest is to wait until certain trichomes on the plant have matured.
Trichomes are small appendages that look like hairs, they are produced by cannabis and other plants. Some trichomes on cannabis plants develop a resin gland at the top. These trichomes are rich source of THC, and monitoring them will allow you to best judge when the plants are ready for harvesting.
On cannabis plants, trichomes with resin glands form in the highest concentration on buds. They start out clear, turn a milky color, then turn amber (light brown). To best judge when to harvest, wait until about a week or two before the expected harvest time (just before you go to water only feeding) and look at the trichomes on the largest buds on each plant daily.
The best time to harvest a cannabis plant is when a majority of the trichomes have turned to a milky translucent color. Not all the trichomes will mature at the exact some time. so harvest when most of the plants are ready. Or harvest each bud separately.
It is nearly impossible to see the trichomes with the human eye, so some type of magnification is needed. An inexpensive way to effectively view them is to use a pocket microscope rated at somewhere between 20x to 70x.
There is another type of trichome that can be found on cannabis plants, they are called cystolith trichomes. This type of trichome is mainly found on the underside of leaves. They look like small hairs with no resin gland at the top. Cystolith trichomes are not a source of THC.
When grown indoors, most cannabis strains will be ready to harvest 7-12 weeks after starting a flowering light cycle (12 hours on and 12 hours off per 24 hour period). Most mainly indica strains will be ready to harvest in 7-9 weeks. Mainly sativa strains can take up to 12 weeks to reach maturity.
You can harvest the plants by cutting them down at the base of the stem (with a pair of scissors or some other type of cutting tool), just above where the plant meets the hydroponic media or soil. This will allow you to harvest the entire plant at the same time. Alternatively, you can wait for each branch to mature and cut it off separately.
Once you have grown a strain, you will be able to better estimate the best time to start giving it distilled or reverse osmosis water to flush nutrients, and when yo harvest future crops. Indoors you can be pretty sure that a strain will be ready in the same amount of time, if you provide the same conditions each time you grow it.
Indoor growing conditions will remain constant, unless you change something. When you grow outdoors, you can't assume that a particular strain will be ready in the exact some amount of time, each time you grow it. This is because you are not able to provide consistent conditions outdoors.
After the cannabis plants have been harvested, they must be manicured and dried. Manicuring and drying the cannabis harvest is a very important part in the cultivation process. You may want to smoke the cannabis you have grown without waiting, but this not a good idea.
DRYING AND CURING CANNABIS
Right after all the plants have been harvested, it is time to manicure them. Manicuring is simply cutting off the leaves that were growing from the buds. Cut off all the leaves surrounding the bud, so that just the bud remains.
Work over a glass table or some kind of smooth flat surface. This will make it easy to collect all the material that has been cut away from the buds. It is lower in THC than the buds, but rather than throw it away, you can use it to make hash oil.
When manicuring the buds, use a pair of scissors with small blades (to reach hard to get leaves) that is comfortable on your hands. If you have a small crop, you can handle the plants with you bare hands. With a large crop, wear powder free latex gloves.
The latex gloves will collect trichome resin in a similar manner to the way live cannabis plants are rubbed to make hashish. The latex gloves have to be power free or the powder will get mixed into the resin.
Do not touch anything other than the plants once you have put the gloves on. If you have to do something, remove the gloves you are wearing and put them in a plastic bag, prior to doing whatever it is that has to be done.
When finished, put on a pair of new gloves. Material on the first pair can be collected later. When you are finished manicuring all the plants, remove the gloves and place them in a plastic bag (to catch resin that drops off).
Put the plastic bag with the gloves in a freezer for 2-3 hours. The trichome resin can easily be peeled from the frozen latex gloves and consumed the same way you would use hashish.
If absolutely necessary, you can wait to manicure the buds. However, the job will take more time if you wait. Manicuring right after the plants are harvested will also speed the drying process.
Instead of smoking cannabis directly after it is harvested and manicured, it is best to dry and cure it. Some new growers might be in such a rush to try the cannabis that they don't want to dry the crop, or they might be tempted to put buds in a microwave oven to dry them out.
DRYING CANNABIS AFTER HARVEST
You probably don't want to smoke cannabis that is harsh and bad tasting. If you don't take time to dry the bud, you will not get the best possible smell and taste your crop is capable of producing.
Proper drying and curing will also ensure maximum potency of the cannabis you have grown. Cannabis is not potent just after harvest. Some of the THC is in a non-psychoactive acidic form. Drying cannabis the right way will convert the non-psychoactive acidic compounds into psychoactive THC.
The area where the drying is done should be dark. Light and high temperatures (higher than about 80 degrees) will cause THC to break down into less desirable chemicals, this will lower the potency of the finished product.
A good way to dry the crop is to hang the buds upside down by the stem, from some string or wire. the drying cannabis must have some circulation blowing over it at all times. A gentle breeze that circulates over all the plants is necessary.
A fan or two will circulate air within the drying room. Fans will aid in drying the plants evenly, and reducing the chances of mold. If mold starts and is allowed to grow, it might ruin all of your crop. Mold looks like white fuzz and has an odor that is unpleasant.
You will have to keep the temperature and humidity within a certain range for optimal results. Conditions should remain constantly somewhere within the following ranges, temperature should be between 65-75 degrees F, relative humidity should be between 45%-55%.
At temperatures lower than 65 degrees, drying time will be lengthened. At temperatures higher than 75 degrees, the heat will cause the outer portion of the bud to dry quicker than the inner part, and the taste will suffer.
At humidity levels lower than 45%, the cannabis will dry too fast and the taste will suffer. At humidity levels higher then 55% the cannabis will take a long time to dry, and it will be prone to mold.
Keep a hygrometer and a thermometer in the drying area, close to the plants. A hygrometer will allow you to keep an eye on the relative humidity level in the room and a thermometer will display the temperature. Some hygrometers have built in thermometers so you can measure the temperature and humidity together.
Depending on the time of year and your location, a heater or air conditioner may be necessary to adjust the temperature. To control humidity, a dehumidifier can lower humidity and humidifier can be used to raise humidity. There are warm mist humidifiers and cool mist humidifiers.
A warm mist humidifier will raise the temperature while a cool mist humidifier will not affect the temperature. There are also humidifiers that allow you to switch between warm or cool mist. If you are going to purchase a humidifier for this purpose, take your climate into consideration and buy an appropriate humidifier.
Warm mist models will actually hear the water and release warm humidity. Cool mist water isn't cooled, it just means that water is not heated. In most cases a cool mist will work best. To be safe you can get a humidifier that lets you switch between warm and cool mist.
CURING CANNABIS
It will take at least a week or two to dry the crop with temperatures between 65-75 degrees F and relative humidity between 45%-55%. You will know when the cannabis is dry if the stems snap or break (rather then fold) when they are bent. Try smoking a small bud (1/2 gram or less) in a joint to be sure it is dry enough.
At this time, small buds will be dry enough to smoke. But larger buds should be cured (slow dried) to ensure that the cannabis is as potent and tasty as possible. If necessary, you can set aside buds that are less than 1/2 gram for smoking, while larger buds cure.
The cure lasts a week or two. The aim of that you are doing is evenly finishing the slow dry process, so that mold will not grow when the buds are stored long term. Also, by the end of the cure, any remaining inactive THC will be converted to active THC (that increases potency).
To cure the crop, you will need one or more containers made out of glass or plastic. Some people say plastic can impart a taste to the cannabis.
Containers that have a rubber seal work best, but any type of container with a tight fitting lid will do. One quart canning jars do a very good job if you are curing a few pounds or less. They have a rubber seal and hold 2 or more ounces of cannabis per one quart jar.
Gently place your cannabis in the containers (cut buds to size if they are too big to fit in the container) and put the top on. Store the containers in a dark area where the temperature is between 50-65 degrees and the humidity is between 40%-60%.
You will have to open the containers for a few minutes to allow moisture to escape by fanning with your hand. If any moisture builds up on the inside of the cap on your container, wipe it off. Do this preferably 2-6 times daily, at regular 4-12 hour intervals.
You should also re-arrange the buds by giving them a quarter-turn once a day. This will ensure that different parts of the buds are exposed to the air in the container. Keep up this routine for 7-10 days. When properly dried, cannabis will burn evenly when smoked in a join (if stems are removed).
The taste will be a good as it can be, and the THC will have reached a point where it is ready to be ingested or stored. You can keep any cannabis that will be consumed within a few months (1 year maximum) in the same containers used for curing, without having to keep opening them to release moisture.
If the cannabis is to be stored for more then a few months, you can use a vacuum sealer (designed for storing food) to seal the cannabis in an airtight environment. If stored in a dark area that is between 40-55 degrees F, the cannabis in vacuum sealed plastic will remain potent for up to 5 years.
Dry cannabis can be stored in a frost-free freezer, but some of the THC on the outer part of the buds may be damaged when frozen. A refrigerator is in the right temperature range but they tend to be humid (unless you can control the humidity).
If stored in an area of high humidity for months or years, even vacuum sealed cannabis can eventually become as humid as the surrounding air. This will necessitate drying it again before smoking. But, unless mold develops, humidity itself will not degrade the THC or make the cannabis any less potent.
Light will degrade some of the THC, so dark containers can be used for storage. If you place the cannabis in a see through container, it will have to be located in a dark area that is not exposed to light or high temperatures.
Always make sure to properly dry your cannabis potency at a maximum level, keep any exposure to air, heat, and light at a minimum.
HAPPY HARVEST!!!
By Jesse Martin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
