1. THE DISPENSARIES

2. The Customers THE MYTH: MEDICAL MJ IS ONLY RECOMMENDED FOR THE SERIOUSLY ILL THE FACT: MEDICAL MJ CAN BE RECOMMENDED FOR ANY AILMENT THAT “MJ PROVIDES RELIEF ”

3. The Sick? Marijuana is recommended for any ailment. The majority of these recommendations are for insomnia, anxiety, depression and muscle pain. Of the records we have seen, Cancer, Glaucoma, and Aids patients made up less than 3% of the people receiving medical MJ from the dispensaries

4. ‘Customer’ Ailments

5. Dispensaries Sell to the Young The Majority of the patients are under 30 years old. The number of patients over the age of 50 equals the number of patients under 20.

6. San Diego’s Youthful Ill

7. Widespread Ability to Buy Marijuana THE MYTH THE MYTH: MJ WILL ONLY BE GIVEN TO THOSE WHO NEED IT THE FACT THE FACT: “PATIENTS” ARE ROUTINELY PROVIDED MJ RECS THAT LAST FOR A YEAR WITH NO FOLLOW-UP CARE. A RECOMMENDATION CAN BE OBTAINED IF YOU CAN STATE YOU SUFFER FROM ANY AILMENT AND MARIJUANA MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER.

8. THE DOCTORS ADVERTISE IN THE READER SOME PREQUALIFY PATIENTS ONLINE DR’S GIVING OUT MJ RECS FOR EVERY AILMENT – INCLUDING PMS, A.D.D., TOURETTES SYNDROME, SCHIZOPHRENIA, ALCOHOLISM ETC MORE THAN 50% OF THE RECS FOUND AT THE DISPENSARIES CAME FROM 2 DOCTORS.

9. THE “RECOMMENDATION” A MARIJUANA PRESCRIPTION?

10. Legalization of Marijuana by Doctors MYTH: A DR’S RECOMMENDATION FOR MARIJUANA WORKS JUST LIKE A PRESCRIPTION. FACT: A RECOMMENDATION HAS NO REASONABLE CONTROLS ON THE AMOUNT OF MJ A PERSON CAN POSSESS.

11. A RECOMMENDATION HAS NO SET AMOUNTS OR A SET AMOUNT BY THE PATIENT IT IS NOT TAKEN BY THE PATIENT AND IS JUST USED TO PROVE HE/SHE CAN POSSESS MARIJUANA. THERE IS NO RECORD KEEPING OR CONTROLS ON THE AMOUNT OF MARIJUNA A PERSON IS ACTUALLY USING, GIVING AWAY, OR SELLING. IT SOMETIMES EVEN RECOMMENDS HOW MANY PLANTS YOU CAN HAVE DESPITE THE YIELD OF A PLANT BEING A TOTAL UNKNOWN. THE LACK OF CONTROLS ON THE AMOUNTS A PATIENT CAN POSSESS MAKES IT SIMPLE FOR A “PATIENT” TO ILLEGALLY SELL OR DIVERT MARIJUANA

12. What is the dosage amount a recommendation allows a Marijuana patient to have? The answer is as much as the patient says he/she needs... The marijuana “medicine” sold at the “dispensaries” is sold off a menu board like a cafe and not only can a “patient” obtain various “varieties” of marijuana, but they also can get items containing marijuana, such as candy bars, “marinara sauce for two”, pie, baklava, oils, creams and honey. Whatever they “need”.

13. How long does a marijuana patient need marijuana? The recommendations are routinely 1 year no matter what you suffer from. Even if you no longer “need” marijuana for the illness it was recommended for, the recommendation is still good for the year. Renewal from year to year is easily obtained because the recs are so easy to get in the first place.

14. “Primary Caregivers”

15. The law provides that medical marijuana patients can have a primary caregiver. Primary caregiver means the individual, designated by a qualified patient... Who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, or safety of that patient.. (HS CODE 11362.7(d))

16. Is This Providing Care? MYTH – A PRIMARY CAREGIVER IS ONLY SOMEONE WHO IS NEEDED TO HELP PROVIDE CARE FOR A PERSON WHO IS SO SERIOUSLY ILL THAT THEY CAN’T HELP THEMSELVES. FACT: DISPENSARIES HAVE “PATIENTS” THAT THEY HAVE NO RELATIONSHIP WITH AT ALL DESIGNATE THEM AS THEIR “PRIMARY CAREGIVER”. THEN THE DISPENSARY SELLS THEM WHATEVER MJ THE “PATIENT” WANTS.

17. HOW IT WORKS I GET REC FROM A MEDICAL MJ DOCTOR FOR 1 YEAR. I DESIGNATE MY FRIENDS AS MY PRIMARY CAREGIVER(S) NOW MY FRIENDS AND I HAVE DOCUMENTATION THAT ON ITS FACE ALLOWS US TO POSSESS MARIJUANA FOR “MEDICAL PURPOSES”. NOW, IF POLICE SHOW UP AT ONE OF THE FRIENDS’ HOUSE AND FIND PLANTS OR MJ, THE “CAREGIVER” JUST SAYS, “I AM GROWING FOR THE PATIENT I CARE FOR.”

18. HOW IT WORKS THERE IS NO RECORD KEEPING OF WHO THE “PRIMARY CAREGIVERS” ARE. DOCTORS WILL SELL YOU A CAREGIVER FORM OR GIVE YOU A BLANK FORM SIGNED BY THE DOCTOR. ONE OF THESE FORMS WAS USED TO BUY MJ FOR A NARCOTICS K9 AT A DISPENSARY.

19. DISPENSARIES – PRIMARY CAREGIVERS? DISPENSARIES HAVE THEMSELVES DESIGNATED AS A “PRIMARY CAREGIVER” DESPITE THEIR ONLY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PATIENT IS THEY SUPPLY MJ IF YOU HAVE YOUR PAPERWORK, YOU GET MJ. THERE IS NOTHING TO PREVENT THE “PATIENT” FROM GETTING MJ FROM OTHER SOURCES SUCH AS ANOTHER DISPENSARY. THE ONLY “CARE” THEY PROVIDE IS THEY SELL MJ TO WHOEVER HAS “PAPERWORK”

20. MARIJUANA DEALERS AS CAREGIVERS MYTH: DISPENSARIES ARE LEGITIMATE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES THAT PROVIDE CARE AND COUNSELING TO PATIENTS. FACT: THE DISPENSARIES ARE A STOREFRONT FOR THE ILLEGAL DISTRIBUTION OF MJ TO ANY ONE WHO CAN GET A REC OR WHO GETS A PRIMARY CAREGIVER FORM.

21. LOTS OF ‘MEDICINE’ CHOICES

25. MYTH : A PATIENT GOES TO A DISPENSARY TO GET HIS/HER REQUIRED AMOUNT OF MJ BASED ON HIS RECOMMENDATION FACT: THE DISPENSARY SELLS MJ, CANDY, AND FOOD TO THE PERSON BASED ON WHAT THEY ASK FOR WITH NO RECORD KEEPING OF HOW MUCH THEY HAVE SUPPLIED AND TO WHO IT HAS BEEN SUPPLIED.

26. Unlimited Marijuana YOU CAN GO IN DAILY TO A DISPENSARY AND BUY MJ. YOU CAN GO TO MULTIPLE DISPENSARIES ON THE SAME DAY PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS ARE GOING INTO THE STORES AT THE SAME TIME AND THE “PRIMARY CAREGIVERS” ARE BUYING MJ FOR THEMSELVES AND THE PATIENTS ARE ALSO BUYING MJ FOR THEMSELVES.

27. WHO SUPPLIES THE DISPENSARIES? DISPENSARIES ARE SUPPLIED BY “VENDORS” WHICH IS A POLITICAL CODE FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN SELL THEM MARIJUANA. DISPENSARIES ARE JUST A STOREFRONT THAT ALLOWS MJ DEALERS TO SELL THEIR MARIJUANA.

28. RECENT CASE – INDIVIDUAL SHOWED UP TO A DISPENSARY AS A “VENDOR” AND WAS IN POSSESSION OF A POUND OF MJ AND LOADED SEMI-AUTOMATIC HANDGUN WITH AN EXTENDED MAGAZINE. NUMEROUS DEALERS AND GROWERS NOW STATE THEY ARE MERELY SUPPLYING MJ TO DISPENSARIES FOR “COMPASSIONATE USE” AND SHOW LAW ENFORCEMENT PRIMARY CAREGIVER FORMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO ATTEMPT TO AVOID PROSECUTION.

29. WE EVEN HAVE INDIVIDUALS WHO SET THEMSELVES UP AS “MOBILE” DISPENSARIES.” THESE INDIVIDUALS JUST GET THEMSELVES DESIGNATED AS A CAREGIVER FOR ANYONE WITH A RECOMMENDATION AND THEN DELIVER WHATEVER MJ IS ORDERED FOR CASH. THEY DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE PERSON THEY ARE “CARING” FOR OTHER THAN THAT THEY HAVE PAPERWORK AND THAT THEY HAVE CASH. THEY DO NOT KNOW IF THE “PATIENT” IS GETTING MJ FROM OTHER SOURCES NOR DO THEY KNOW HOW MUCH THE PATIENT “NEEDS” FOR HIS/HER CARE. THE OLD NAME FOR “MOBILE DISPENSARY” WAS “NEIGHBORHOOD DRUG DEALER”.

30. Where are the dispensaries? Some are located near residential neighborhoods and schools More are appearing every month In the last year and a half we went from no known dispensaries to in excess of 20 storefronts. Not including numerous “mobile dispensaries”

31. DISPENSARIES ARE ILLEGAL State law was expanded in 2004 by a new law, SB 420 (Health & Safety Code 11362.7-8), which (1) authorizes caregivers who provide marijuana to patients to be compensated for the costs of their services, though not on a for-profit basis; and (2) allows patients to form cultivation "collectives" or "cooperatives." On careful examination; however, neither of these provisions provides a green light for sales of cannabis. Those dispensaries that are selling marijuana over the counter accordingly do so at the tolerance of local authorities. SB 420SB 420 THE ABOVE EXCERPT IS FROM THE CANORML WEB SITE – THE CALIFORNIA CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION TO REFORM MARIJUANA LAWS.