Budding Industry Helps Pot Patients

[Weedpipe]

Ordering medical marijuana can almost be as easy as getting a pizza dropped off at your doorstep, thanks to a burgeoning number of therapeutic pot delivery services in San Diego County.

Local law enforcement officials estimate there are at least 40 delivery services, with more appearing after raids and crackdowns on storefront dispensaries.

Several have created colorful Web sites with menus offering “edibles” such as marijuana brownies and cookies. Botanicure Collective and Delivery even has a page on Yelp, a reader-review Web site.

“You call them up, place an order, and they come to your house within 20 to 60 minutes, just like for a pizza,” Deputy District Attorney Chris Lindbergh said.

Law enforcement officials say the increase in mobile marijuana operations is fueled by demand and low startup costs: a car, cell phone and pot.

Operators say they are complying with state laws. Many require doctors'recommendations from clients and provide marijuana only to people older than 21. They say they fill a legitimate need for ill or disabled people who are immobile.

“Some people I helped were severely crippled, with broken backs, amputations or rheumatoid arthritis,” said Clairemont resident Donna Lambert, adding that she stopped delivering marijuana last summer.
Lambert was swept up in a February raid and charged with seven felonies, including selling marijuana.

The Operation Endless Summer sting led to the arrests of 37 individuals, 14 of whom were running delivery services, Lindbergh said. Ten of those deliverers were convicted or pleaded guilty, Lindbergh said. The other four, including Lambert, are awaiting trial.

Law enforcement officials say they think many delivery services are selling marijuana at a profit, which is illegal in California.

“They're hiding behind a law designed to help sick and ill people, only to make a buck,” Lindbergh said.

Three current delivery service operators were reached for this story, but none of them would be identified for fear of being targeted by law enforcement officials.

They said they deliver morning and night to members of a collective. They grow their own plants, sometimes supplementing with purchased pot. Some said they operate as nonprofits, asking for donations of a set amount. Prices generally range from $300 to $400 an ounce.

Delivery services have been in existence since California voters passed Proposition 215 and legalized medical marijuana in 1996. But their numbers have blossomed in the past couple of years, said Dale Gieringer, coordinator for California NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which lobbies for pot smokers.

The organization's Web site lists 20 delivery services in San Diego and about 200 statewide. An increase in the number of delivery services six months ago prompted the organization to hire an employee to update and oversee the listings.

Complaints about delivery services are more common than for storefront dispensaries, Gieringer said.
“They'll say they bought pot from a guy and it's no good,” Gieringer said. “They want their money back, but they can't get their calls returned.”
One factor in the lack of accountability is that no one regulates delivery services or dispensaries in San Diego – and the same is true for many other cities in the state.

Delivery services are not mentioned in Proposition 215. Legal analysts say state statutes and recent court cases show that there are two scenarios in which distributors can legally operate: They can grow marijuana as part of a nonprofit collective and share it among members, or they can provide the drug as a primary caregiver for severely ill or disabled patients.
Many distributors were using the caregiver rationale but were stripped of that option last year when the state Supreme Court ruled that a caretaker must look out for the health and safety of a patient and not just provide medical marijuana.

San Diego law enforcement officials say the state law allows collectives and cooperatives to cultivate marijuana but not sell it.
Alex Kreit, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, said that interpretation is too narrow.
“The law does allow collectives and cooperatives to operate on a nonprofit basis,” said Kreit, who chairs a recently appointed San Diego task force on medical marijuana.
Collectives can charge money for marijuana as long as they put the funds back into the operation and do not make a profit, Kreit said.



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Source: SignOnSanDiego
Author: Eleanor Yang Su
Contact: San Diego, California, National News - The San Diego Union-Tribune
Copyright: Copyright 2009 The San Diego Union-Tribune, LLC
Website:Budding industry helps pot patients - SignOnSanDiego.com