San Diego Dispensaries and Cooperatives

Your computer is the best tool for finding local dispensaries providing medical marijuana.

Where To Find Cooperatives and Dispensaries

Google; Medical Marijuana San Diego
Weedmaps.com
Ca Norml
Pot Locators

 What are Dispensaries and Cooperatives?  From the Ca NORML site;

COLLECTIVES AND COOPERATIVES

State law explicitly allows distribution of medical marijuana through non-profit "collectives" or "cooperatives." This is the way storefront dispensaries should be organized. While some dispensaries are currently organized otherwise, as sole proprietorships, partnerships, or for-profit businesses, such arrangements are not advisable, since they are not permitted under SB 420 or the Attorney General's guidelines.

Cooperatives" are explicitly defined in California law. Cooperatives must file articles of incorporation with the state and be organized in accordance with provisions spelled out in the state Corporations or Food and Agriculture code. Prospective cooperatives should be set up in consultation with a business attorney.

"Collectives" are not defined in statutory law. According to the Attorney General's guidelines :

"A collective should be an organization that merely facilitates the collaborative efforts of patient and caregiver members – including the allocation of costs and revenues. As such, a collective is not a statutory entity, but as a practical matter it might have to organize as some form of business to carry out its activities. The collective should not purchase marijuana from, or sell to, non-members; instead, it should only provide a means for facilitating or coordinating transactions between members."<

One might infer that "collective" refers to any organization of multiple patients. Unfortunately, the guidelines provide no explanation as to how these should operate. Presumably, the basic model is a group of patients and caregivers who plant a garden together and share the crop among themselves. The cultivation collective model does not necessarily envision walk-in clients, nor retail sales of medicine to members. Collectives may be supported by participation in work, donations or membership fees. Under one model, patients pay a set gardening fee for a certain part of the crop, and receive the harvest at no further charge.<

A notable example of a patients' collective is the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuanain Santa Cruz.  WAMM has 200 seriously  ill members  who cultivate a collective garden and attend to each others' health and personal needs.  

Two examples of patients' providers officially structured as cooperative corporations under California law were the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and Los Angeles Cannabis Research Center. Both might have been legal under SB 420, but they were shut down by the federal government.

The legality of collectives and cooperatives under state law was upheld by the Third District Court of Appeals in the 2005 Urziceanu decision. The Court ruled that while Prop. 215 did not authorize distribution by anyone except primary caregivers, SB 420 allowed for distribution among patients and caregivers through collectives and cooperatives.

You may always call Medimar 877-627-1644, for assistance. By Law we are prohibited from favoring any particular business.

HIPAA Health Information Privacy

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Health Information Privacy

The Office for Civil Rights enforces the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information; the HIPAA Security Rule, which sets national standards for the security of electronic protected health information; and the confidentiality provisions of the Patient Safety Rule, which protect identifiable information being used to analyze patient safety events and improve patient safety.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules

Learn about the Rules' protection of individually identifiable health information, the rights granted to individuals, OCR’s enforcement activities, and how to file a complaint with OCR.

Understanding Health Information Privacy

The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information. At the same time, the Privacy Rule is balanced so that it permits the disclosure of personal health information needed for patient care and other important purposes.
The Security Rule specifies a series of administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for covered entities to use to assure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information.

This information is taken from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Website. Medimar encourages all their patients to do research and ask questions either of the Medimar staff or at HHS.

Dumanis Raiding Dispensaries

Apparently upset over an Appellate Court ruling, Bonnie Dumanis and local law enforcement authorites have gone on a rampage of raids at dispensaries and storefront collectives.
 Read about it!

Safe Accesss San Diego

San Diego Reader

SF Weekly

E News Park Forest

89.3 KPCC

Montel Williams; Arkansas Marijuana Ads

Montel Williams says Ad opposing legal marijuana shops in Arkansas is racist

Posted by Skunk on Oct 21st, 2012 in Stoner News | 0 comments

Talk show host Montel Williams took exception to an ad that opposes legal marijuana shops in Arkansas, calling it racist and false while speaking to a crowd gathered in front of the state capitol in Little Rock on Thursday. “Offensive is really an understatement. It’s the most egregiously racist, false statement you’ve ever seen in your life,” he said. “They’ve (got) people sitting in a picture holding guns, talking about medical marijuana, and of course they happen to be of different colors to make sure you’re as irritated and angry as you can be,” he added.
According to E! Online, Williams “has openly expressed his support for medical marijuana, which he says he uses to treat symptoms of his multiple sclerosis in New York.” The ad that has Williams worked up was sponsored by the Family Council Action Committee, a conservative group who paid $1,000 for 30 seconds of airtime and unsuccessfully sued to get legalizing medical marijuana off the Arkansas ballot. At one point, the ad shows a black actor filling bags with marijuana while sitting at a table with guns. The ad also shows white actors portraying marijuana users.
“The grass-growers and dope dealers would be in charge,” a narrator says in the ad. “Arkansas doesn’t need a state filled with stoned-out zombies, or the criminal activities that come from legalizing controlled substances.” But Jerry Cox, the head of the Family Council Action Committee, denied any racial overtones.
“Sure, he wanted to seize on that, but that’s not the message we’re sending,” he said. “We’re sending a message that this harmful act is going to affect every family in this state if it passes.” “The Arkansas measure would allow patients with qualifying conditions to buy marijuana from nonprofit dispensaries with a doctor’s recommendation. If approved, Arkansas would become the first Southern state to legalize medical marijuana,” the Washington Post reported.

Here at Medimar we believe the Family Council Action Committee should examine its perspective on its claims to every family in Arkansas. California has had legal medical marijuana for 10 years and complete decriminalized possession for several years. It hasn't effected families in a negative manner. California is still the worlds 7th largest economy; was before medical marijuana and still is growing. Now our citizens have lower medical costs. The FCAC is hoping to scare the electorate of Arkansas. As with all their campaigns, they play on peoples fears and ignorance.

Additional Coverage; 
Washington Post;    http://wapo.st/QTTEv5
theGrio;    http://bit.ly/RUho2W

U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Challenge

U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Challenge to DEA Rejection of Medical Marijuana Rescheduling - October 16, 2012

Posted October 15th, 2012 by canorml_admin

California NORML Release
Washington DC, Oct 16th - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments in a case challenging the Drug Enforcement Administration's rejection of a petition to remove marijuana from Schedule I, the most dangerous category of drugs for which no medical use is recognized.
The lawsuit, filed by Americans for Safe Access, stems from a rescheduling petition that was filed in 2002 by the Coalition to Reschedule Cannabis with participation from California NORML and NORML. The petition was rejected by the DEA in 2011 after applicants sued the agency for unreasonable regulatory delay.
In its decision, the DEA summarily discounted substantial scientific evidence showing that cannabis has medical efficacy. The agency has held that only expensive, "Phase 3" FDA efficacy studies are acceptable, while at the same making such studies impossible by blocking approval of the necessary research facilities.
Congress originally put marijuana in Schedule I when it passed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, on the understanding that it would be rescheduled in light of the findings of the Presidential Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. The Commission's advice was disregarded after it recommended that marijuana be entirely decriminalized.
NORML then filed a petition to reschedule marijuana for medical use in 1972. The petition was ultimately rejected in 1991, after the DEA overrode the determination of its own administrative law judge, Francis Young, that marijuana's medical benefits were "clear beyond question."
The CRC filed a new petition in 2002, arguing that marijuana's medical value had been proven by new evidence, as well as by the approval of medical cannabis laws in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, California established a $9 million medical marijuana research program at the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at U.C. San Diego. The program found marijuana to be effective in four out of four FDA-approved trials for neuropathic pain and multiple sclerosis.  The CMCR's director, Dr. Igor Grant, has called marijuana's Schedule I status "untenable."
"The DEA's obstruction of medical marijuana represents the worst kind of regulatory dysfunction by self-serving drug bureaucrats," comments Cal NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer. "The evidence is now overwhelming that marijuana can be an effective, affordable substitute for many more dangerous and costly, yet legal, prescription drugs. If the government can't get medical marijuana straight, how can we expect it to manage national health care?"
Release by Dale Gieringer, Cal NORML / CRC - www.canorml.org
Further info: The Cannabis Rescheduling Petition: An Introduction from DrugScience.org
Safe Access Now release
Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research
Dale Gieringer - dale@canorml.org
California NORML www.canorml.org
510-540-1066 / FAX 510-849-3974

Appellate Court To Hear Dispensary Case

Advocates fight to overturn a wrongful conviction and preserve the right to a medical marijuana defense

Here is another news story of a case which is happening now in San Diego. We posted a link to a story last week and this is another; Opposing View. 
Medimar Clinic is highly concerned with the rights of patients. The voters of California have voted twice to permit residents the right to use marijuana to treat their ailments. Only a small percentage of Californians do not agree with this right. This story and related news stories show that some people who are against the rights of citizens have obtained the position of District Attorney and Judge. Fortunately, there are organizations such as Americans for Safe Access and N.O.R.M.L. and many private attorneys who fight for citizens rights.

Medimar Clinic encourages its patients and all those interested in the subject of medical marijuana to research the facts and keep educated on the law and your rights.

More San Diegans May Get To Vote On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

From KPBS;  SAN DIEGO — Voters in yet another San Diego city may get the chance to decide whether to allowmedical marijuana dispensaries. La Mesa may be the next town to put the issue on a future ballot.

Enlarge this image

Above: The Mother Earth Alternative Healing Cooperative, the last licensed medical marijuana co-op in San Diego County.

The group Citizens for Patients Rights helped place medical marijuana dispensaries on the fall ballot in local cites. The group says it has in turned more than 6,500 signatures on a petition for a similar initiative to the La Mesa City Clerk.

Voters in Lemon Grove, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Imperial Beach will weigh in on dispensaries next month. Voters in Encinitas will face the issue in 2014.

But there's a rub. What ever happens at the ballot box, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy says she'll continue to enforce the federal ban on marijuana. That means she could force all dispensaries to shut down.

The Los Angeles City Council just repealed its ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. As a result, an estimated 1,000 L.A. storefronts are now unregulated.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/oct/08/more-san-diegans-may-get-vote-medical-marijuana-di/