California, the first state to pass a medical marijuana law, by a vote of the people, largely in response to the AIDS crisis. People were literally dying in the streets of San Francisco, mostly due to starvation or dehydration. These people could not hold down food or water due to their medications and wasted away, perished.
A group of advocates in SF decided that maybe smoking out these AIDS patients and feeding them soup could help save lives. It worked. AIDS patients would smoke, get hungry, eat, hold down their food and meds. Cannabis was saving lives and giving people more livable lives. Many of these patients eventually passed away, but it was not due to starvation or dehydration on the streets – but with dignity and a support network.
A group of marijuana activists and patient advocates did not want to see these brave providers go to jail for giving away cannabis. So, the Compassionate Use Act was born AKA Prop. 215:
The Compassionate Use Act of 1996
The people of the State of California hereby find and declare that the purposes of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 are as follows:
To ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has determined that the person’s health would benefit from the use of marijuana in the treatment of cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.
To ensure that patients and their primary caregivers who obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a physician are not subject to criminal prosecution or sanction.
To encourage the federal and state governments to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana.
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The law passed in 1996 and is the foundation of a medical cannabis model where compassionate people were giving marijuana away for free to those that needed it most, not only in San Francisco, but WAMM in Santa Cruz and the work of Brownie Mary are other examples of Compassionate Care. These providers were not in it for money. They wanted sick people to have more livable lives, and to pass with dignity and little suffering. This is the spirit of medical cannabis and compassion.
With this movement also came the first dispensaries. Not all patients are gravely ill. Many are productive, have jobs, and are receiving relief from their conditions from medical marijuana. Still many dispensaries were giving cannabis away to their neediest patients, veterans, and those on disability, and have been doing so up until recently.
Prop 64 made it illegal to give cannabis away. This year elected officials saw the harm in this and introduced SB 829 – to allow for a Compassionate Care license – which is supposed to diminish the fees and taxes on cannabis intended for ‘non-commercial purposes.’
The problem with this bill is it that a business operator can ONLY acquire a Compassionate Care license if they have an M license. Certainly those with M licenses should have the option of providing a Compassionate Care program. However, those that want to be purely a Compassionate Care business should not have to acquire an M license.
Here’s why: An authentic Compassionate Care entity runs as a not for profit social service agency, and has no retail sales making the need for any retail cannabis license unnecessary. It is costly to get and maintain an M license, especially for a not for profit Compassionate Care provider.
Those that want to operate solely as a not for profit Compassionate Care business should have the option to do so without being required to have other costly licenses they won’t use – just so the state can get more revenue.
This is one of many provisions that needs to be changed in Prop 64, and it should never, ever, ever be illegal to give medical cannabis away for free.
