California is the nationwide leader when it comes to medical marijuana. Voters approved it more than 20-years ago. Yet, there is still a stigma among millions of people, even here in California.
“The old stereotype of ripping bong hits and running for the potato chips is a thing of the past,” said Kalena Pineulas of M.J. Tours California. “I have PTSD from the military and tried all kinds of things, Antidepressants, anti-anxiety, but they have all been replaced by cannabis products.”
She believes in medical benefits so much, she started a company to let everyone else know.
M.J. Tours is like a party bus, only not. Instead of Cheech and Chong, this is more like Geeks and Scientists.
“This tour will open people’s eyes. It’s not like Reefer Madness. This is real science for people who have real medical problems,” said Ed Shafer of Dana Point. “I have trouble sleeping, anxiety. I’ve tried pills for years, but they’ve been replaced by cannabis.”
Shafer has a lot of company. Once people get past the stigma of marijuana, it changes lives.
“I used to take all kinds of pills, pain pills, opiates. No more. Now I just smoke a little before bed, it’s replaced all the pills in my medicine cabinet,” Shafer said.
Even though it’s been legal for 20-years, the testing has reached all-time highs, no pun intended.
“Testing is moving at lightning speed,” said Josh Swider of INFINITE-CAL Laboratories. “We test for everything from pesticides to THC content, to CBD content.”
Now, everything you see in a pot shop is tested and verified, from seed to sale.
They call it “track and trace.” Come July, every single product will be tested and retested before it hits the store shelves.
