Sean Becker was a happy single father until his life turned upside down in January 2006.
That's when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease that can eventually disable people. Two weeks earlier, Becker was snowboarding on the top of Kirkwood ski resort, having the time of his life.
But later that month, he lost his balance and vomited frequently, and he spent three weeks in the hospital.
Fast forward to November 2009 – a friend of Becker's, also suffering from multiple sclerosis, had been taking medicinal marijuana, and Becker tried some.
"I immediately felt better after a couple of puffs," said Becker, 40, who lives in the Lincoln Center area of Stockton.
As time went by, Becker said his continued use of medical marijuana caused his fatigue to go away and his balance to greatly improve, and he didn't have the soreness he previously had.
"I'm not saying that marijuana will cure MS," Becker said.
Now that Becker is sold on the idea that marijuana can improve an ill person's comfort level, he and Stockton resident Matt Leandro are actively lobbying the city of Stockton and San Joaquin County to legalize the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries.
Since November, they've established an organization called Legitimate Cannabis Collective and created an informational Web site about the organization and research that has taken place about medical marijuana. They also established a San Joaquin County chapter of a group called Americans for Safe Access.
"We started Legitimate Cannabis Collective as a non-partisan type of Web site," Leandro said.
They work 10 to 12 hours a day, five to seven days a week on their lobbying efforts.
Becker said he's been to many dispensaries in Northern California shopping for his own marijuana, but not all of them are good ones.
"There are some you go to, and it's really shady," Becker said.
Harborside, with locations in Oakland and San Jose, is a well-run operation, where the staff educated Becker about marijuana and how different strains help with different ailments, he said.
"I went to a dispensary in Stockton, and they had no idea," Becker added.
Three dispensaries opened recently within the Stockton city limits, though one of them will close in the near future, Deputy City Attorney Guy Petzold said. Leandro said the dispensaries opened because Stockton didn't have an ordinance regulating them, but Petzold maintains the dispensaries are operating illegally because marijuana use isn't permitted in the city's zoning code.
Stockton's city attorney's office and community development department are developing an ordinance regulating medical marijuana for the City Council to consider. The ordinance will probably allow medical marijuana, but it will restrict establishments to certain types of locations, and it will likely be subject to a special-use permit at the City Council's discretion, Petzold said.
Meanwhile, county officials will develop an ordinance as well to regulate rural areas outside the county's seven cities, but it will take the Board of Supervisors longer to adopt an ordinance because county staff hasn't met on the topic, Assistant County Counsel Mark Myles said.
Myles said he still needs to meet with the County Administrator's Office, Community Development Department, the Sheriff's Office and with medical marijuana proponents before drafting an ordinance.
"This is such an incredibly complex issue," Myles said. "There is no cut-and-dried approach."
Myles said he has a Google Alert for medical marijuana, and he gets 50 references on the subject daily. He cites a newspaper article from Fairplay, Colo., about a woman who complained to local law enforcement about a severely painful rash she maintains was caused by medical marijuana.
So what if someone makes a similar claim in San Joaquin County? Myles is at a loss as to what to advise legally to the Board of Supervisors. He says he needs to be able to address a situation like the one in Colorado before submitting an ordinance to the Board of Supervisors.
Myles also looks at the Web sites for existing dispensaries in California and elsewhere to see what they do.
"If you look at some of the establishments' Web sites, some don't look very professional," he said. "That doesn't help their image."
Becker and Leandro agree that some dispensaries aren't very good at what they do. They advocate tough ordinances to ensure that the establishments are strictly regulated.
"We want to change the model throughout California and the nation," Leandro said.
They also want to get into the business themselves. Becker and Leandro plan to apply for a use permit with the city of Stockton once the city adopts its ordinance. Twelve people are actively involved, Leandro said, and they hope to hire 80 people by the end of 2012.
The ideal dispensary will do more than merely sell marijuana to customers, Leandro and Becker said. If Stockton approves a use permit for them, Becker and Leandro plan a multi-faceted approach. It includes:
# Having a security guard outside checking customers for a state-approved marijuana identification card. If you don't have a card, you can't get in.
# An employee checking the card to validate that the card is not fake. That includes verifying that a doctor actually advised medical marijuana.
# Having the customer register as a co-op member, requiring them to help out at the dispensary. Staff will track the customer's medical history, find out what medications have worked and what haven't, and recommend a certain strain of marijuana that would best suit the customer and his or her ailment.
# Using proceeds from marijuana sales for community projects such as youth centers intended to keep youths out of gang activity, or a community garden where unemployed people can learn to plant their own fruits and vegetables.
Becker said he would like to see a medical marijuana board to strictly enforce local ordinances.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: Lodi News-Sentinel
Author: Ross Farrow
Copyright: 2010 Lodi News-Sentinel
That's when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease that can eventually disable people. Two weeks earlier, Becker was snowboarding on the top of Kirkwood ski resort, having the time of his life.
But later that month, he lost his balance and vomited frequently, and he spent three weeks in the hospital.
Fast forward to November 2009 – a friend of Becker's, also suffering from multiple sclerosis, had been taking medicinal marijuana, and Becker tried some.
"I immediately felt better after a couple of puffs," said Becker, 40, who lives in the Lincoln Center area of Stockton.
As time went by, Becker said his continued use of medical marijuana caused his fatigue to go away and his balance to greatly improve, and he didn't have the soreness he previously had.
"I'm not saying that marijuana will cure MS," Becker said.
Now that Becker is sold on the idea that marijuana can improve an ill person's comfort level, he and Stockton resident Matt Leandro are actively lobbying the city of Stockton and San Joaquin County to legalize the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries.
Since November, they've established an organization called Legitimate Cannabis Collective and created an informational Web site about the organization and research that has taken place about medical marijuana. They also established a San Joaquin County chapter of a group called Americans for Safe Access.
"We started Legitimate Cannabis Collective as a non-partisan type of Web site," Leandro said.
They work 10 to 12 hours a day, five to seven days a week on their lobbying efforts.
Becker said he's been to many dispensaries in Northern California shopping for his own marijuana, but not all of them are good ones.
"There are some you go to, and it's really shady," Becker said.
Harborside, with locations in Oakland and San Jose, is a well-run operation, where the staff educated Becker about marijuana and how different strains help with different ailments, he said.
"I went to a dispensary in Stockton, and they had no idea," Becker added.
Three dispensaries opened recently within the Stockton city limits, though one of them will close in the near future, Deputy City Attorney Guy Petzold said. Leandro said the dispensaries opened because Stockton didn't have an ordinance regulating them, but Petzold maintains the dispensaries are operating illegally because marijuana use isn't permitted in the city's zoning code.
Stockton's city attorney's office and community development department are developing an ordinance regulating medical marijuana for the City Council to consider. The ordinance will probably allow medical marijuana, but it will restrict establishments to certain types of locations, and it will likely be subject to a special-use permit at the City Council's discretion, Petzold said.
Meanwhile, county officials will develop an ordinance as well to regulate rural areas outside the county's seven cities, but it will take the Board of Supervisors longer to adopt an ordinance because county staff hasn't met on the topic, Assistant County Counsel Mark Myles said.
Myles said he still needs to meet with the County Administrator's Office, Community Development Department, the Sheriff's Office and with medical marijuana proponents before drafting an ordinance.
"This is such an incredibly complex issue," Myles said. "There is no cut-and-dried approach."
Myles said he has a Google Alert for medical marijuana, and he gets 50 references on the subject daily. He cites a newspaper article from Fairplay, Colo., about a woman who complained to local law enforcement about a severely painful rash she maintains was caused by medical marijuana.
So what if someone makes a similar claim in San Joaquin County? Myles is at a loss as to what to advise legally to the Board of Supervisors. He says he needs to be able to address a situation like the one in Colorado before submitting an ordinance to the Board of Supervisors.
Myles also looks at the Web sites for existing dispensaries in California and elsewhere to see what they do.
"If you look at some of the establishments' Web sites, some don't look very professional," he said. "That doesn't help their image."
Becker and Leandro agree that some dispensaries aren't very good at what they do. They advocate tough ordinances to ensure that the establishments are strictly regulated.
"We want to change the model throughout California and the nation," Leandro said.
They also want to get into the business themselves. Becker and Leandro plan to apply for a use permit with the city of Stockton once the city adopts its ordinance. Twelve people are actively involved, Leandro said, and they hope to hire 80 people by the end of 2012.
The ideal dispensary will do more than merely sell marijuana to customers, Leandro and Becker said. If Stockton approves a use permit for them, Becker and Leandro plan a multi-faceted approach. It includes:
# Having a security guard outside checking customers for a state-approved marijuana identification card. If you don't have a card, you can't get in.
# An employee checking the card to validate that the card is not fake. That includes verifying that a doctor actually advised medical marijuana.
# Having the customer register as a co-op member, requiring them to help out at the dispensary. Staff will track the customer's medical history, find out what medications have worked and what haven't, and recommend a certain strain of marijuana that would best suit the customer and his or her ailment.
# Using proceeds from marijuana sales for community projects such as youth centers intended to keep youths out of gang activity, or a community garden where unemployed people can learn to plant their own fruits and vegetables.
Becker said he would like to see a medical marijuana board to strictly enforce local ordinances.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: Lodi News-Sentinel
Author: Ross Farrow
Copyright: 2010 Lodi News-Sentinel
