Pubdate: Sun, 25 Oct 2009
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.signonsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Eleanor Yang Su, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
Cited: California NORML http://www.canorml.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+215
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - United States)

BUDDING INDUSTRY HELPS POT PATIENTS

At Least 40 Services Said to Deliver Locally

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. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake