Pubdate: Sun, 16 Nov 2014
Source: Times-Tribune, The (Scranton PA)
Copyright: 2014 Townnews.com
Contact:  http://www.thetimes-tribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4440
Author: Emily Foxhall, Los Angeles Times

BECAUSE IT HELPS

Craving and Conflict Grow Over Medical Marijuana in a Retirement 
Village That's Big Enough to Be a City

Inside Laguna Woods Village, retirees with stiff knees and failing 
eyesight make ready use of wellness centers and medical offices 
scattered throughout nearby strip malls.

Residents such as Peggiann "Benji" Johnson - a breast cancer patient 
experiencing the side effects of chemotherapy - say one more health 
care service is needed: A marijuana dispensary. As cities throughout 
California fight to limit cannabis outlets, residents and leaders in 
the south Orange County seniors-only village of around 16,400 have 
pushed for a pot shop and joined collectives by the hundreds.

The medicinal use of marijuana has been legal in California since 
1996. But the fight over how and where it should be distributed is 
being waged in city halls and courthouses across the state.

Seniors stand as a potentially powerful voice in the debate that 
often is thought to be taking place among young adults, those who 
oppose government oversight, and people who believe the sale and 
distribution of pot is intrinsically linked with crime.

The retirees behind the gates of Laguna Woods are a blend of those 
born during the Great Depression and baby boomers from the Woodstock 
era, when marijuana was seen as a gateway to hard-core drug use and a 
catalyst for neighborhood decay. Even those who don't smoke pot 
typically say that as long as there are no problems, they don't mind 
what others do.

A new dynamic

A2013 survey by the Pew Research Center found that half of baby 
boomers nationwide support marijuana legalization, as do 32 percent 
of those born the generation before, an increase that marks "a 
striking change" in opinion among an older population.

And as seniors - who make up the most reliable voting bloc in America 
- - see others get on board with marijuana, they may be drawn to the 
cause for legalization, said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. 
Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.

"If you're an older voter and the only pro-marijuana surrogates you 
see are 30 or 40 years younger than you are, that may have somewhat 
limited appeal," he said. "But hearing the same message from someone 
with whom you feel a common bond may be more persuasive."

Residents in the neatly groomed enclave of Laguna Woods, where the 
median age in 2010 was 77, say the leafy plant has become a necessity 
for many trying to manage pain. They smoke it, eat it, dab lotion 
mixed with cannabis on sore joints and summon sleep with a pot-spiked 
candy bar.

Six years ago, when Bob Ring was mayor pro-tem of Laguna Woods, he 
supported those who wanted a dispensary in town. He wasn't a 
marijuana user himself, but friends had convinced him of the medical benefits.

Mr. Ring's council colleagues adopted a law that set out the rules 
for selling cannabis from a storefront: A dispensary couldn't be 
within 1,000 feet of anyplace frequented by children, couldn't be 
near another dispensary and couldn't be open Sundays.

In the end it didn't matter. None of the commercial landlords in town 
would rent space to a pot shop. "We tried," said Mr. Ring, who is 81 
and remains a city council member. "Certainly at my age, in this 
stage of life, I don't want to give anyone a hard time."

Finding a way

Without a pot shop, Ms. Johnson, 64, and others struck out on their 
own, forming and joining collectives. Although there are advantages 
to a bricks-and-mortar dispensary - they can carry a wider variety of 
merchandise and are open at predictable times - some collective 
members appreciate the casual, more personal interaction of meeting 
with their distributor.

Every two or three weeks, Ms. Johnson walks the short distance from 
her home to the apartment of Lonnie Painter, a former restaurant 
owner who is director of the Laguna Woods Medical Cannabis 
collective. She trusts Mr. Painter, 68, and lets him pick out her supply.

As an advocate of tighter medical marijuana regulations, Mr. Painter 
said, he worries about "pot doctors" and dispensary operators who 
don't have proper schooling and collectives that offer inferior products.

Members of the collective are required to have a current physician's 
recommendation; the group operates as a nonprofit, in accordance with 
the state attorney general's guidelines.

Having used cannabis before to help the arthritis in her spine and 
feet, Ms. Johnson said, she now smokes once or twice a day to ease 
her aches, calm her stomach and control her diarrhea.

"I wanted something that would make me feel better right then and 
there," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom