Interesting L.A. Times article on Marijuana Outlets in L.A.

[Blue Dot]

If you think for one second anyone is going to give away free cannabis to anyone your crazy.

I'm glad you mentioned africa.

I know someone who is stopping their life in their tracks to go "donate their time" in the peace corp for a year in africa.

She get's all expenses paid (she gets to live in a hut lol) and when she returns home the peace corp graciously "reimburses" her $2,000 for a years worth of her time.

What you don't understand is there are many people out there who are willing to do this, have done it and will continue to do it.

The only reason you think no-one would be "compassionate" enough to donate their time for very little in return is because YOU are unwilling to do it yourself and thus you think everyone thinks like you.

There are MILLONS of volunteers out there every day in every walk of life who happily donate their time to make some one else's life better and profiteers give these noble people a bad name.

You'd be suprised at the human spirit if you weren't so blinded by $.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

If it was allowed I would own a huge ware house and breed my own strains and sell the seeds. seed banks make a pretty decent ammount of money.

It takes thousands of plants to create a stable new strain, and a wide array patient inpute is required to gather information about how certain stains work for certain things. I could give patients free bud just for testing it and answering a few questions. All the money would be made from the seed bank. It would only take 3 or 4 poeple to run the whole business

 

[Pythagllio]

I'm glad you mentioned africa.

I know someone who is stopping their life in their tracks to go "donate their time" in the peace corp for a year in africa.
.
.
.
What you don't understand is there are many people out there who are willing to do this, have done it and will continue to do it.
.
.
.
There are MILLONS of volunteers out there every day in every walk of life who happily donate their time to make some one else's life better and profiteers give these noble people a bad name.

You'd be suprised at the human spirit if you weren't so blinded by $.

...and god bless every one of them. What you don't seem to understand is that there is a finite supply of these people, they have all the work that they can handle, and people making money filling in the gaps not only doesn't stop them from being angels, it helps them. Eliminate the profiteers, and the work load for the saints goes up. Bill Gates money is going to do more in a year for Africa than the Peace Corp has done in its entire history.

 

[Blue Dot]

Using Bill gates as an anology is like using Enron or Mobile Oil as an analogy.

Sure, they have loads of money and this money does help people when these companies donate it (but they only donate it because of the tax write-off's they get, for exactly the same reason bill gates donates his money) but what you fail to realize is the harm these companies bring to the world is much greater then the little temporary benefit they can provide.

That's the defintion of "short-sighted", unfortunately which you suffer from 100%.

Bill gates is a thief and for anyone to admire that man is pathetic.

Bill gates was not the best hardware or software engineer (wozniak was) and look at where woz is today.

It's only fitting you'd admire bill gates. Let me guess, you drive a big SUV and think you're doing the world a favor because Mobil is making so much off you that they can donate even more to africa (yet killing the planet in the process).

You're the epitome of capitalism and the exact reason why this country is in the shitter today.

Look around, your ideals caused this mess.

 

[K.J]

There are 966 of them registered (though at least some of them aren't actually in operation.) I really think this is going to end badly. I'm actually with the squares on this one. Something needs to be done to draw-down this proliferation. It's going to blow-up, and something draconian will be put in its place.

You're with the squares why? Because of the number of them? If so, think about it this way: there have got to be thousands and thousands of liquor serving establishments in the LA metro area alone. And what about hard drug sellers in LA metro; there have to be many thousands of pharmacies in the same rough area. I mean really, what's less than 1k cannabis dispensaries? If there wasn't a demand being met, they'd go out of business, "problem" solved, right?

 

[cashmunny]

This part of the article caught my eye.

The moratorium does not spell out what qualifies a dispensary for a hardship exemption, and the city attorney's office has advised the council only that its decisions must be fair and rational. That vague advice led Councilman Richard Alarcon to warn recently that the city could find itself snarled in lawsuits. "This is a very dangerous road we're going down," he said. "It's going to cost us a ton of money."

I hope it happens. Swamp them with lawsuits. Thats the way to slow them down. You may not win, but make it costly for them to win. Governments do not have unlimited resources these days. It's all about beatin' the man.

 

[Pythagllio]

Blue Dot, I may be 'short sighted', but you're fucking blind. No point in wasting my time further, for some reason you think people are going to produce with no incentive. LOL, all that happens if I can't make money is I stop working. The nirvana you believe is possible is not. Absolutely hilarious that you blame capitalism, when the true culprit is the work of a few dastards. Oh well, I shouldn't let it bother me that there are people with such a defective outlook on life as you have. It's not like you'll ever be able to get the power to change things. Though I do find it amusing that not only is your philosophy unworkable, it is self defeating on its face. But hey, if you want to take care of me I'll be happy to quit working.

Oh right, the country is in the shitter, lolololol! Wah, I can't afford a flat screen teevee because of the recession! Boo fucking hoo.

 

[ColBatGuano]

Here's what I mean by "I'm with the squares on this one."

MJ isn't legal yet, at least not really--state law, unfortunately, does not trump federal law. The more we push people into a corner with something I don't think they wanted in the first place, the more they're going to want to push back on this issue. Look what just happened in Canada, for example. Many of us assume that there are way more MJ users than there probably are. All I'm suggesting is that the idea of overwhelming the government is okay on paper, but when the silent majority finally gets tired of it, it is all potentially over for the cause. Prop 215 was approved by the voters, just as another proposition repealing it could pass if we push people too far. I don't have a problem with the shops, or the number of them. I'm suggesting that other people just might. These are the same people whose votes may one day destroy everything which has been built.

An overwhelming number of shops is hardly protection in this current legal climate.

 

[ColBatGuano]

This part of the article caught my eye.

The moratorium does not spell out what qualifies a dispensary for a hardship exemption, and the city attorney's office has advised the council only that its decisions must be fair and rational. That vague advice led Councilman Richard Alarcon to warn recently that the city could find itself snarled in lawsuits. "This is a very dangerous road we're going down," he said. "It's going to cost us a ton of money."

I hope it happens. Swamp them with lawsuits. Thats the way to slow them down. You may not win, but make it costly for them to win. Governments do not have unlimited resources these days. It's all about beatin' the man.

Unfortunately, I don't think it will work that way. The people of California, and the people of Los Angeles County will ultimately pay for it. Of course, there is the Supreme Court decision which says state law does not trump federal law. Remember, liquor stores are all over the place--but booze is legal. Porno shops are all over the place--but pornography is legal. MJ shops are all over the place--but MJ is not legal. It exists in a gray area in California, and strictly in a "not legal" area in the U.S. All the City really needs to do is to say, "These shops are not legal in the United States, therefore we are shutting them all down in order to avoid legal costs related to selectively deciding which ones to shut down."

I'm being cautious, not siding with the squares, but not ignoring them either.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Here's what I mean by "I'm with the squares on this one."

MJ isn't legal yet, at least not really--state law, unfortunately, does not trump federal law. .

San Diego County banked on that and lost. Supreme Court told them to go jump... "Not our jurisdiction"

 

[ColBatGuano]

San Diego County banked on that and lost. Supreme Court told them to go jump... "Not our jurisdiction"

That wasn't SD's argument, though--they tried to get the whole law overturned so they wouldn't have to comply with the State and issue I.D.'s. It had nothing to do with allowing shops to exist.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

by the way if pot is fully legal in cali like the richard lees want all it does is put alot of you people out of a supplemental income, unless of course you made multi millions like he did and can afford to open some really big grow show

Small price to pay for the billions in healthcare that won't need to be spent, the billions on prohibition that won't be spent, the millions of lives that won't be stressed and tortured by LEO over it, the hundreds of new industries and niche markets that will open up, the tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of new jobs that will be created.

What's going to kill this is shortsightedness. Think things through people and then try your best to get those around you to see it as well.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

^agreed. I dont care if the best stuff is only worth a like 100 dollars an ounce. I just want a state to take the next step so others can follow. then a federal bill will be forced

 

[K.J]

Here's what I mean by "I'm with the squares on this one."

MJ isn't legal yet, at least not really--state law, unfortunately, does not trump federal law. The more we push people into a corner with something I don't think they wanted in the first place, the more they're going to want to push back on this issue.

Actually, state law on MANY things trumps Fed law, according to the Constitution. But until we legalize the Constitution, I guess that's a moot point.

And remember, we aren't "pushing people into a corner"; remember, ALL state medical MJ laws were voted in by a MAJORITY of voters in that state.

 

[ReelBusy1]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/medical-marijuana-in-los-angeles.html

There are 966 of them registered (though at least some of them aren't actually in operation.) I really think this is going to end badly. I'm actually with the squares on this one. Something needs to be done to draw-down this proliferation. It's going to blow-up, and something draconian will be put in its place.

Article includes an interactive Google map marking all of them. It is astounding.

"Alarmed by the rate at which dispensaries were opening, the Los Angeles City Council in 2007 froze the number at the 186 already licensed. No new ones were supposed to open unless applicants received a hardship exemption.
But the moratorium had the opposite effect as would-be pot impresarios rushed to reserve their licenses by filing applications. The city attorney opined that enforcement officials could not shut them down while their applications are pending.
By the time the city cut off the exemption loophole in June, 779 applications had been filed. That's not to say that every one of them is actually selling pot. Many of the registered businesses exist only on paper, apparently filed by entrepreneurs who hoped to get a foothold. Among them are the 58 registered at a single address in Northridge."

Can we stop the proliferation of retail drug outlets like CVS and WALGREENS too?
They have the dangerous drugs not a coop.

 

[kmk420kali]

I'm glad you mentioned africa.

I know someone who is stopping their life in their tracks to go "donate their time" in the peace corp for a year in africa.

She get's all expenses paid (she gets to live in a hut lol) and when she returns home the peace corp graciously "reimburses" her $2,000 for a years worth of her time.

What you don't understand is there are many people out there who are willing to do this, have done it and will continue to do it.

The only reason you think no-one would be "compassionate" enough to donate their time for very little in return is because YOU are unwilling to do it yourself and thus you think everyone thinks like you.

There are MILLONS of volunteers out there every day in every walk of life who happily donate their time to make some one else's life better and profiteers give these noble people a bad name.

You'd be suprised at the human spirit if you weren't so blinded by $.

I don't even know where to start here...let's start off by clearing up a couple of your errors....

Pay and Living Expenses

The Peace Corps provides Volunteers with a living allowance that enables them to live in a manner similar to the local people in their community. Returning from overseas requires some adjustment, so when you complete your service, the Peace Corps provides just over $6,000 toward your transition to life back home. This money is yours to use as you wish: for travel, a vacation, making a move, or securing housing.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn.whyvol.finben

They also get vacation time, deferment on Student Loans...and a whole shitload of other incentives....but that is only for the Volunteers...because guess what...the Volunteers are only one part of the PC, but the backbone of that Organization "GETS PAID!!"
https://www.avuedigitalservices.com/casting/aiportal/control/doVacancySearch?agencyCode=PC

You see, Blue Dot....nobody works for nothing...except maybe a few that are independently wealthy-- The rest of us still have to make $$ to support ourselves and our families--

Non Profit does not mean shit is free!! The most wealthy Organization in the world...the Vatican....they are non profit too--

Let me ask a question....If you opened a Dispensary, how would you run it?? How would you come up with the $$ for rent, salary for your Employees...Security, Utilities....where would you get your Meds...how would you pay ppl to grow them?? If you want top shelf meds...who would pay for all the shit that goes into that?? I know it cost me a bundle, just to feed my garden at home...with all the stuff I use, it is very expensive to feed my ladies--On a large scale, it would be hundreds (If not thousands) of dollars a week!!

Non Profit simply means that you can't sell Stock, everything else has built in loop holes--
Ppl need $$ to live, and there is no getting around this-- You will never see free meds for everybody, (Most Dispensaries already give discounted or free meds to very sick/terminal Patients)...but no way could do it for all of them--

 

[The Bling]

...and god bless every one of them. What you don't seem to understand is that there is a finite supply of these people, they have all the work that they can handle, and people making money filling in the gaps not only doesn't stop them from being angels, it helps them. Eliminate the profiteers, and the work load for the saints goes up. Bill Gates money is going to do more in a year for Africa than the Peace Corp has done in its entire history.

BILL GATES SPONSORS BIRTH CONTROL IN AFRICA
AND THE PEACE CORPS ARE MISSIONARIES

AND I WILL TELL ANYONE HOW TO CREATE A COLLECTIVE FOR FREE JUST PM ME

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I
Let me ask a question....If you opened a Dispensary, how would you run it??

The same way it was originally intended (until we get it re-legalized) as a farmers type, closed-loop collective of growers and patients.

Edit: As a patient, you have no idea how much better off I would be today, if that had been explained to me as an option 2 years ago. Had I gone that route, I would have skipped out on 2 years of retail meds when I couldn't afford them.

 

[johnnyla]

The same way it was originally intended (until we get it re-legalized) as a farmers type, closed-loop collective of growers and patients.

Edit: As a patient, you have no idea how much better off I would be today, if that had been explained to me as an option 2 years ago. Had I gone that route, I would have skipped out on 2 years of retail meds when I couldn't afford them.

agreed. the dispensary's are selling at too high a cost. you can't get medical grade for under 60 an eigth. a lot of meds are tumbled which knocks the medicine off.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

^ya and then they press it into hash and sell to you what you already paid for. it is a slimey practice.