C
CANNATOPIA
California
-------
Hansen Says Medical Pot Being Sold Illegally
Despite recent data suggesting 40,000 people belong to Redding's medical marijuana collectives, Police Chief Peter Hansen says there's no way these groups have that many individual members, which means his department will have to start enforcing the city ordinance that forbids membership to more than one collective.
"I think that number is astronomical," he said. "Obviously, they're disobeying that" ordinance.
Redding Police Lt. Jeff Wallace compiled data from the city's 17 collectives this month to use for a Women's Fund forum on drug abuse.
But what he found - that 40,000 people belong to these collectives - shows some Proposition 215 patients in the area must be abusing the system, Hansen said.
"It's shedding a light on what kind of scam this is," he said.
Clearly, Hansen said, there are members violating the city ordinance that's meant to prevent patients from using their prescriptions to purchase extra drugs with the intent to sell them illegally.
"This is a moneymaking business, and a lot of these so-called patients are misusing their recommendations to sell marijuana," he said.
Of course, Wallace said, people from out of the area can have membership at a Redding collective, so the number he tallied could include them - and it doesn't necessarily mean that nearly half the city's population is either a medical marijuana user or flouting the system.
But Erica Bond, an employee of the now-defunct Nature's 420 collective on Hilltop Drive, said it was common to come across patients with memberships to numerous collectives in the year she worked there, though they had to sign an affidavit of exclusivity to become a member.
"Nobody really goes to one dispensary. Every time I saw someone come in, they'd be flipping through all their dispensary cards, looking for ours," she said. "They don't really enforce it ( the ordinance ) in any way."
Hansen said the Police Department doesn't currently keep track of collective members because it isn't fair for law-abiding users to have their medical information become a public record.
"I don't think that's fair for the legitimate patients, for me to have their names here," he said. "I don't want to have to turn them over to the newspaper."
Instead, Hansen said, he'll now have to ask for membership rosters from each collective to weed out duplicates.
Since the city's ordinance also says collective members can possess only a prescribed amount of marijuana at a time, Nature's 420 bought members' excess pot, Bond said.
And with a clientele that bloomed from around 1,800 to 4,000 in the year before it closed, Bond said she suspects some members were using their recommendations to grow and sell marijuana for profit.
"I think that because of the recession and the economy, a lot of people are starting to grow marijuana to make an extra buck," she said.
But, Hansen said, though he's not sure when it will happen, the Redding Police Department is going to make sure it's not so easy for patients to double-dip at different collectives.
"If you want to purchase your medicine conveniently through one of the Redding-licensed collectives, then you have to follow some rules," he said. "There's nothing that requires anyone in this town to be a collective member."
Link - http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v11/n343/a06.htm
-------
Hansen Says Medical Pot Being Sold Illegally
Despite recent data suggesting 40,000 people belong to Redding's medical marijuana collectives, Police Chief Peter Hansen says there's no way these groups have that many individual members, which means his department will have to start enforcing the city ordinance that forbids membership to more than one collective.
"I think that number is astronomical," he said. "Obviously, they're disobeying that" ordinance.
Redding Police Lt. Jeff Wallace compiled data from the city's 17 collectives this month to use for a Women's Fund forum on drug abuse.
But what he found - that 40,000 people belong to these collectives - shows some Proposition 215 patients in the area must be abusing the system, Hansen said.
"It's shedding a light on what kind of scam this is," he said.
Clearly, Hansen said, there are members violating the city ordinance that's meant to prevent patients from using their prescriptions to purchase extra drugs with the intent to sell them illegally.
"This is a moneymaking business, and a lot of these so-called patients are misusing their recommendations to sell marijuana," he said.
Of course, Wallace said, people from out of the area can have membership at a Redding collective, so the number he tallied could include them - and it doesn't necessarily mean that nearly half the city's population is either a medical marijuana user or flouting the system.
But Erica Bond, an employee of the now-defunct Nature's 420 collective on Hilltop Drive, said it was common to come across patients with memberships to numerous collectives in the year she worked there, though they had to sign an affidavit of exclusivity to become a member.
"Nobody really goes to one dispensary. Every time I saw someone come in, they'd be flipping through all their dispensary cards, looking for ours," she said. "They don't really enforce it ( the ordinance ) in any way."
Hansen said the Police Department doesn't currently keep track of collective members because it isn't fair for law-abiding users to have their medical information become a public record.
"I don't think that's fair for the legitimate patients, for me to have their names here," he said. "I don't want to have to turn them over to the newspaper."
Instead, Hansen said, he'll now have to ask for membership rosters from each collective to weed out duplicates.
Since the city's ordinance also says collective members can possess only a prescribed amount of marijuana at a time, Nature's 420 bought members' excess pot, Bond said.
And with a clientele that bloomed from around 1,800 to 4,000 in the year before it closed, Bond said she suspects some members were using their recommendations to grow and sell marijuana for profit.
"I think that because of the recession and the economy, a lot of people are starting to grow marijuana to make an extra buck," she said.
But, Hansen said, though he's not sure when it will happen, the Redding Police Department is going to make sure it's not so easy for patients to double-dip at different collectives.
"If you want to purchase your medicine conveniently through one of the Redding-licensed collectives, then you have to follow some rules," he said. "There's nothing that requires anyone in this town to be a collective member."
Link - http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v11/n343/a06.htm
