| Marin Alliance For Medical Marijuana |
The Marin Alliance For Medical Marijuana in Fairfax, California will start making cannabis deliveries to members of its collective next week, now that insurance concerns have been addressed, according to organizers.
“Finally!” said Lynette Shaw, founding director of the only licensed medical marijuana dispensary in Marin County.
Fairfax’s Planning Commission approved the marijuana delivery service in mid-June. Shaw said that since then, she has worked with the town attorney on the insurance coverage she’s required to have before starting operations, reports Richard Halstead at the Marin Independent Journal.
Shaw said the insurance policy, which is being provided by Sacramento-based Statewide Insurance (you seriously should do business with those folks), protects the town of Fairfax from any damages caused by the delivery service, as well as insuring the delivery people and their goods.
| Photo: Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal |
| Lynette Shaw, Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana: “Finally!” |
”The marijuana itself is insured in case of damage, or flood, or disaster, or theft or accident,” Shaw said. “If the van rolls over and the pot gets messed up, that pot is insured.”
Statewide Insurance has an actual medical marijuana division, which is directed by Mike Aberle.
“We can insure every aspect of the cannabis and hemp industry, whether you’re talking about a dispensary or delivery or a grower, or edible manufacturer, doctors, lawyers, you name it,” Aberle said.
All deliveries will be made by two-person teams, according to Shaw. Clean and sober drivers will be accompanied by qualified medical marijuana patients who are members of the Marin Alliance.
The Marin Alliance’s patient registry has more than 5,800 qualified registrants, according to the organization’s website.
“A member of my collective is being transported to hand the marijuana over to another member of my collective,” Shaw said. “So we’re in perfect compliance.”
Due to the insurance policy, couriers will never carry more than $2,000 worth of marijuana with them at any time.
But guess who’s still got “reservations” about the legal program? Yeah, you got it right, Grasshopper.
“We have a public safety concern for the couriers themselves, the patients and potentially others when the marijuana is being transported,” said Fairfax Police Chief Chris Morin.
“You don’t know if someone is going to try to rob these people,” Chief Morin said. “Innocent bystanders could get involved.”
Shaw said the delivery service will at first operate only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays. But she said she plans to add more days as demand increases.
Deliveries will be made in Marin County even beyond the Fairfax town limits, according to Shaw, even though her permit doesn’t provide for that.
“The town of Fairfax doesn’t have the power to authorize me,” Shaw said. “It’s up to the membership and myself what we do with this outside the town of Fairfax.”
Shaw estimated there are already 23 medical marijuana delivery services operating in Marin, none of which are licensed. She said she used that as part of her argument to get permission from the town.
Deliveries will be made only to Marin Alliance members. But if other medical marijuana patients have a California identification card or an ID from the Alameda County Public Health Department, they can order marijuana and join the alliance when the delivery is made, Shaw said.
“It takes two minutes to sign up,” she said.
To contact the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana call (415) 256-9328 or email [email protected].