It’s about 2 o’clock on July 31, a hot and humid Thursday afternoon, and Mike and Scott (who asked to be identified only by their first names) are kicking back in Aloha Community Collective Association. The low-key Santa Ana medical-marijuana dispensary is nestled comfortably in a somewhat-decrepit two-story building just off 17th Street, a couple of blocks from the 5 freeway. Rachel Garcia, a receptionist and budtender, is standing outside the shop. She notices two middle-aged men who look like typical patients approaching the entrance.
Suddenly, several police vehicles and a paddy wagon pull up. Garcia knows in an instant the two men are plainclothes cops. Sure enough, they signal to the arriving convoy by pointing at the dispensary. They command Garcia to go back inside, which she does, immediately informing Mike and Scott that police officers are outside. By the time she starts talking, one of the vehicles is already parked on the dispensary’s doorstep, almost blocking the front door.
Search Results: collective/ (8)
| Dakta Green. |
Dakta Green wants to legalize cannabis. He’s open about his cannabis use – you kind of have to bee when you’re the co-coordinator of New Zealand NORML, you’ve been arrested for operating a place that openly allows the use and sale of herb – and has been a major an advocate for New Zealand repealing and reforming their marijuana laws.
And now Green is running for mayor of the Ruapehu District (roughly the same as a county in the United States) on the North Island of New Zealand on a cannabis reform/lowering electricity costs platform.
| The Fresh Scent |
San Francisco’s on-again, off-again program to license medical marijuana dispensaries in the city has once again resumed operations. The medical cannabis dispensary program resumed licensing and inspecting collectives, Department of Public Health officials announced on Monday.
The ove came after the agency said last week that the application process was “suspended indefinitely,” and that announcement had come after the city had announced it would continue licensing the shops. And that announcement had come after the initial suspension of licensing in December following a court ruling.
| Cafe Sozo |
A witness was arrested Tuesday in California after he testified in the preliminary hearing of another man facing felony charges of cultivating marijuana and possessing it for sale.
Deputies grabbed Jeffrey Lee Sanford in Butte County Superior Court after his testimony at Timothy Ole Skytte’s preliminary hearing, reports Ryan Olson of Chico ER. Skytte was arrested on August 18 after deputies found 54 marijuana plants growing on his property in Concow. Officers also found 369 more plants on a property Skytte rented to another man identified as Lawrence Evans.
“It is obvious that Butte County is using this oppressive tactic to suppress people from testifying in defense of medical providers and it is this type of behavior that challenges the fabric of our democracy,” said Mickey Martin of the website Cannabis Warrior.
| Photo: Hollywood Grind |
Oakland, California’s plan to license and regulate large-scale medical marijuana farms have taken another tentative step forward after several setbacks. Unfortunately, the news isn’t particularly good for smaller growers.
The city’s rules and laws about medicinal cannabis dispensaries have sometimes been controversial, but mostly successful, with four dispensaries in town servicing thousands of patients and enjoying about $28 million in annual sales, reports Sean Maher at the Oakland Tribune.
But City Council members including Desley Brooks have long argued that there is little local control over where those four dispensaries get their marijuana. They have proposed, instead, city-licensed, industrial-scale marijuana grow operations to supply the dispensaries.
| Photo: Peter Hecht/The Sacramento Bee |
| Tim Blake, a legendary Mendocino County marijuana grower, tends his outdoor greenhouse with his dogs. Blake cultivates medical marijuana and runs Area 101, a spiritual retreat celebrating Mendocino’s marijuana culture. |
By Jack RikessToke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
It might be hard to believe for some of my younger readers that at one time, in order to get a Starbucks coffee, you had to brave the suicide-invoking rain, a thang called “grunge” and have to be in Seattle or thereabouts. Now that concept seems preposterous. As Janeane Garafalo once said, “I don’t want to say that Starbucks are everywhere, but I woke up this morning and they were building one in my living room.”
Maybe one day the same will be said about Mendocino and Humboldt marijuana. Maybe one day, getting your medicine will be as easy as standing in line at your nearby coffee shop or getting it delivered right to the house, just like the wine clubs that we belong to have done for 50 years.
And the race is on…
| Graphic: Choco-Potamus |
| The more you eat, the hungrier you get. |
Since you know the marijuana’s gonna give you the munchies anyway, why not multi-task and take a pre-emptive strike against hunger even as you medicate?
That choice is yours thanks to companies like Oakland, California’s Choco-Potamus, turning heads and pleasing palates with their luxury cannabis chocolates, reports the “SFoodie” blog at SF Weekly.
The use of real cocoa butter — not cheap substitutes like coconut oil — makes big difference in the final product, according to SFoodie, giving it a taste that ranks it “high” (yes, I went there) above the competition.
Available in both dark (sativa hybrid) and milk chocolate (indica/sativa hybrid), the bars are also connoisseur-worthy in another respect: The manufacturers use cannabis buds rather than the typical shake and stems used in edibles, giving the chocolates a stronger effect.
“The world’s finest chocolate and the highest grade cannabis buds, combined in one deliciously potent bar,” reads the Choco-Potamus Facebook page. “Each fast-acting psychedelicious dose lasts +3 super-functional hours.”
| Photo: Jack Rikess |
| Our guy gets the story: Toke of the Town Northern California Correspondent Jack Rikess hard at work doing his research at the 4th Annual S.F. Medical Cannabis Competition on Sunday. By the way, Jack reports there was half a pound of pot in that joint. |
San Francisco’s 4th Annual S.F. Medical Cannabis Competition, The Patient’s Choice, was held Sunday.
Now that Toke of the Town‘s Northern California correspondent, Jack Rikess, has sufficiently recovered from the festivities, here’s his report.
Don’t be too hard on Mr. Rikess. Judges at the competition — including our hard-working correspondent — had to sample more than 50 cannabis strains and products.
Way to take one for the team, Jack! ~ Steve Elliott, Editor
…….
By Jack Rikess
Toke of the Town
Northern California Correspondent
It’s always a good sign when you can smell the party from blocks away.
The day and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect for San Francisco’s 4th Annual S.F. Medical Cannabis Competition, The Patient’s Choice. After some delays including moving the cannabis flavored festivities to a new location at the last moment (due to law enforcement objections), the Bacchanal of Buds went off without a hitch for the red-eyed competition goers.