CANORML:http://www.canorml.org/prop/cbcbusinesstips.html

[b]"Work with local patients, caregivers and community members first. That's the key to a true collective!"-Stanislaus Community patient~![/b]

[b]CALIFORNIA NORML ADVICE FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROVIDERS[/b]
Despite the fact that scores of medical cannabis dispensaries, clubs, and delivery services are currently in business in California, the sale of medical cannabis remains strictly illegal under both state and federal law. Prospective patient providers are therefore well advised to consider other alternatives, such as non-profit cultivation co-ops or small-scale caregiver gardens.

Under state law, the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Prop. 215) exempts patients and their primary caregivers from criminal prosecution for personal possession and cultivation of marijuana, but NOT for distribution or sale to others.

Under federal law, sale and cultivation of marijuana remain strictly illegal. The DEA has raided dozens of medical marijuana growers, clubs and caregivers in California since the enactment of Prop. 215. For the most part, the targets have been either high-profile activists who have attracted publicity, or commercial-scale growers whom local law enforcement have decided to turn over for federal prosecution.

State law was expanded in 2004 by a new law, SB 420 (Health & Safety Code 11362.7-8), which (1) authorizes caregivers who provide marijuana to patients to be compensated for their costs, though not on a for-profit basis; and (2) allows patients to form cultivation associations or cooperatives. On careful examination, however, neither of these provisions provides a green light for sales of cannabis. Those dispensaries that are selling marijuana over the counter accordingly do so at the tolerance of local authorities.

For a list of patients' groups and dispensaries, see www.canorml.org/prop/cbclist.html.

[b]CAREGIVERS:[/b]
"Primary caregivers" are narrowly defined under Prop. 215 to be "the individual designated [by a legal patient] who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, or safety of that person." The law does not explicitly allow for multiple caregivers. While caregivers may serve more than one patient, a new provision in SB 420 has made it illegal for them to have more than one patient outside their own "city or county." While the constitutionality of this provision is debatable (not only does it seem to override Prop. 215, but the restriction to a single "city or county" is ambiguous) prospective caregivers should beware of trying to serve large geographical areas.

In general, the courts have held that cannabis clubs cannot serve as legal "primary caregivers" for large numbers of patients. Some persons have claimed caregiver status while growing for multiple numbers of patients on the theory that they are providing for their patients' health or safety. This defense has been successful in court for caregivers growing for small numbers of patients. However, it was explicitly rejected by a state court of appeals in the Peron decision, where the court held that Peron's San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club could not reasonably claim to function as a "primary caregiver" for its 8000 clients.

In general, medical cannabis providers who cater to walk-in clients should not hope to rely on the caregiver provision. Caregiver growers should limit themselves to a select membership list of local clients whom they personally know and who do not have other caregivers. Within these constraints, SB 420 allows caregivers to be compensated for the costs of their services, but specifically does NOT authorize distribution or cultivation for profit.

[b]COLLECTIVE GARDENS[/b]
SB 420 encourages access to medical marijuana through "collective, cooperative cultivation projects. " Unfortunately, it provides no guidelines or explanation as to how these should operate. Presumably, the basic model is a group of patients and caregivers who plant a garden together and share the crop among themselves. The cultivation cooperative model does not envision walk-in clients, nor sales of medicine to members. Co-ops may be supported by participation in work, donations or membership fees. Under one model, co-op patients pay a set gardening fee for a certain part of the crop, and receive the harvest at no further charge. Unlike caregivers, collective gardens aren't limited to patients from the same "city or county."

A notable example of a patients' cooperative is the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz www.wamm.org. WAMM has over 200 seriously ill members who cultivate a collective garden and attend to each others' health and personal needs. In 2004, WAMM won a federal injunction protecting their right to cultivate under the Raich decision (see below). However, this did not stop the DEA from busting another collective garden , Eddy's Medicinal Gardens, whose operator was engaged in large-scale cultivation (30,000 plants) for some 2,000