Pubdate: Sun, 06 Jun 2010 Source: Sacramento Bee (CA) Copyright: 2010 The Sacramento Bee Contact: http://www.sacbee.com/2006/09/07/19629/submit-letters-to-the-editor.html Website: http://www.sacbee.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376 Author: Gary Cohn, and Michael Montgomery MEDICAL POT BUSINESS GOES MOBILE A flourishing and unregulated industry of pot delivery services is circumventing bans on storefront dispensaries and bringing medical marijuana directly to people's homes, offices and other locations across the state, records and interviews show. The unfettered delivery of marijuana through hundreds of these services highlights how quickly California's pot industry is moving from the shadows and into uncharted legal territory. In newspapers and on the Internet, "mobile dispensaries" advertise a wide range of marijuana strains and other products, such as brownies and cookies laced with THC, the drug's active ingredient. One service delivers organic vegetables along with medical marijuana, as part of a "farm-direct" service. Some operate in multiple counties, including jurisdictions where storefront dispensaries are banned, or make local deliveries to drop-off points, such as Starbucks parking lots or gas stations. At least three ship to clients around the state using prescription-drug couriers. Although delivery of medical marijuana is not new, advocates say the growth of these services could be a game-changer in the state's pot war, which pits law enforcement, elected officials and community groups against dispensary owners and patients. And these businesses could increase in popularity if voters approve an initiative on the November ballot that would legalize pot possession. "They're delivering the product better, cheaper, more discretely and probably at a higher profit rate than dispensaries," said Allen St. Pierre, director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "These delivery services are starting to grab more .. market share." A question remains about whether the delivery services are legal. Some local and federal officials say they violate the 1996 Compassionate Use Act that legalized medical marijuana in California for qualified patients, as well as other laws. The services seem to sidestep local regulations banning dispensaries. "They're transporting drugs," said Tommy LaNeir, director of the National Marijuana Initiative, which is funded through the White House's drug policy office. "It's a transshipment operation that's trying to bypass the ordinances that have been set up by cities and counties. It's as simple as that." Delivery service explosion The exact number of delivery services operating in California is unclear, since the state does not keep a registry of medical marijuana distributors. In April, 758 services advertised direct delivery of marijuana to patients on Weedmaps.com. Those numbers have nearly tripled in the past 18 months and grown by 39 percent since February, as more counties and cities began regulating storefront dispensaries or banning them outright, according to Justin Hartfield, owner of the commercial listing service. More than half the couriers who advertised in April said they were in the Los Angeles area. Other services clustered around metropolitan regions, such as San Francisco, San Diego and Sacramento. In all, 129 cities and nine counties in California have banned medical marijuana dispensaries. An additional 96 cities and 13 counties have moratoriums, according to Americans for Safe Access. Yet, in many of these "dry" communities, pot delivery services appear to be flourishing. The trend has caught state officials flat-footed and unable to pinpoint any legal guidelines that directly address the delivery of medical marijuana by courier or mail. Sending drugs via the Postal Service and cultivating pot for sale does violates federal law, but marijuana growers know federal prosecutions are rare. "Delivery services are a relatively new creature, one that has not been directly addressed by the courts or in legislation," said Peter Krause, a California deputy attorney general who helped write the state's landmark guidelines on medical marijuana in 2008. Ambiguity over legality The state's 1996 initiative and a companion law approved by the Legislature in 2003 granted cities and counties most of the authority over implementing the Compassionate Use Act. But no city council or board of supervisors has explicitly addressed delivery services, according to Americans for Safe Access. Senate Bill 420 signed into law by former Gov. Gray Davis during his final weeks in office appears to protect patients from prosecution for "possession, transportation, delivery, or cultivation of medical marijuana" under legal limits. The law also allows patients and their caregivers to "associate" with each other to "collectively or cooperatively" cultivate pot for medical purposes. To some law enforcement officials, the law is unambiguous. John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, said his county has banned storefront dispensaries and that delivery services are prohibited, although he could not cite a specific law or regulation. "It is the position of this office that based on current law, all mobile medical marijuana operations are illegal," Hall said. Even so, the number of couriers advertising in Riverside County has increased from 76 to 105 since February. In March, authorities in San Diego lost a high-profile case involving a marijuana activist who provided deliveries to medical users. An undercover police officer, posing as a patient with a doctor's recommendation, took delivery of marijuana from Eugene Davidovich in a videotaped sting operation. The jury rejected charges of illegal possession, sales and transportation after the defense argued Davidovich acted legally under the state's medical marijuana law. An organic farm model The boom in pot delivery services is particularly evident in Southern California. Until recently, Los Angeles was ground zero in the rapid growth of medical pot outlets, with dispensaries outnumbering Starbucks locations along some commercial strips. That era may be ending. In January, the Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance that led city attorneys to order 439 dispensaries to close. An estimated 135 will be allowed to remain if they follow new regulations. In the face of the crackdown, some dispensaries already have shuttered their storefronts and rebranded themselves as delivery services. "They tell us, 'We still want to be listed on your Web site. We're just turning into a delivery service,' " said Hartfield of Weedmaps.com. In Northern California, there are fewer delivery services but some cover large areas, spanning several counties and cities. One new company, Mediharvest, promises to deliver marijuana to qualified patients anywhere in the state via commercial carriers. Mediharvest promotes its service to people who "don't want to be seen at the store," who want high-quality pot, who don't want to support illegal drug cartels, and who "want to change the attitude of medical marijuana use in America." Another new online dispensary, C420, says it will ship pot overnight to qualified medical marijuana users at "almost any legal address in California" and has signed up 1,000 users since its April launch. Matthew Lawrence, a Bay Area real estate developer who created the online service, said he will ship up to 8 ounces of marijuana per recipient, using a network of pharmaceutical couriers. Elsewhere, some operations are modeling themselves on organic farms that deliver boxes of fruits and vegetables directly to homes. Matthew Cohen, owner of Northstone Organics, pioneered what he calls "farm-direct medical marijuana." The Ukiah-based cooperative grows and delivers marijuana to a network of about 500 patients in nine Northern California counties, including Sacramento. Northstone's business has grown briskly. Six months ago, Cohen was driving into the Bay Area twice a week to make deliveries himself. Now he's hired workers to deliver five times a week. "This industry is moving at lightning speed," Cohen said. "I think more growers understand what's happening and patients are also realizing they can get cannabis straight from the source and at a lower price." - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart