Pubdate: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2011 San Jose Mercury News Contact: http://www.mercurynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390 Author: Shanna Webb Note: Shanna Webb is CEO of Webb & Associates, a communications firm that represents the producer of HempCon. She wrote this for this newspaper. DON'T CONFUSE LEGITIMATE MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES WITH POT CLUBS The cannabis issue has really heated up. The federal government announced plans to crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries and on landlords from whom they rent throughout California. As an owner of a public relations agency, I understand the power of words -- how they can influence public perception. In the case of the medical marijuana industry, I would like to define the differences between a dispensary and a club. Dispensaries are being unfairly targeted due to clubs that have gone rogue. Dispensaries respect Proposition 215 and SB 420 and act with transparency. Clubs do not. Both patients and dispensaries want to see clubs close. Clubs can be easily identified. If there is a soda machine, 12 theater seats, five vaporizers, three flat screens, a popcorn cart, the Studio 54 disco ball, and Andy Warhol is your bud-tender, this is a club. Clubs sometimes operate out of abandoned warehouses. They only accept cash because when the heat is on, they pack the van and move operations elsewhere. Holistic Health Care Center and Elemental Wellness in San Jose are examples of good dispensaries. They both provide safe, secure locations, clean atmospheres and quality products affordable for most patients. Dispensaries aren't afraid of rules. In fact, many San Jose dispensaries have joined the United Food and Commercial Workers Union 5 to create a set of best practices to follow. The dispensaries want the public to see them as a legitimate business which has a positive impact through employment and tax revenue, while still providing compassionate care for patients. Closing the dispensaries is irresponsible because it doesn't examine the overall negative impact it will have on the community. The feds announced they will not target patients who have small grows. So let me get this straight. The government wants me to plant pot so my neighbor's kids can break into my house for weed to get stoned with their dopey friends? The police and the court system are now burdened by reports of break-ins, trigger-happy patients shooting at suspected robbers, clogged courtrooms and more incarceration in an already jam-packed state prison system. What about house fires caused by "Joe the plumber" who decided to play electrician today and hot-wires his grow lights to his Jacuzzi? What about patients who live in apartments or shared housing and can't grow their own medical cannabis? They'd have to get their medication from a drug dealer. Drug dealers recruit kids from parks to sell their dope. If the kids get caught, there is little punishment, and their records are expunged at age 18. Drug dealers do not report income to the IRS, clubs try to hide most of their income, but dispensaries can tell you where every buck came from. Dispensary closures will also affect industries in support of the cannabis industry. Edwin Kwong is owner of Mega Productions, which hosts HempCon, an expo that offers classes from cooking to cultivation. He says the three-day event brings revenue to San Jose businesses of more than a quarter of a million dollars. That's not chump change. Instead of creating more friction, government should work with the medical cannabis industry for a common goal of serving the patients while respecting California voters' decision. This would include creating a set of best practices, examining and revising Proposition 215 if need be and lastly, working with the industry to keep people employed. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.