Pubdate: Mon, 15 Jul 2013
Source: Daily Press (Victorville, CA)
Copyright: 2013 Freedom Communications, Inc.
Contact: http://www.vvdailypress.com/sections/contactus/
Website: http://www.vvdailypress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1061
Author: Rene De La Cruz

LOCALS STILL FIND WAYS TO GET MEDICAL MARIJUANA

At least two dispensaries operating in Victorville; others use
delivery services

Lou Grantt said she gets furious every time she sees an ad that
"pedals" prescription drugs while local government agencies ban
marijuana dispensaries across the state.

"Marijuana is safer than most of those drugs," said Grantt, 65, who
has muscular dystrophy and has been confined to a wheelchair for 40
years. "The worst pain just melted away and life was bearable again,
right after I started smoking (marijuana)."

But Grantt's supply of cannabis is about to run out. After a May 6
ruling by the California Supreme Court allowed cities and counties to
ban dispensaries, Grantt doesn't know where she'll legally purchase
cannabis. Hesperia has shut down all of the city's medical marijuana
shops.

Grantt, former owner of the Hi Desert Oasis bookstore in Hesperia,
said she used to purchase her marijuana from a "safe and professional"
collective across the street from Victor Valley College.

"My hope is that California will follow in the steps of Colorado and
make marijuana legal," Grantt said. "If politicians knew our pain,
marijuana would be legal."

Collectives in Apple Valley and Hesperia have been shut down. Grantt
said she might try to obtain her marijuana from one of the collectives
still open in neighboring Victorville, such as the Green Room
dispensary on Seventh Street.

A Green Room employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said the
collective is still open for business until the shop's attorney "gives
the word" to close.

John McCann, owner of the Kali Kare collective in Victorville, said
his shop will also remain open thanks to his attorney, Charles Farano,
who defended the dispensary in court against the city of
Victorville.

On Friday, McCann referred all inquiries to Farano, who did not
immediately return calls seeking comment. Victorville city officials
were not available for comment because city offices are closed Fridays.

Adelanto resident Marie Garrison said she is not concerned about
dispensary closures because she decided that a delivery service was
the best way to get her medical cannabis.

Garrison said she turned to pot because prescription drugs put her in
a mental fog.

"I have two small children who have special needs and I need to be
sharp and focused," Garrison said. "You can't be a zombie and take
care of kids."

Garrison, 31, said after she stopped using Valium and antidepressants
for anxiety and other maladies four years ago, she became the mom that
she always wanted to be.

Garrison obtained her medical marijuana card from a physician in Los
Angeles.

"I found the (delivery) service through a phone app," Garrison said.
"I spend about $20 to $40 every week and it cost about $50 for about
an eighth of an ounce."

Garrison said she knows at least 20 other medical cannabis patients
whose lives have been changed after making the switch from prescribed
medication.

"I think these collectives need to be regulated," Garrison said. "But
I think it's just a matter of time before it's legal
everywhere."

Like Garrison, Richard Carlisle, of Apple Valley, has his cannabis
delivered to his door from a dispensary in Los Angeles.

"I took my grandson's advice and started smoking marijuana last year,"
said Carlisle, 77, who is battling severe arthritis. "I never thought
an old man like me would be caught smoking this stuff, but it works
better than my prescriptions."
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