M<\/span>any people think of California as a veritable utopia for cannabis aficionados and in many ways they\u2019re right. The Golden State is home to some of the finest cannabis genetics in the world and remains a mecca for the best and brightest minds in the industry. While people in prohibition states are waiting by the phone and hoping their shady dealer brings the same stuff as last time, they imagine Californians are at the candy shop, holding up a line out the door, vacillating between whether to purchase the Mango Kush, Cake Badder wax and medicated cherry chocolates or the Cherry Chocolate Kush, Mango wax and medicated cake.<\/p>\n Like many regional stereotypes, there are a few kernels of truth to the notion that Californians are spoiled by easy access to quality medicine, but the whole truth is a bit more complicated and a lot less pleasant.<\/p>\n California<\/a> pioneered the legal application of medical cannabis in 1996 with Proposition 215 \u2013 the first law of its kind in the United States. While the industry has undergone expansions and faced challenges in the ensuing two decades or so, the intention of voters was clear: people living in California should be free to use cannabis as a remedy for any ailment it alleviates. Yet, local jurisdictions have massive leeway when it comes to restricting the sale and cultivation of cannabis. And it\u2019s not merely a West Coast phenomenon \u2013 states like Massachusetts, Michigan and a host of others deal with this issue as well.<\/p>\n \u00a0Cannabis Deserts<\/b><\/p>\n Melanie, 40, is a high school teacher who relies on cannabis to manage her crippling anxiety. About seven years ago, she discovered that using cannabis \u2013 particularly indica dominant strains \u2013 provided her with massive relief, making her life possible without pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n \u201cUntreated, my anxiety gets to the point that I can\u2019t even leave the house,\u201d she says. \u201cIt makes it impossible to sleep and when I get no sleep, I can\u2019t do my job the next day. It\u2019s absolutely debilitating.\u201d<\/p>\n But, where Melanie lives in the town of Pacifica \u2013 a small coastal community south of San Francisco \u2013 there are currently no cannabis dispensaries.<\/p>\n Pacifica is located in a part of the county that has been historically resistant to Proposition 215 and the attendant cultivation and sale of cannabis. In fact, many cities in the county have outright bans on dispensaries. Similar to people who live in \u201cfood deserts\u201d across our nation \u2013 areas which the U.S. Department of Agriculture describes as devoid of\u00a0\u201cfresh fruit, vegetables and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas\u201d largely due to a lack of grocery stores \u2013 residents in these regions are deprived of helpful medicine.<\/p>\n While the town of Pacifica itself has no specific laws governing dispensaries, it still has yet to license even one storefront to date \u2013 making them de facto illegal. States like Massachusetts are receiving similar crossed signals and mixed messages about patient access and the law. While 63 percent of Bay State voters approved a medical marijuana program last year, which called for up to 35 dispensaries, so far only 15 have been approved and just two are actually open for business. This has left the state\u2019s entire patient population relying on two providers (and of course the black market) for their medicine.<\/p>\n Delivery Assistance<\/b><\/p>\n For patients in counties with uneven laws, delivery is really the only legal option. Generally speaking, the drill is the same wherever you order from \u2013 similar to ordering pizza for delivery. You get your patient info verified, check out a menu on an app or website, place an order by phone or online and wait for your items to arrive. And, like many aspects of the cannabis industry, big business is already in the process of stepping into the cannabis delivery game. Delivery services like Eaze, billed as\u00a0the \u201cUber for pot<\/a>,\u201d garnered media attention in 2015 after receiving funding from a capital investment firm affiliated with Snoop Dogg<\/a>.<\/p>\n Melanie says even with delivery options, there\u2019s still the matter of price and location \u2013 obstacles that previously hindered her access.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of [the delivery services] had decent medicine, but it was a hassle to get delivery to Pacifica. They\u2019d want to tack on a 4 percent charge for delivery or there would be a $250 minimum or something,\u201d she says. \u201cThe worst were the ones that made me order 24-48 hours in advance. When I\u2019m having a bad day, I can\u2019t wait two days for relief. This is about my quality of life and my ability to do my work.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, about seven months ago, Melanie discovered Emerald Phog<\/a> (EP), a Pacifica-based collective and delivery service. From that point on, access was no longer an issue for her. Now, she says all it takes is a call to Emerald Phog\u2019s co-founder Joe Kerr and she has the medicine she needs in as little as 20 minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe longest I\u2019ve ever had to wait was an hour,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Removing Obstacles<\/b><\/p>\n Kerr\u2019s eyes smile through his fashion-forward rectangular prescription frames. His polished professionalism is undeniable, but he harbors the mischievous grin of an overgrown teenager, totally stoked at all times to be legally growing and selling cannabis for a living. But, it wasn\u2019t always smiles for Kerr, who once owned three art galleries on Bourbon Street in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina washed away a lifetime of hopes and dreams.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter all that, I kind of lost it for a while,\u201d he says. \u201cI was taking pharmaceutical antidepressants<\/a> and everything and it wasn\u2019t helping much. A doctor friend of mine told me that cannabis might help, so I tried it and it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Kerr started Emerald Phog with his partner, master grower Ron Antonelli, a tall, athletic man with chiseled, angular features and a quiet intensity.<\/p>\n \u201cI pretty much started growing before I started smoking,\u201d he says in a mellow deadpan. \u201cI had a buddy of mine give me a little grow box as collateral on a car, but he never made good on the agreement, so I kept it and started growing. Turns out I\u2019m pretty good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n Touring EP\u2019s grow space, Antonelli unzips a tent enclosing his plants and it\u2019s evident that \u201cpretty good\u201d is a distinct understatement. Inside, a gorgeous array of budding Black Ice colas sprawl upward towards the electric lights, their fan leaves sprawling up and out with the unmistakable vigor of a thriving plant. All of Antonelli\u2019s plants benefit from his \u201call organic, no chemical anything\u201d approach, which he says largely consists of letting the plants do their thing without interfering.<\/p>\n There\u2019s absolutely not a \u201chands off\u201d approach to the specialized care each of EP\u2019s patients get from the always helpful Kerr. During the interview, he fields two or three phone calls from patients \u2013 clearly devoted to helping his patients access needed medicine \u2013 and sets up deliveries for later in the day, which he and Ron mostly handle themselves.<\/p>\n Melanie says she is deeply thankful for the quality care and personal attention she gets from Emerald Phog and hopes they won\u2019t be forced to stay delivery-only forever. Kerr and Antonelli say they are in the process of lobbying Pacifica officials for a permit to open a storefront, reasoning that many patients in the area like Melanie would benefit from better access.<\/p>\n \u201cI teach at a school in a city that has dispensaries, but I worry about running into my kids coming out of one,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd honestly, I shouldn\u2019t have to leave home. I love it here in Pacifica \u2013 everything about it. I just wish the city would remove the obstacles between me and the medicine I need to live a productive, happy life. It\u2019s the only thing missing out here.\u201d<\/p>\n Originally published in Issue 18<\/a> of Cannabis Now. <\/em>LEARN MORE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n TELL US, <\/strong>do the dispensaries in your area deliver?<\/p>\n The post Cannabis Deserts<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Even in states that are home to some of the best cannabis on Earth, access to medicine can be a challenging dilemma. Many people think of California as a veritable utopia for cannabis aficionados and in many ways they\u2019re right. The Golden State is home to some of the finestContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[148,50,80,141,85,396,90,65,25,139,56],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18083"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18083"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18084,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18083\/revisions\/18084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Cannabis Deserts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"