|
There's a Mendocino County volunteer group working on drafting Medical Marijuana collective and co-op policy which may potentially be adopted by Mendocino County. Naturally, this process needs volunteers and input both from those who are interested as well as those who have previously worked on related documents - we would love to see what you've come up with. Please feel free to forward this to others you know who may wish to contribute. Many hands make light work, as the saying goes.
The Medical Cannabis Regulatory Working Group includes participants from the MMMAB, reps from MedMar collectives and co-ops, MD's, attorneys, and so on.
The following Draft, a work in progress, was produced by the MMMAB: You are invited to lend a hand and help improve it:
COLLECTIVE GROUND The following is the current draft of a generic collective agreement with standards for cannabis patients & primary caregivers working collectively together to adopt, adapt to their own situation, carry with them, laminate & post as gardensite guidelines they will honor.
This offering in good faith from the medical cannabis community is to comply with local and state law, as well as to honor good neighbor policies and common courtesies.
MEDICAL CANNABIS COLLECTIVE Association Agreement
I, _______ _________, am a qualified patient, who uses cannabis as medicine approved by my doctor under state law, the purpose being "to enhance access of patients and caregivers to medical marijuana through collective cooperative cultivation projects" Health & Safety Code 11362.77 (Senate Bill 420, 2003), known as the Medical Marijuana Program Act.
"Two or more patients/caregivers...may associate within the State of California in order collectively or cooperatively to cultivate marijuana for medical purposes." (H&S 11362.775).
I agree to work with the members of our association, Green Friends (collective name), in order to collectively cultivate cannabis for medical purposes under state law, to the benefit of each and for the good of the whole. As contained in our collective agreement, I support the following standards:
* to keep my Physician Approval updated and current, with an additional authorization from the Doctor, if needed, if the current standard (6 mature/8 immature plants/8 ounces of bud) is inadequate to meet the patient's medical needs.
* to post my Physician Approval and Collective Agreement at all times, either at the entrance door or in the garden or at both locations, as a way of claiming compliance with state law on collectives and discouraging law enforcement from entering the property, if they see evidence of a good faith effort to comply, such as a Collective Bulletin Board with all approvals posted.
* all cannabis medicine will be shared proportionately amongst collective members at low or no cost to each patient, based on an annual membership fee and time-share programs for meeting the broad needs of the membership.
* to share responsibility for the defense of the collective, including with testimony and court support where necessary.
* to respect the garden environment, to grow organically for the health of patients and the earth, and to not damage or degrade the soil and streams with contaminants, diesel spills, garbage, etc.
* to grow "mature flowering females" (SB420's definition of medical grade cannabis) in the amount "reasonably necessary" for patient members of the collective, taking into consideration that leaf/shake/trim/stem cannot be legitimately calculated in the total quantity for prosecution purposes.
* to secure the grow with a sturdy lockable gate or door to reduce temptation and risk of break-ins and theft. (This is flexible, since growers tend to apply site-specific common sense requirements treating large areas of land differently than small garden parcels in residential neighborhoods.) * to block visibility of the plants from any public sidewalk or street with a fence, in order to prevent nuisance complaints.
* to block plant aromas from the public where possible, using charcoal filters or ozone generators with indoor gardens, so as not to annoy or otherwise negatively effect neighbors, resulting in nuisance complaints.
* to discourage excessive or noisy road traffic that may be annoying to neighbors, causing nuisance complaints.
* to not divert medical cannabis for non-medical purposes.
* to not engage in illegal water diversions.
* to not engage in illegal electrical diversions (bypass hook-ups).
* to not engage in trespass grows on private or public land.
GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY: The intent is one of mutual respect between neighbors; to avoid adversarial positions; to treat others as one would like to be treated; to keep an open mind; and be willing to cooperate with neighbors with a goal of creating a safe and healthy neighborhood environment." - MMMAB -
The collective guidelines above were created by qualified patient-growers based on rights and responsibilities, rather than the standard law enforcement perspective based on crime and punishment.
There are no limits on the quantity of medicine or number of patients permitted to participate in "collective cooperative cultivation" with an adequate number of doctors' approvals. Rather, the limits are defined as occurring within a membership association, with a... "closed-circuit cycle of marijuana cultivation and consumption with no purchases or sales to or from non-members."
The following are legal guidelines for collectives, quoted from the August 2008 Attorney General Opinion regarding non-diversion of medicine and enforcement of Senate Bill 420's protective purpose: "to enhance access of patients and caregivers to medical marijuana through collective cooperative cultivation projects".
* Medical marijuana patients and primary caregivers may "associate within the State of California in order collectively or cooperatively to cultivate marijuana for medical purposes." (11362.775)
* A collective is "an organization that...facilitates the collaborative efforts of patients and caregiver members...and transactions between members... including the allocation of costs and revenues".
* Written membership applications, verifications and updates are required of all patients or primary caregivers who wish to form or join a collective and remain "in good standing".
* "Conditions of membership" are to be enforced "by excluding members whose identification card or physician recommendation are invalid or have expired, or who are caught diverting marijuana for non-medical use."
* "Collectives should acquire marijuana only from their constituent members (in order to) lawfully transport...or distribute to other members of the collective."
* "Nothing allows marijuana to be purchased from outside the collective for distribution to its members. Instead the cycle should be a closed-circuit of marijuana cultivation and consumption with no purchases or sales to or from non-members."
* "To help prevent diversion to non-medical markets, collectives should document each member's contribution of labor, resources, or money...(and) track and record the source of their marijuana."
" Collectives may cultivate and transport marijuana in aggregate amounts tied to its membership numbers."
The Mendocino County Strauss-Maligno case tells the story of a by-the-book true collective, growing in Mendo for a storefront in LA, adhering to the AG Guidelines, convincing a jury that their collective with hundreds of patients and a $1.4 million budget was legitimately run and not to convict. The jury hung 7-5 in favor of acquittal as the facts offered by the defense unfolded and convinced the majority of jurors the defendants were following the law, as presented by the Judge, that protects collectives and cooperatives. After the trial, 4 of the 5 jurors who voted to convict went to the District Attorney's office with advice: Don't retry the case. You'll never get a conviction.
In April 09 another collective, involving 40 pounds of medical cannabis for Bay Area members of their collective (People v Lampach), had their case dismissed by the prosecutor, after defendants turned down two offers of plea bargains in favor of a jury trial. Where no evidence of crime exists, but only legal collective cooperative cultivation protected by statute, a Mendocino County jury will not convict.
When Senate Bill 420 became statutory law (11362.775), it adopted a purpose: "to enhance access for patients and caregivers to medical marijuana through collective cooperative cultivation projects", which represented "a dramatic change in the law", in the words of the Urziceanu 3rd District Appeals Court, as they explained how legal protections in SB420 go beyond those in Prop 215, which is primarily a treatise on patients' rights to obtain, use, possess, cultivate and transport marijuana for medical purposes. It makes no mention of collectives or cooperatives.
The Appeals Court unanimously ruled that "collective cooperative cultivation projects" gain additional legal protections to "sell" and "distribute" cannabis for medical purposes, if they are organized not for profit but rather for collective cooperative good in compliance with H&S11362.775. Financial transactions can occur through a reasonable salary, payment for labor and "providing" of medicine and compensation for expenses.
Increasingly, as guidelines become clear, there is a growing patient preference for legality within collectives and cooperatives, seeking safety, transparency and accountability within closed-circuit membership associations, not restricted to a single county or a certain number of patients, as defined in the 2008 AG Guidelines.
The patient majority, who are landless, low income, lacking in access to medicine, depend on banding together in First Amendment protected membership associations, sharing resources in the spirit of non-competition, based on the integral needs of the whole rather than the profits of a few. Working together collectively and cooperatively is the way to "do it right".
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed