A Visit to Hope Unlimited

Last week I made the trek down to San Diego to meet Aaron Kline and get a look and feel for him and his situation.

Aaron is a vocal and public medical marijuana patient who uses cannabis along with psych-prescribed medications to control his bi-polar chemical imbalance. Barbara MacKenzie, who helped found the first medical marijuana collective in San Diego with her husband, Steve McWilliams, introduced him to me.

Aaron runs Hope Unlimited, which is a medical cannabis patient support and advocacy group. They do not dispense cannabis; it’s mainly a loose collective of people who are patients or caregivers of patients, as well as local activists and dispensary owners.

I was quite impressed by Aaron and Hope Unlimited. Aaron and his few close associates are a small grass-roots group of like-minded individuals working within the original spirit of prop 215. Their public meetings, held at a local San Diego restaurant, is open to all in the community. Besides patients and caregivers, there were reporters and bloggers and photographers and dispensary owners, and various other medical cannabis activists.

Meeting Aaron and visiting Hope Unlimited, I noticed the continued proliferation of the misconception that one merely needs to declare themselves to be a cooperative or collective and poof! they are one, and are thus protected by the health and safety codes created via Prop. 215 and SB 420.

Nonsense and poppycock!

There are no legal dispensaries (defined as “city approved”) in San Diego, but there are approximately 30 dispensaries currently operating as a “store” in San Diego. Many may believe themselves to be legal and operating as a cooperative or a collective, but in truth, they are mostly just pot stores.

Even owners with good intentions have gotten caught up in the economy, survival and family vs. compassion. The seriously ill patients – on an individual basis – obtain less medicine than someone who re-sells their cannabis. Some collective owners have bemoaned their suspicions that those who “buy” ¼ or more pounds per week are reselling their “medicine.” The owners feel uncomfortable with these transactions; yet feel helpless to stop them.

The owners would be able to stop them if they were not “owners,” and were instead Directors or Managers of not-for-profit collectives or cooperatives.

In my next post I will more clearly take you through the building of a medical cannabis collective that is formed in accordance with Prop 215 and SB 420.