San Francisco Orders Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to Sell Fatter Bags
Regulation of medical marijuana distribution can have some interesting side effects. The following email, sent to a dispensary operator by an employee of the San Francisco Department of Health, shows that the city is requiring clubs to be more careful in their measurements:
Dear MCD Applicant;It has come to my attention that some MCD's [medical cannabis dispensaries] are using the incorrect equivalent conversion between grams and ounces. You must use 28.35 grams/ounce, not 28 grams/ounce for all cannabis sold by weight. The law behind this is in the State Business and Professions Code, which is typically enforced by Weights and Measures (State Dept of Agriculture). As they currently are not addressing weights and measures issues regarding cannabis clubs, the City's MCD Inspection Program will enforce this requirement.
Please feel free to share this with any club operator (I do not have email
for most operators).Thank you for your cooperation.
In other words, San Francisco is ordering dispensaries to give patients more bud for their buck. The extra 3rd of a gram per ounce isn’t going to put any providers out of business, but it's amusing to see the city intervene on behalf of medical marijuana consumers.
This is the kind of regulation the marijuana industry actually needs. Hopefully someday, when the DEA shows up at your dispensary, it won’t be to confiscate your proceeds and product, it will be to warn you: "It's come to our attention that you're selling skimpy sacks…"
digg
redditIt's the principle, silly
Comment posted by smorgan on Tue, 07/31/2007 - 2:21amThe Dept. of Health is telling them to give patients more pot. My point wasn't that you get to smoke an extra bowl everytime you buy an ounce.
Agreed
Comment posted by smorgan on Thu, 08/02/2007 - 5:24pmI hope you don't mind that we find this amusing. Joking aside, you are exactly right, not that you need me to tell you so.
As I'm sure you realize, getting what you pay for is a new experience for medical marijuana patients who have for too long been forced to obtain medicine under less than ideal circumstances and from sometimes less than compassionate people.
My take on this may be a bit childish from your perspective, but I certainly do appreciate and support your efforts to ensure fairness.
That's silly
Comment posted by smorgan on Thu, 08/02/2007 - 5:33pmSF doesn't track mmj distribution ounce for ounce anyway, so this would be a needlessly complex way of diverting the product. Nor is .35 grams per ounce enough to fuel a profitable illegal distribution scheme.
I take SF Dept. of Health fully at its word on this. These types of regulatory practices are completely normal. I understand the instinct to assume that there's some kind of drug war conspiracy going on, but this is SF we're talking about. Their concern for the well-being of patients has already been demonstrated.
In defense of MCD prices
Comment posted by smorgan on Thu, 08/02/2007 - 11:03pmMany factors contribute to cannabis prices at medical dispensaries. Patients are offered a variety of strains with a degree of certainty that they know what they're purchasing. The ability to choose between indicas and sativas is unheard of in other parts of the country, and the quality of medical cannabis on the west coast is extraordinarily high compared to what's available elsewhere.
More importantly, dispensary operators undertake considerable risk to make medicine available in a safe environment. Rent, insurance, and legal costs are substantial, as is the possibility that the DEA will show up and seize your assets. Any criticism of dispensary prices is incomplete without addressing these factors.
This is a business -- like any other -- and prices are determined by the market. Is it really necessary explain that the federal government, and not dispensary operators, is the real reason prices for medical cannabis are what they are?
A new era
Comment posted by krokker on Mon, 07/30/2007 - 8:43pmI think back when bags were measured by a number of fingers, IE: 3 finger bag, (showing my age). This seems much more accurate and acceptable.
www.pissedoffpothead.com