Free Pot For The Poor

Cannabis, marijuana, potâ€"it has many names and as political attitudes continue to change and more research is done medical marijuana is in the news more and more every day. The latest pot piece is set in Berkeley, Calif. According to various sources including KWGN and CNN, pot dispensaries currently operating there may soon be required by law to provide free pot to the poor.

This follows the recent initial approval of a specific ordinance by City Council. Councilman Darryl Moore, the man behind the free pot giveaway, said: “Basically the City Council wants to make sure that low income, homeless, indigent folks have access to their medical marijuana, their medicine.”

Free Pot For The Poor/Image: HighTimes

The Berkeley Patients Group, however, is already providing free pot to the poor. In fact, they have been doing so for over 15 years. Sean Luse of Berkeley Patients Group stated: “We’ve found out over the years is one of the cruel realities is that when you get sick and you have a serious illness is that it’s often hard to keep a job, it can be hard to keep your income up, so those people really need the help the most.”

This new ordinance specifically requires that medical marijuana dispensaries reserve a minimum of 2 percent of the pot they market annually and give it to “low-income patients” free of charge. More importantly, this cannabis must reportedly be “the same high-quality marijuana given to regular-paying customers.”

Moore added: “Medical cannabis can be very expensive. And so we think this is the responsible thing to do for those who are less fortunate in our community.” The measure will be up for final approval next week and has drawn some dissenting opinions.

One woman noted that giving free medical-grade pot to the homeless and low income patients is asking for trouble. “It’s a big deal because it could get into the wrong hands.”

An anonymous resident concluded: “Obviously people could sell fee pot for money for alcohol and who know what else. They don’t need to sell it for food because they already get free food. Cigarettes and booze might be harder to get of course.” Nevertheless, what may seem to be a highly controversial issue in another time or another place is not stirring up a lot of trouble in the college town of Berkeley, California.