I have seen a few posts asking questions about the card so I thought I would chime in and offer my experience for anyone who is curious or interested in getting one. I live in California
Can I come over?
For real; Does it cost more to get it legally than it would illegally? Or wouldn’t you know that? What are you treating?
What was your stated medical reason for getting one (whether it’s legit or not I will not ask you to answer unless you want to)? I have heard everything from glaucoma to nonspecific pain or minor mental disorders. They all seem to get approval pretty easily.
MyFootsZZZ, I haven’t been in a dispensary, not having a card, but I am told that they have everything from cheap to expensive. Generally it is cheaper than buying elsewhere, unless perhaps you live in a growing region.
Prices are generally a tad bit higher in the shops although I can get it way cheap if I buy their “bottom of the batch” which is actually good its just all the shake from everything when they change out the jars.
EDIT: The quality is WAY better then what I could buy on the street and is worth the price. You get it in a nice little prescription jar and is weighed out to 4 grams for an 1/8 ounce. Typically an 1/8 is anywhere from 45-55
I got the card to treat generalized anxiety disorder, and yes it helps more then any benzo ive been on.
Chris, I have asked this a time or two before here on SDMB with no response, but do you know if a California law enforcement officer (say LAPD) can use cannabis with an Rx and still keep his job?
I suppose it may be a departmental issue (in other words the Humbolt Co. Sheriffs Dept. might have a very different policy than LAPD) but state-wide, for those who are POST certified LEO’s, is there any protection for a medical marijuana patient who happens to work as a cop?
I would imgaine it would be a department thing, and a medical card is not the same as a prescription, there are currently only 3 or so people in the US who actually have medical perscriptions and the government sends them packs of joints every month.
Do you think that Medical Marijuana might have an easier time being taken seriously/gain acceptance if the dispensaries didn’t give their wares the cutesy stoner names (“Mellow Mango,” “Big Fatty,” “Mauie Wowie,” etc.)?
No, you need a way to tell the names apart its no different then names of Soda, Orange Crush? Sierra Mist? Mountain Dew?
I understand that but Orange Crush, Sierra Mist and Mountain Dew are not struggling to be taken seriously as medicine.
My point is, to people who are against Medical Marijuana (I am not one of them) when they see the names of your “medicine,” it looks an awful lot like recreational drugs.
Well there is no way around that we can number them if you want although I have seen some pretty dumb names [Charlie Sheen OG]
You base your vote on its name, rather than learning about what it is?
It should have names like Xanax, Zirtec, Zyban, X-lax, Tums, “the little blue pill,” and things like that?
Of course, we all know it’s already illegal to share your prescription medication with anybody else. But do they make an extra-special point to tell you this, or do you need to sign something to that effect, to get your card?
Or, conversely, is there an atmosphere of tacit approval for buying a little extra for your friends?
**Question 1 - Kinda Philosophical: **
I live in Colorado - where there are dispensaries on every corner- especially in Boulder, and I was recently on a panel with CU profs and campus police who have noted a distinct DROP in crime over the last 2 years.
As California has been offering Medical Marijuana cards for a long while, do you think there is a reduction in crime and do you think it has anything to do with the ease of getting a card? [is it as easy in Ca as it is in CO?]
**
Question 2 - less serious:**
Do you think the legalization of weed is imminent - ala when booze came out of prohibition - I mean here in Boulder there are coupons for buy one get one free of any top-shelf weed if you make them your “care-giver” 0 in the back of every newspaper. Several Towns across CO have legalized it and taxed the hell out of it, one town - Breckenridge- balanced their budget and had a surplus after they legalized it.
More succinct: How many years until it is fully legal yet regulated in the US in your opinion?
Can you get a medical marijuana card if you do not live in a med. marijuana state?
Corollary to that: Do the dispensaries ship across state lines?
They dont even talk about that, the less they know the better. Although it is kinda funny to drive up to the place and see a car full of people and only one of them get out and go inside, the security guard sees all this. They made no extra point to tell me not to share with friends, in fact it never came up once.
They work in retail so you become very good at picking up on what people say and do and can sometimes tell if they are buying for a freind, for example they know what I like and when I go in there and buy something completely different they might think about it but they don’t care. Don’t ask don’t tell.
There are also “caregivers” who can pick up marijuana on behalf of someone else, such as someone disabled who cannot make the trip themselves
Did you smoke weed prior to getting your card?
I don’t, but many people do, and it makes it particularly easy for those opposed to it to view and portray it as a recreational drug when the dispensaries continue to use the cutesy stoner names that have been bestowed on the plants by recreational users.
Frankly, yes.
Why do they even bother selling 100 different types of marijuana anyhow? The basic chemical compounds of medicinal value are the same in all of them. The amounts of each may vary from strain to strain, but they are all there. When a medical marijuana dispensary is purporting itself as a legitimate pharmacy yet is selling and recommending various specific “types” based on the subtleties of the high, that makes it appear that they are selling for recreational use. They diminish their own cause. Just sayin’…
I’m pretty sure you can’t ship it. That’s a good question though. What is the law’s position about transporting pounds of pot from the grower to the dispensary?
I agree, I for one take “Abilify” and told my doctor I was weary of it, (at first), because of it’s name. Same thing with “Enzite”, or whatever it’s called… people wouldn’t order them if they were simply called “Boner Pills”, even though they don’t work.