Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in California Donate Medicine to Wildfire Victims

Wildfires are nothing new in California, but with the drought being as bad as it is this year, there has been a recent rash of wildfires, and they have been causing more damage and destruction than normal. According to a recent news article from the Los Angeles Times, two state dispensary owners are trying to do what they can to help victims of the Valley wildfire that has been more extremely destructive and hard to control. Many are displaced from their homes and out of work. For those who are medical marijuana patients, this can mean having to go without their much-needed medicine. It is hard to imagine how difficult it must for sick patients to be forced to evacuate their homes as they were being destroyed in a wildfire and not knowing where they would go.

In an effort to help these wildfire victims, owners of two large medical cannabis dispensaries have decided to give each victim up to $200 worth of medical marijuana next week free of charge. Between the companies, there will be five separate dispensaries giving away free cannabis oil, cannabis spray, and vaporizing cartridges. A spokesperson speaking on behalf of the two separate companies that have decided to work together on this charitable initiative say that anyone seeking free medical cannabis will need to have a valid prescription and legal residence with the counties affected by the large Valley wildfire. Authorities have estimated that nearly 120 square miles have been consumed by the large wildfire and, as result, around 2,000 homes were destroyed and at least four people are dead.

These dispensary owners have allocated around $20,000 worth of product to this medicine giveaway and have said they felt compelled to help, as this was a disaster in their own backyard. They said they needed to reach out to their community in its time of need. This fire is being classified as one of the worst in state history in terms of property damage and serious injuries and fatalities. To make matters worse, this fire was one of two major wildfires in the month of September in the area. The first fire killed two residents, destroyed nearly 500 homes and consumed over 70,000 acres.

As our Orange County medical marijuana dispensary attorneys have seen, this is just one example of how patients, advocates, and members of the medical marijuana industry are willing to work together and do what they can to help those in need. While there is no question there is a lot of money to be made in the medical cannabis industry, it is refreshing to see that, unlike in many other industries, the notion of helping patients and cooperation are still as strong as they were in the early days of the medical marijuana movement. This message is especially poignant when compared to what we see with big pharmaceutical companies that stop at nothing to make as much money for their companies as possible at the expense of many of their own patients. For example, this medical marijuana charitable donation was occurring at the same time as one investor was raising the price of AIDS drugs to exorbitant levels.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:
Dispensaries offer free marijuana to Valley fire victims in Northern California, September 29, 2015, LA Times, by Joseph Serna
More Blog Entries:
Study: Teen Marijuana Use Not Linked to Health Trouble, Aug. 4, 2015, Los Angeles Marijuana Lawyer Blog