Retirement Community Says NO to Medical Marijuana in Los Angeles and their Communities

The Golden Rain Foundation, a group of volunteers that govern a local residential retirement community, is putting their foot down on medical marijuana grow efforts of their community’s residents, according to TIME News Feed. There are approximately 150 residents in the community of 18,000 that have been recommended the use of medical marijuana in California. Laguna Woods Village, the retirement community, says it’s not happening in their neighborhoods.

The neighborhood enforcement squad of resident volunteers disallowed the cultivation of marijuana in their neighborhood’s gardens. Under their state-mandated legal right, any one senior who possesses a medical marijuana card is allowed to grow up to six mature plants in their private residences. Laguna Woods Village is trying to stop the growing on their properties.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys understand that medical marijuana patients have a number of rights that many oppose. First it was the federal government fighting against them, then the state government and now residents in their very own neighborhoods. The use of marijuana, medical or not, has not been universally accepted in Laguna Woods Village and patients are fighting back.

“This did stir up a lot of feelings,” says Laguna Woods Village resident Susan Margolis. “There are a lot of people that have never used marijuana and there are younger people who have used marijuana who say, ‘Come on now, this is just ridiculous.'”

Right off the bat, the resident’s growing plan was quickly shot down by the community’s governing board. They moved on to the next plan, which was the attempt to run their own greenhouse in a rented spot located away from the neighborhood. That plan backfired when they reportedly lost thousands of dollars worth of their product when a light was plugged into the wrong outlet.

It was on to the third plan. They offered seedlings to a grower that operated a greenhouse in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the police shut down this facility and destroyed the plants in the process.

In a final attempt, a collective member started up two greenhouses outside of the neighborhood. The marijuana grown at these facilities is reportedly sold to collective members. They use a sliding scale to price the product. This scale is predicated on the need and the ability to pay. Prices at this operation range from $35 an ounce to about $200 an ounce.

Many of these residents are suffering from some serious health problems, including osteoarthritis, debilitating nausea and the after-effects of a stroke.

“Look, whether it’s a legal thing or not a legal thing, it helps you. I am 90 years old and I don’t mind talking about it,” collective member Joe Schwartz.

Many of these residents believe that with the growing population of elderly residents in the United States, the use of this product will grow as well hopefully one day providing more normalcy from the perspective of others. As of now, it’s not looking too promising.

“We’ve got people who don’t like it here, they don’t like marijuana and they still have that ‘communism’ and ‘perversion’ and ‘killer weed’ attitude,” says Lonnie Painter, director of a group known as Laguna Woods for Medical Cannabis.

According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration the number of people that are aged 50 and older that reported marijuana use during the previous year went up from 1.9 percent in 2002 to 2.9 percent in 2008.

The Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys at the Cannabis Law Group represent medical marijuana dispensaries throughout Southern California. Call 949-375-4734 for a confidential consultation to discuss your rights.

Additional Resources:

Seniors’ Medical Pot Collective Faces Opposition in California, by Everett Rosenfeld, TIME News Feed

Seniors’ medical pot collective stirs up trouble, The Town Talk
More Blog Entries:

New Bill to Hold Down Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Los Angeles, Marijuana Lawyer Blog, June 16, 2011

U.S. Attorneys to Close Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Nationwide, Marijuana Lawyer Blog, June 14, 2011

Medical Marijuana Users in California Estimated at More Than 1 Million, Marijuana Lawyer Blog, June 6, 2011