Marijuana Clubs in the United States

• By Cali Shaye
• Growing Marijuana
• 14 years ago
• 0

After the Obama administration relaxed the monitoring of the use of medical marijuana by instructing Federal attorneys to refrain from prosecuting people who use marijuana for medical reasons, as well as dispensaries in states which have legalized them, in November 2009, the first legal marijuana cafe opened in The United States. Despite a federal ban, The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, was the first to provide medical marijuana users a location to acquire certified medical marijuana and use it providing that they did not do it in public view. The term cannabis club refers to a group that provides medical marijuana to people who have legal physician prescriptions. Other names for a cannabis club include: marijuana club, compassion clubs, buyers’ clubs, dispensary, and pot club farm.

The idea for the cannabis club originated from Dennis Peron, a San Francisco marijuana dealer who took up the cause of medical use of cannabis when his lover who contacted AIDS, found relief when he used marijuana. There are now marijuana clubs being created in 14 states in the United States that provide an assortment of strains of cannabis, as well as other cannabis products such as baked goods, capsules, oils, sprays, and more.

Marijuana clubs vary in the services and products they offer. Some of these clubs operate as a business while others are not-for-profit societies. The managers of these clubs are educated in medicinal cannabis and its uses. As well, the clubs generally require membership which involves completing a form where the potential member and his or her doctor sign the form confirming the condition that requires the use of medical marijuana.

The purpose of marijuana clubs is not only to provide an environment to take medical marijuana, but also to create a place where ill people can relax in a friendly and accepting environment. It is not just 14 states that have marijuana clubs, but there are a similar number that have pending ballot measures and legislation to make marijuana for medical use legal.The use of medical marijuana has taking place for over 4,500 years. The most humane argument for allowing the use of medical marijuana is to help the terminally ill and severely sick. There has been much research into the effects of medical marijuana and it has been shown to help with such conditions as: insomnia, spasticity, nausea, seizures, pain, vomiting, arthritis, dystonia, and Tourettes syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, appetite loss, and glaucoma. There has been no connection made between marijuana use and lung cancer or emphysema. Patients who have used medical marijuana have reported positive results and believe it is an important tool to alleviating and helping their condition.