One Stop Weed Shop
How Cannabis Clubs are Affecting Weed Buyers and Sellers
Story by Shana White
Art by Thuy Ngo

Today I had lunch with two of my classmates, Chris and Don. Somehow the topic of weed came up. Don said that he was looking to get a card but wasn't sure how to go about it.   Chris said that he knows a guy who can get him one for a little over $100.00. Or, he said, he could go to one of those clinics and just bulls$%t with them to get one.

The card that my classmates were strategizing over was the medical marijuana card that is given to patients prescribed by doctors. Although the card is made for medical purposes, the card has become the easiest way for people, even those without medical issues, to get weed.  

There has been a long struggle to get marijuana legalized, even just for some people. The first lawsuit regarding medical marijuana was Ashcroft v. Raich. This was case about Angel Raich and Diane Monson, two patients that asked a federal court to forbid the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) from prosecuting them under federal law. Raich and Monson argued that Congress's Controlled Substance Act is unconstitutional because Congress is only permitted to regulate interstate not intrastate commerce.

The fight, both in and out of the courts, has led to Cannabis Clubs, where people with medical conditions can buy marijuana.

But medical Marijuana is being used more and more by “patients” claiming to have a medical conditions such as diabetes, glaucoma or a life threatening illness like cancer, but don't.   The only medical condition they have is the “I wannagethigh” illness.

Blurring the lines of medical purposes and casual usage is a common to American history. Doctors used to prescribe cocaine in the late 1800's, morphine to Vietnam vets in the 60's and now, weed in the turn of the century.

Cannabis clubs started rising in the mid 90's and there are over 50 clubs in San Francisco alone.   While clubs are growing they are also being raided because many of these clubs are thought to be operating without proper permits and records.

Some people who smoke weed say the marijuana helps them cope with chronic pain. This may be true for some, but lately I have been seeing younger healthy folks using the cards.

Chris, who's in his late twenties, has had a cannabis club card and it was easy for him to get. He told the clinic that he had diabetes and that he has trouble eating, so he needed the marijuana to help him out. Not to make a joke out of him, but he didn't look like he has a problem eating at all.   When he told us his strategy, we all laughed.

The only medical condition Don has is a mouthpiece -- which means he can talk his way into getting whatever he wants. But as Don finds a way to get his high through a publicly endorsed city program, what happens to those who sell weed for on the street. If there customers can get a card, who needs the neighborhood weed man?

A 25-year-old independent weed distributor from the mid-peninsula, who we'll call Joe, says that his business has been dropping dramatically since everyone can just get his or her weed at the clinic. Joe says his sales have plummeted by 40%-50%. Joe has been in the business for about three years with out having a “legitimate” job so he feels the pressure from low weed sales. “The only thing that is good about the cannabis club is that they have different variety of weed,” says Joe. He says that police still are looking for marijuana users, card or not.   “The police harass people even if they have a card, but those are the ones who just want to mess with you cause they don't have anything else to do.” He says that having a card has made people even bolder in their interactions with the law. He says, “One guy with a card who got busted even went back to the station and recovered their weed.” Joe says the   way he's staying afloat financially given that more people are getting cards, is by a steady group of faithful customers.

But while Joe's sales may be struggling in the mid-peninsula due to Cannabis clubs, the club is now looking at as the weed supplier in Oakland.   Jamal, an Oakland native, says that for the last three years he has been seeing more people selling marijuana by using the Cannabis clubs as their supplier. “People who sell weed now feel that they have a steady supplier, which means there's just is more weed in the streets,” says Jamal.

People, with card or not,   will get ahold of weed. Because people will always come up with ideas to get their fix , even if its not from their local street pharmacist.