Southern California dispensaries

[FlyingLow]

I've been a medmen patient for the last 2 years and am also always impressed each visit.
I really hope they open up more stores across the nation as legalization takes over, they run a nice business.

Be sure to sign up for their mailing list, they will send you their weekly specials and events. Tons of BOGO offers as well

 

[Grifo]

This needs a bump! I still go to SCPA they have to have some of the best weed in OC.

 

[mixchu69]

This needs a bump! I still go to SCPA they have to have some of the best weed in OC.

Where is SCPA?

 

[Grifo]

Where is SCPA?

its a delivery service they are on instagram and weedmaps

 

[FlyingLow]

This needs a bump! I still go to SCPA they have to have some of the best weed in OC.

how are their concentrates?

 

[mixchu69]

how are their concentrates?

One rec for concentrates is sky high holistic in Santa Ana. 1gram moxie for 60

 

[Grifo]

how are their concentrates?

Great, they are from the same flower they sell and is extracted by hi rez 45 a gram buy 2 get 1 free

 

[Shooby]

One rec for concentrates is sky high holistic in Santa Ana. 1gram moxie for 60

I avoid Sky High and EDC in Santa Ana who are the same owners but EDC doesnt need medical rec. Not worth the trouble. Both have been raided several times and as recent as Sept. 2017.

 

[Tranquility]

I avoid Sky High and EDC in Santa Ana who are the same owners but EDC doesnt need medical rec. Not worth the trouble. Both have been raided several times and as recent as Sept. 2017.

Out of curiosity, what is your concern? Are you worried your name is going to be on a list at the dispensary when the police roll it up? Are you worried you might be on the premises when the police come to close it?

In CA, while recreational sales are not legal until Jan 1 (And, only then when following local rules--which few localities have yet.), it is not illegal to possess. (Within statutory limits.) A dispensary who sells under recreational rules is in violation of the law. A person who buys under recreational rules...not so much.

Of course, we don't have the court's opining on any questions like this as yet. It is conceivable someone, somewhere in California, is going to be the test case in this month for seeing if a bored prosecutor/cop can find their way to some conspiracy charge or municipal violation for being in a recreational sales location when the tax police come. But, I take far greater risks driving to work each morning.

In the same vein, is there anyone out there who has not renewed their recommendation or intends to not renew because of recreational legalization?

 

[Shooby]

Out of curiosity, what is your concern? Are you worried your name is going to be on a list at the dispensary when the police roll it up? Are you worried you might be on the premises when the police come to close it?

In CA, while recreational sales are not legal until Jan 1 (And, only then when following local rules--which few localities have yet.), it is not illegal to possess. (Within statutory limits.) A dispensary who sells under recreational rules is in violation of the law. A person who buys under recreational rules...not so much.

Of course, we don't have the court's opining on any questions like this as yet. It is conceivable someone, somewhere in California, is going to be the test case in this month for seeing if a bored prosecutor/cop can find their way to some conspiracy charge or municipal violation for being in a recreational sales location when the tax police come. But, I take far greater risks driving to work each morning.

In the same vein, is there anyone out there who has not renewed their recommendation or intends to not renew because of recreational legalization?

No all but most of the time when a dispensary gets raided, the patients inside gets arrested as well as the volunteers or employees. I prefer not to deal with that BS and explain to my employer and customers why i was arrested or why I couldnt respond to them. Being arrested is no fun even if you get bailed out.

I will still renew my medical rec when it expires before Xmas. The dispensary i go to will not be a recreational dispensary and only medical. Not sure what benefits will be provided to medical compared to recreational. Some are saying medical will not have limits and rec will have limits such as limits of THC MG in edibles. Some are also saying the medical dispensary will not charge tax but as of now, who knows. For $30, I rather have the option to go anywhere.

 

[Tranquility]

So, your concern is you might be on the premises when the police come to close it. Right?

After the proposition passing making recreational legal, have you heard of any patients/buyers being arrested at a dispensary? I'm not sure what they could be arrested for right now. Even one of the dispensaries you mentioned (EDC) has had Santa Ana city council authorize funds to close them down with a nuisance lawsuit. Certainly, signing something under penalty of perjury saying you are a legitimate patient, something some of the "Prop 64 compliant" dispensaries use as a dodge, that is a problem. Just being there, shouldn't be.

 

[Shooby]

When they were both raided in Sept, the patients this past time was not arrested. All previous times even earlier 2017 in Jan or Feb, i heard patients were arrested too. Why they arrest the patients to begin with, i do not know. I rather not find out and avoid it.

But once its raided, do you think the cop will stop to think about prop 64? or just arrest you and let the court system figure it out. Personally, with so many dispensaries around, I will stick to the safest, most legit dispensary i can find in SoCal and living near Santa Ana, there is a bunch.

And i will probably stick to mainly medical dispensaries for the time being until the laws are figured out.

 

[Tranquility]

When they were both raided in Sept, the patients this past time was not arrested. All previous times even earlier 2017 in Jan or Feb, i heard patients were arrested too. Why they arrest the patients to begin with, i do not know. I rather not find out and avoid it.

But once its raided, do you think the cop will stop to think about prop 64? or just arrest you and let the court system figure it out. Personally, with so many dispensaries around, I will stick to the safest, most legit dispensary i can find in SoCal and living near Santa Ana, there is a bunch.

And i will probably stick to mainly medical dispensaries for the time being until the laws are figured out.

The cop would need probable cause to believe you were possessing all the cannabis in the shop to arrest you. The real key would be possession for sale. If a cop is not going to stop and think about prop 64, why would he care about prop 215? Either he is going to follow the law or he is not. If you get really strict, walking into a dispensary at all makes you in "possession" of everything you are aware of in the shop. If the police wanted to play with the law, anyone on the premises who does not have a license issued by the state (Or who possess under limits for medical reasons.), is going to be in possession of felony weight. Medically and recreationally, the weight of everything in the shop could be argued to be in your "constructive possession". While a conviction may not result, the police could argue probable cause enough to not suffer any penalties.

I also have to disagree there are a bunch of legit dispensaries around. Santa Ana has a fairly limited number. The rest of the county? Where?

None of this is to really argue with you as each must find his own level of risk. However, I don't think the fear you have is highly likely in today's environment.

Edit:
As I reread, I don't like the "license issued by the state" part but don't really want to clean it up to reflect some government permission to sell.

 

[Aizen-sama]

In the same vein, is there anyone out there who has not renewed their recommendation or intends to not renew because of recreational legalization?

The state contends that it's licensing scheme will be ready to go Jan 1st, but personally I'm going to renew my rec anyway for piece of mind. Worst outcome is I'm out a little bit of money and then I won't renew after that. OTOH if we see any of the initial supply issues they've had in other legal states upon rec legalization it will definitely pay off to be able to go to a medical-only place.

I also have to disagree there are a bunch of legit dispensaries around. Santa Ana has a fairly limited number. The rest of the county? Where?

I think you misinterpreted what he said here, he said SA has a bunch of legit ones which it does. Compared to LA or the Bay Area maybe not so many but still better than most other places.

 

[Tranquility]

The state contends that it's licensing scheme will be ready to go Jan 1st, but personally I'm going to renew my rec anyway for piece of mind. Worst outcome is I'm out a little bit of money and then I won't renew after that. OTOH if we see any of the initial supply issues they've had in other legal states upon rec legalization it will definitely pay off to be able to go to a medical-only place.

I think you misinterpreted what he said here, he said SA has a bunch of legit ones which it does. Compared to LA or the Bay Area maybe not so many but still better than most other places.

If we start imagining problems, we can find as many legal trips and traps from the use of some little bit of money doctors for a recommendation as we can from going to a place that sells recreationally. I suspect, for many, the guidelines at http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Publications/guidelines_cannabis_recommendation.pdf were not followed and some patients were not completely forthcoming in statements to their "doctor". In the old days of compliance, the state did not much care about niggling little errors in the recommendation process as an investigation is expensive with little gain on a conviction. Now, it's money. It seems to me the state is going to try to shift users to the recreational model because they are not as limited there in their ability to raise money on transactions.

Legally? Going to a place that sells cannabis does not change your legal status at all as far as I see. Obtaining a recommendation may not be the same, depending on the underlying facts.

Santa Ana has a small number of measure BB compliant medical dispensaries. There are far more unlicensed ones. (That's just the ones that are accessible online [weedmaps]--"business"-type places.) The rest of the county does not have any. I'm not sure what part I'm misinterpreted. The difference between "fairly limited" and "a bunch"?

 

[Baron23]

I'm not sure what they could be arrested for right now.

Conspiracy? The dispensary is, if not licensed, an organized criminal activity in the eyes of the law and buyers are participating....maybe? I'm not a lawyer...well, that's obvious! haha

 

[Tranquility]

Conspiracy? The dispensary is, if not licensed, an organized criminal activity in the eyes of the law and buyers are participating....maybe? I'm not a lawyer...well, that's obvious! haha

I agree conspiracy is not precluded.

"It is conceivable someone, somewhere in California, is going to be the test case in this month for seeing if a bored prosecutor/cop can find their way to some conspiracy charge or municipal violation for being in a recreational sales location when the tax police come."
​

Any agreement to do an illegal act (with some furtherance) can be conspiracy. The problem would be proving up an agreement to violate the municipal ordinance or statute. Simply being in a place where sales are going on is not an "agreement".

 

[Baron23]

"It is conceivable someone, somewhere in California, is going to be the test case in this month for seeing if a bored prosecutor/cop can find their way to some conspiracy charge or municipal violation for being in a recreational sales location when the tax police come."

ooops, missed that. Sorry

 

[asdf420]

Man, this all sounds kind of spooky. Especially the possibility of the government making the medical process more difficult or expensive.
If I get a recommendation now, would it be valid until December 2018?
Was confused about why there's special and more expensive recommendations for growing. "Up to 99 plants" or whatever. But I read somewhere else that now, medical patients can grow as many plants as they personally need.

 

[Aizen-sama]

I'm not sure what part I'm misinterpreted. The difference between "fairly limited" and "a bunch"?

I will stick to the safest, most legit dispensary i can find in SoCal and living near Santa Ana, there is a bunch.

That bit there. Nowhere does it say anything about there being a lot in the county at all. Just that those of us close to Santa Ana have options if we want to shop "legally". I don't stick exclusively to compliant places, but if I wanted to I wouldn't be without options. What do you consider a bunch?

For me, I see renewing the rec as a small price to ensure uninterrupted access at a reasonable cost at least for the first year of rec legalization. The rec itself provides no legal protection really, none of this is legal federally and that's the only threat model after prop 64 for consumers.

 

[Stu]

For me, I see renewing the rec as a small price to ensure uninterrupted access at a reasonable cost at least for the first year of rec legalization.

Yeah, I'm going to renew for one more year too as my rec is expiring at the end of the year. We should have a better understanding of the marketplace a year from now, so maybe next year I won't bother to renew.

Main reason I'm renewing is that my favorite online delivery service will remain medical only, and I love the convenience of point, click, bam!- box on my doorstep next day. It's quicker than Amazon Prime FFS. I can't just give that up.

 

[FlyingLow]

Which delivery do you use for meds?

 

[Tranquility]

That bit there. Nowhere does it say anything about there being a lot in the county at all. Just that those of us close to Santa Ana have options if we want to shop "legally". I don't stick exclusively to compliant places, but if I wanted to I wouldn't be without options. What do you consider a bunch?

For me, I see renewing the rec as a small price to ensure uninterrupted access at a reasonable cost at least for the first year of rec legalization. The rec itself provides no legal protection really, none of this is legal federally and that's the only threat model after prop 64 for consumers.

There is a limit of 20 BB compliant dispensaries in Santa Ana. I would say "a bunch" would give easy access to all who wanted it. Since none of those less than 20 (I think 18 right now.) are out of Santa Ana, I don't think "a bunch" is an accurate statement in regards to the county.

Also, while the taxation scheme of legal recreational dispensaries will almost assuredly result in higher prices for recreational over medical, that taxation scheme is not in effect yet. There is a big difference between the cost in a regulated and taxed BB compliant dispensary and in one that is not. Be sure to add in the cost differential in the calculation in the small price to pay.

As a side note, I would recommend no one who has a medical recommendation fill out an ATF 4473 in the hope of obtaining a firearm.

What a recommendation does is provide proof you use, access to locally-licensed dispensaries (Many would prefer the term cooperative or co-op as there is no provision in the law for store front sales.) and an affirmative defense to possession. (Only the county issued cards provide a relief from probable cause for arrest.) Of those, access seems the benefit today. With the number of retailers who are willing to sell under recreational "rules", access is of less value than before. It's still worth something. (As related by Stu and the delivery service he uses.) But, that "something" is less than before legalization.

I have no problem with people just continuing as they have. However, some may benefit from knowing the current legal framework. Saving some money by going to an unlicensed seller is not a high risk proposition--at least from the perspective of legal liability.

 

[Stu]

Which delivery do you use for meds?

https://goddessdelivers.com/

Not the cheapest, but the quality is consistently good and the convenience factor can't be overstated IMO.

 

[Tranquility]

Man, this all sounds kind of spooky. Especially the possibility of the government making the medical process more difficult or expensive.
If I get a recommendation now, would it be valid until December 2018?
Was confused about why there's special and more expensive recommendations for growing. "Up to 99 plants" or whatever. But I read somewhere else that now, medical patients can grow as many plants as they personally need.

The medical framework in California was always based on patient need. Some doctors gave a number of plant recommendation to help those who wanted to grow more. It was thought such a set number would help in proving up any eventual defense to cultivation arrests. "99" is a magic number because we must remember cultivation is illegal federally. If a grower has over 99 plants, he could face mandatory (federal) minimum sentencing guidelines of 5 years.