The Garberville Vet’s Hall opened its doors much like a overstuffed guest might loosen the waistband of her pants after a particularly wonderful feast. The standing-room-only crowd pushed against the walls as the abundant banquet of information was set before them.

CLMP (Civil Liberties Monitoring Project) offered its annual forum last night, Saturday, June 19th entitled Cannabis Health & Safety.  Several local speakers gave quick synopsis’ on a variety of new start ups that have sprung up in response to the changing marijuana climate and others spoke about local issues.

  • Cannabis College- 707 Cannabis College which will begin classes on sustainable gardening, legal issues etc. soon.

  • HuMMAP (Humboldt Medical Marijuana Advisory Panel) a new umbrella organization which gathers information from those in the marijuana business (whether directly or indirectly)  of this county, magnifies their voice, and represents their viewpoint to government and beyond had its chairperson, Syreeta Lux, and secretary,  Charlie Custer, there. They spoke about their fledgling organization and a meeting being held the 28th of this month.

  • Tea House Collective (THC)-A California Mutual Benefit Corporation which seeks to distribute premium medical cannabis to patients while promoting Humboldt, organic, sustainable marijuana offered a short synopsis by one of its directors, Liz Davidson.  She said, “Our values are our brand as much as good cannabis is. “  She invites all outdoor cannabis growers to come to a meeting Thursday, July 1 at 5 PM at the Beginnings Octagon to become members in “the Bay Area’s Newest MMJ collective.

  • Hospital/Dispensary-Darryl Cherney spoke about the ongoing work to make the local hospital a marijuana dispensary. This would make Southern Humboldt the first in the nation. According to him, “This is a cannabis production center of the world. It seems foolish for our health care district to ignore this.” He also pointed out how difficult it was for patients to purchase their medicine here. “This,” he said, “is a wholesale area not a retail one” and we need to remedy that lack of access.

  • NORML- Ellen Komp, California NORML’s  Deputy Director , offered a view of what is happening in her organization and voiced concerns about taxing medical marijuana— worrying that Californians are “buying our way to freedom by putting a sin tax on a sacrament.”

  • Legal information-Local attorney, Ed Denson, who specializes in marijuana defense spoke on the law offering several salient points and practical advice to minimize chances of prosecution.

  1. California recognizes medical recommendations from physicians no matter where they are located. This means that recommends from other states (and even countries) are accepted here. Cannabis tourism, anybody?

  2. Humboldt County growing limits are 100 square foot garden and 3 pounds. Of course, Kelly decision ensures that a patient can have as much as they need but staying under the limit decreases the growers’ chance of having to face charges.

  3. Get a medical recommendation

  4. Carry a copy with you when transporting

  5. post a copy where growing

  6. keep less marijuana than allowed

  7. do not keep firearms anywhere near marijuana (he recommended a gun safe.)

  8. Keep no more than $1000 cash

  9. Pay taxes

  10. Create a defense fund

  11. If arrested, don’t talk! Not even about sport’s teams.

  • Union Local 13- Don’t Leaf us out. A representative of a Cannabis workers union spoke and urged people to check out his site (He had a great t-shirt ;>)

  • DVD’s Tom Grover (our local science guy) has been filming local meetings like this CLMP meeting (also Dr. Ann Lindsey, the Planning Commission, Guns for code enforcement, Richardsons Grove, etc.) you can get a copy by calling 707 923 3502).  He discussed the issues of sustainable growing pointing out, “ As a science teacher, I ran out some numbers and if you are growing 1 joint on your lights, you are using about 15 pounds of coal which is coming straight from some mountain in Tennessee or that leads to about 1 1/2 gallons that is coming from the Gulf. One joint is that kind of impact.  So grow it in the sun!”

Also there were three vibrant speakers, including Sierra Knoll from the Medical Cannabis Safety Council, Kate Cholewa who is currently lobbying for marijuana issues in Montana, and Dr. Geci founder of Montana Botanical Analysis. Each offered unique perspectives on the changing issues confronting the Cannabis business person and were fountains of information.  You can hear the whole thing on KMUD. Cholewa spoke about the need for people in the industry to “ride the wave” and “remember instability is our friend.”  She urged agreeing on values and then working to make them happen. “Your values can become National policy. Your values can become your brand.”