These are tumultuous times so much so that the oft quote opening sentence of a Dicken’s celebrated A Tale of Two Cities – It was the best of times, it was the worst of times – seems lackluster to describe the agonies the world is undergoing in the face of the COVID19 virus – a form of life so simple that it is unable to replicate without a host cell.

These are stressful times so it is no surprise that alcohol sales have exploded. According to the famed Nielsen polling company, spirits like tequila, gin and pre-mixed cocktails are up 75%, wine sales are up 66% and beer sales up 42%. WOW - online sales skyrocketed - a mind-boggling 243%.

Fortunately for the readers of my newsletter, we have safe and enjoyable cannabis to provide the stress and anxiety relief we need without the inherent dangers of alcohol. Cannabis is so important for the health, safety and welfare of our communities, especially in this most excruciating period. We are lucky that if we can’t find criminals willing to sell us whatever cannabis they can get their hands on, we now have licensed dispensaries selling lab tested and certified cannabis from primo bud to mind-shattering waxes and delectable edibles.

The watchword, however, is affordable. For too many people the need for cannabis borders on being a life-and-death issue. Obtaining the amount of cannabis needed to effectively treat their ailments is financially challenging if not downright impossible. This is especially true for veterans as almost 1.5 million veterans live in poverty with vets between 18 and 34 years old having a higher poverty rate than all other age groups.

With over 25% of disabled people living below the poverty line, the ability to obtain cannabis to provide safe and effective relief from their physical and mental conditions is literally beyond reach. Many AIDS and cancer patients whose drug costs for their prescribed medicines consumes a significant amount of their income, come up short when it comes to purchasing the quantities of cannabis needed to provide the therapeutic relief they need from both the debilitating effects of their ailments and the negative effects of many of the medicines taken to control and limit the ravages of their diseases.

Many of the compassion programs that provide cannabis to those in need do not provide the quantity they need. Bloom Network, a licensed cannabis manufacturer and distributor is seeking to do it right as the company’s Executive Director, William Sump, is working with cultivators and other cannabis businesses to provide truly meaningful quantities of cannabis to those in need.

The program has a northern California and southern California component. I have been tasked with operating the southern California division. As I am located in the Inland Empire, the first part of the program will be seeking to provide cannabis to 25 people in the IE. Those who qualify will be provided with quality bud, oil cartridges, waxes and/or edibles sufficient to meet their needs.

By the beginning of August, the initial group of 25 people will be selected. It is the intention that each month the number of people being served will be increased with the eventual goal of providing cannabis to 250 every month.

I am especially pleased that Tom Hernandez, director of the Coachella Valley chapter of Veterans for Peace, who has long known of the many benefits that cannabis provides to veterans, will be helping us select veterans to be enrolled in this program.

We will be contacting other organizations that provide services to AIDs and cancer patients as well as to the disability community. If you are part of an organization that would like to participate in this program please let me know by writing to [email protected] or calling me at 760-799-2055.

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Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project
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