FruityBud
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City Attorney John Barisone has questions about Capitola Cannabis, an online outfit started by a Los Angeles man asserting he makes home deliveries of medical marijuana in compliance with state law.
The outfit is obligated to get a city business license if it has a physical location in Capitola and earns more than $2,000 a year, said Barisone, adding, "If it's in LA, we don't care." Capitola Cannabis is a cooperative with a Web site where verified medical marijuana patients can apply for membership and take advantage of free delivery service of organic medical cannabis.
Marc Cohen, 31, who works in real estate in Los Angeles and started Capitola Cannabis in November, contends no business license is needed for the delivery service.
"I don't want my volunteers arrested when they're trying to help people," he said, explaining that eight volunteers — an older couple and students at UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College — make deliveries.
"No one is on payroll. Everyone is a patient or a volunteer." Medical marijuana patients grow plants themselves and their leftovers go to "fewer than 50" verified patients in the Capitola area, Cohen added, saying the same model is used in Los Angeles.
He said he chose Capitola because he had vacationed in Capitola Village and saw a need because the closest medical pot dispensary is in Santa Cruz or San Jose, drives that some patients are too weak to make.
Kelly, 21, a patient who takes medical marijuana for anorexia, answered the Capitola Cannabis phone Thursday. She declined to give her last name but said the collective meets only one of the criteria cited by Barisone.
"There is a physical location in Capitola," she said, adding it was "not safe" to give the address. "But we're definitely not earning anything." Sylvie, 48, of Aptos, a Capitola Cannabis member who declined to give her last name, saw news reports on Wednesday and worries deliveries will stop.
"Where's the compassion?" she asked, explaining that she has cancer, suffers from migraines, and got certified as a medical marijuana patient a few weeks ago at the Santa Cruz Women's Health Center.
"The delivery service to me was a Godsend, a respectable way to obtain the medicine and have relief," she said.
She found the collective online and got a vegan medicine bar for $10 and a jar of certified organic buds, one-eighth of an ounce for $65, to smoke.
Asked about profits, Kelly of Capitola Cannabis said, "It costs a lot to grow medical marijuana, renting land, the gasoline, insurance, and we have a small number of patients. But if we do ever make $2,000, of course we want to pay taxes. Our lawyer is going to contact the city because we want to work with them." Capitola Police Chief Mike Card, who started work Monday, said he had not received any complaints about Capitola Cannabis.
While Capitola Cannabis is under scrutiny by city officials, Kelly Shaeffer, 47, the co-founder of Plant Providers Plus in San Jose is working with the City Council there on guidelines for medical marijuana delivery service.
A former Santa Cruz resident and a graduate of the Cabrillo College horticultural program, she started the medical marijuana collective in July with her brother Patrick Britt, 45, after the recession dried up her landscape design business.
Shaeffer and Britt attended a weekend course where they got advice from attorneys on legal compliance and learned how to grow and cook marijuana. Now they have 200 verified patients as members.
Their products include small "clones," 4-inch starter plants, $12 apiece; 10-12 inch clones, $25 each, and brownies and chocolates, $7 each.
"We got a tax ID number and business license," Shaeffer said. "We started accepting credit cards yesterday. We're feeding the economy. The mayor likes the revenue."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/yebll8q
The outfit is obligated to get a city business license if it has a physical location in Capitola and earns more than $2,000 a year, said Barisone, adding, "If it's in LA, we don't care." Capitola Cannabis is a cooperative with a Web site where verified medical marijuana patients can apply for membership and take advantage of free delivery service of organic medical cannabis.
Marc Cohen, 31, who works in real estate in Los Angeles and started Capitola Cannabis in November, contends no business license is needed for the delivery service.
"I don't want my volunteers arrested when they're trying to help people," he said, explaining that eight volunteers — an older couple and students at UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College — make deliveries.
"No one is on payroll. Everyone is a patient or a volunteer." Medical marijuana patients grow plants themselves and their leftovers go to "fewer than 50" verified patients in the Capitola area, Cohen added, saying the same model is used in Los Angeles.
He said he chose Capitola because he had vacationed in Capitola Village and saw a need because the closest medical pot dispensary is in Santa Cruz or San Jose, drives that some patients are too weak to make.
Kelly, 21, a patient who takes medical marijuana for anorexia, answered the Capitola Cannabis phone Thursday. She declined to give her last name but said the collective meets only one of the criteria cited by Barisone.
"There is a physical location in Capitola," she said, adding it was "not safe" to give the address. "But we're definitely not earning anything." Sylvie, 48, of Aptos, a Capitola Cannabis member who declined to give her last name, saw news reports on Wednesday and worries deliveries will stop.
"Where's the compassion?" she asked, explaining that she has cancer, suffers from migraines, and got certified as a medical marijuana patient a few weeks ago at the Santa Cruz Women's Health Center.
"The delivery service to me was a Godsend, a respectable way to obtain the medicine and have relief," she said.
She found the collective online and got a vegan medicine bar for $10 and a jar of certified organic buds, one-eighth of an ounce for $65, to smoke.
Asked about profits, Kelly of Capitola Cannabis said, "It costs a lot to grow medical marijuana, renting land, the gasoline, insurance, and we have a small number of patients. But if we do ever make $2,000, of course we want to pay taxes. Our lawyer is going to contact the city because we want to work with them." Capitola Police Chief Mike Card, who started work Monday, said he had not received any complaints about Capitola Cannabis.
While Capitola Cannabis is under scrutiny by city officials, Kelly Shaeffer, 47, the co-founder of Plant Providers Plus in San Jose is working with the City Council there on guidelines for medical marijuana delivery service.
A former Santa Cruz resident and a graduate of the Cabrillo College horticultural program, she started the medical marijuana collective in July with her brother Patrick Britt, 45, after the recession dried up her landscape design business.
Shaeffer and Britt attended a weekend course where they got advice from attorneys on legal compliance and learned how to grow and cook marijuana. Now they have 200 verified patients as members.
Their products include small "clones," 4-inch starter plants, $12 apiece; 10-12 inch clones, $25 each, and brownies and chocolates, $7 each.
"We got a tax ID number and business license," Shaeffer said. "We started accepting credit cards yesterday. We're feeding the economy. The mayor likes the revenue."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/yebll8q
