WEED DEALINGS - HERCULES HEALTH CENTER

In the beginning, citizens' right to use cannabis for its medicinal benefit was granted to folks who were in their last days. Giving them the right to use cannabis was a matter of compassion. It was a way to ease their suffering with a medicine devoid of side effects. Today we are beginning to realize that cannabis can be used to alleviate all kinds of medical ailments, great and small.

With this widening scope comes a new kind of responsibility, because in our drug war nation, cannabis is a privilege. I'm not saying that it should be, but that's the truth of the matter. Few of us are afforded the ability to use it without fearing persecution. Therefore, those of us who do choose to use it have to accept the fact that at any point in time, any one of us (patients and businesses alike) might be singled out and made an example of. Nobody is going to point the finger at an AIDS patient, but for someone who is merely seeking to escape the traumas of being a citizen of the United States in 2011 (be they physical, mental, spiritual, or some combination therein), there is a real risk. We live in a Christian-leaning country, so the idea that we should be allowed to escape our pains is seen as anathema to the sanctity of all that is holy. To escape suffering is to subvert the Lord's will, and to cheat the Lord is heresy. For the incumbent institution, there is a burden of proof to show that cannabis isn't just about getting high.

In the past, cannabis was demonized. Regardless of why you used it, you were just a stoner or junkie, purposefully wasting yourself into human garbage. Because of that there is still a lingering notion that people "like to get high." But what does that even mean? If you're a regular cannabis user you know it's not about "getting high." I think "getting high" is what I did when I was 15, when I would just laugh uncontrollably, be stupefied, and proceed to lose myself in manic happiness. "Getting high" is some outlaw shit. This isn't about "getting high" anymore. It's about the most current events in a symbiotic relationship with a plant that began thousands of years ago, and playing smart in a struggle against institutionalized prohibition.

With regards to our current situation, medical cannabis has changed considerably since it was first approved for use by the seriously ill. As it has come to be seen as a beneficial medicine for myriad conditions, the ways that it is perceived socially have become much more complex. Now there are a great deal of people involved with this plant, and they're all doing a lot of different things, with varying degrees of credibility. As people look from the outside and see what's happening in California, they need to be able to clearly see that what's happening here is not the makeshift white-washing of a black market. People need to see that this isn't about getting high—they need to see that this is about improving our lives as United States citizens. There's no easy way to go about doing that. It's really about what each person does in his or her particular situation. There is no way to make rules yet, or set standards. We're in the stage where we've realized that standards are necessary, but we haven't quite figured out what those standards are, or how to enforce them. So, like I said, it comes down to the individual. It's folks' actions amidst the current uncertainty that is going to define all of that.

Take Hercules Health Center, for instance. Situated at the Northern end of the East Bay, Hercules is a small suburban town like many others across the state. Hercules Health Center was founded by Dr. Todd Kaufmann and a small group of silent partners. Dr. Kaufmann is your run-of-the-mill, middle-aged Jewish doctor type: somewhat quirky, bright demeanor, easy-going, but still professional and respectable. Before he got involved with the cannabis industry, he ran a chiropractic practice and was one of the first people in the United States to offer hyperbaric therapy (I went in the hyperbaric chamber. It was kind of like being in a vagina under a sleeping spell). When his partners approached him to open the first dispensary in Hercules, they weren't pitching a stereotypical program. Not by any means. In many cases dispensaries are holes in the wall stuffed with weed. The Hercules Health Center is a re-imagining of healthcare.

When you join the HHC, they explain to you that part of your membership is a monthly consultation with Dr. Kauffman. HHC is putting forth their ideas on continuity of care. They're taking a concept that is central to healthcare, and demonstrating how it can be applied in the cannabis industry.

When a doctor outside of the cannabis industry looks at the medical services that the industry has come up with, there aren't many instances where continuity of care can be traced. Without a doubt, that is a detriment to the movement. But with HHC there is a clear and demonstrated process to maintain communication with patients, and help them get the treatment they need. And, if HHC cannot give patients the care they need, they have a network of doctors they can recommend. What they're offering is truly about helping people feel better. It isn't a scam.

When Hercules Municipal Government got wind of the HHC (there were no laws regarding medical cannabis dispensaries), their first response was to run them out of town or into the ground. But HHC was civil with the local government, and they are currently working out a way to help the city sort out its medical cannabis problem. HHC is a great example of how to act responsibly while creating something to show the world at large that our movement is legit.

ZACH G. MOLDOF