BUDDING INDUSTRY HELPS POT PATIENTS

At Least 40 Services Said to Deliver Locally

Ordering medical marijuana can almost be as easy as getting a pizza
dropped off at your doorstep, thanks to a burgeoning number of
therapeutic pot delivery services in San Diego County.

Local law enforcement officials estimate there are at least 40
delivery services, with more appearing after raids and crackdowns on
storefront dispensaries.

Several have created colorful Web sites with menus offering "edibles"
such as marijuana brownies and cookies. Botanicure Collective and
Delivery even has a page on Yelp, a reader-review Web site.

"You call them up, place an order, and they come to your house within
20 to 60 minutes, just like for a pizza," Deputy District Attorney
Chris Lindbergh said.

Law enforcement officials say the increase in mobile marijuana
operations is fueled by demand and low startup costs: a car, cell
phone and pot.

Operators say they are complying with state laws. Many require
doctors' recommendations from clients and provide marijuana only to
people older than 21. They say they fill a legitimate need for ill or
disabled people who are immobile.

"Some people I helped were severely crippled, with broken backs,
amputations or rheumatoid arthritis," said Clairemont resident Donna
Lambert, adding that she stopped delivering marijuana last summer.

Lambert was swept up in a February raid and charged with seven
felonies, including selling marijuana.

The Operation Endless Summer sting led to the arrests of 37
individuals, 14 of whom were running delivery services, Lindbergh
said. Ten of those deliverers were convicted or pleaded guilty,
Lindbergh said. The other four, including Lambert, are awaiting trial.

Law enforcement officials say they think many delivery services are
selling marijuana at a profit, which is illegal in California.

"They're hiding behind a law designed to help sick and ill people,
only to make a buck," Lindbergh said.

Three current delivery service operators were reached for this story,
but none of them would be identified for fear of being targeted by
law enforcement officials.

They said they deliver morning and night to members of a collective.
They grow their own plants, sometimes supplementing with purchased
pot. Some said they operate as nonprofits, asking for donations of a
set amount. Prices generally range from $300 to $400 an ounce.

Delivery services have been in existence since California voters
passed Proposition 215 and legalized medical marijuana in 1996. But
their numbers have blossomed in the past couple of years, said Dale
Gieringer, coordinator for California NORML, the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which lobbies for pot smokers.

The organization's Web site lists 20 delivery services in San Diego
and about 200 statewide. An increase in the number of delivery
services six months ago prompted the organization to hire an employee
to update and oversee the listings.

Complaints about delivery services are more common than for
storefront dispensaries, Gieringer said.

"They'll say they bought pot from a guy and it's no good," Gieringer
said. "They want their money back, but they can't get their calls returned."

One factor in the lack of accountability is that no one regulates
delivery services or dispensaries in San Diego and the same is true
for many other cities in the state.

Delivery services are not mentioned in Proposition 215. Legal
analysts say state statutes and recent court cases show that there
are two scenarios in which distributors can legally operate: They can
grow marijuana as part of a nonprofit collective and share it among
members, or they can provide the drug as a primary caregiver for
severely ill or disabled patients.

Many distributors were using the caregiver rationale but were
stripped of that option last year when the state Supreme Court ruled
that a caretaker must look out for the health and safety of a patient
and not just provide medical marijuana.

San Diego law enforcement officials say the state law allows
collectives and cooperatives to cultivate marijuana but not sell it.

Alex Kreit, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, said that
interpretation is too narrow.

"The law does allow collectives and cooperatives to operate on a
nonprofit basis," said Kreit, who chairs a recently appointed San
Diego task force on medical marijuana.

Collectives can charge money for marijuana as long as they put the
funds back into the operation and do not make a profit, Kreit said.