Shops around California that opened their doors for day one of legal marijuana sales had lines of people waiting to get in all day, but while many were there to buy weed for recreational use, one local doctor hopes this means a lot more people will learn about the health benefits of cannabis.
Doctor Mollie Fry comes from a family of doctors, who says she came out of medical school at a time when doctors were taught that patients were consumers, and that medicine is a business she says includes pushing pharmaceutical drugs, which she believes are poisoning us. So Doctor Fry hopes to educate these new customers coming to dispensaries like Midtown Sacramento's A Therapeutic Alternative, where she volunteers. "I want to try to get people to understand plants work," Fry says, "We've been on the planet for thousands of years, and we've only had pharmaceuticals for 50. We must've been able to just fine without them.
Fry points to articles from the National Institutes of Health that talk about the compounds in marijuana that prevent cancer cells from getting the blood they need to survive or from spreading - just one of what she says are a number of examples of the effectiveness of cannabis as a treatment. Fry hopes more people with access will help to overcome the stigma marijuana carries.
As for day one at A Therapeutic Alternative, the operator says things went very smoothly despite the crowds and the need to keep learning the new pot taxes and labeling requirements as they go. The dispensary had a line at least 15 people deep all day and expected to have plenty of product on hand to meet all their needs.
Remember, the new law might allow you to buy and use marijuana products if you're over 21, but you can't smoke it in public, you can't smoke and drive and you can't carry more than an ounce. You can grow your own, but you can't sell it without a license, and those licensed sellers have to make sure the products are tested in authorized labs and are free of things like pesticides, molds and fungus. The products also have to have labels that include detailed information, including the percentage of THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana.