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To paraphrase the Lizard King
The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here and we’ll do the rest
The blue bus is calling us
The blue bus is calling us
Driver, where you taking us?
It’s time for Steve to move from DC and embrace California’s somewhat more accepting. (if slow) understanding of the future of medical cannabis.
Although, as always, the politicians were a little behind the 8 ball. “This is not medicine, this is a Cheech and Chong show.” General Barry McCaffrey (US Drug Czar)
We discuss
1996 California Proposition 215
The birth of Harborside
Harborside Health Center was founded in Oakland, California, in 2006 by cannabis activists and industry veterans Steve DeAngelo and Dress Wedding (along with Steve’s brother, Andrew DeAngelo)
Founding and Early Innovation
- First Licenses: Harborside was granted one of the first six medical cannabis licenses issued in the United States.
- Industry Standards: It became the first dispensary in the country to require rigorous product testing for purity, potency, and pesticide-free quality, setting a gold standard for the modern legal market.
- Holistic Model: Operating originally as a non-profit, Harborside focused heavily on patient care, offering free holistic health services, counseling, and education for seniors, veterans, and families. At its peak, it was widely considered the largest and most influential cannabis dispensary in the world.
- Media Spotlight: The dispensary gained global fame as the central subject of the Discovery Channel reality television series Weed Wars in 2011.
