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Plainsman1963

Possible medical marijuana shortage here in the Valley
01-17-07 | KESQ.Com | Arnell DiMaandal

Medical marijuana patients may soon be facing a crisis here in the Valley. That's because there might not be enough medical pot to go around.

CannaHelp volunteers say they're doing their best to service patients, even as another dispensary in Palm Springs went out of business.

"We saw an overflow of patients when Caps in Palm Springs closed Thursday of last week."

CannaHelp is now the Valley's only medical marijuana store, after Palm Springs Caregivers also went out of business in December.

CannaHelp closed Monday and Tuesday because of staffing problems and a shortage in inventory.

"The way a collective operates is by attaining or acquiring additional, or excess cannabis that the patient has cultivated and re-allocating that to other members."

Because of the crack-down on medical marijuana stores statewide, CannaHelp supporters say, patients who grow pot are now either reluctant or afraid to share their marijuana.

That's the reason there soon might not be enough medical pot to go around.

"This means they're gonna probably have to turn to criminals and the black market in order to obtain their medicine."

CannaHelp's volunteers say they're disappointed about lack of support from the community, particularly from patients themselves.

"I don't think we would see prices rise. We would see a limitation of the number of patients that were allowed to be members of a collective. It would be very restrictive to the ones who require it the most."