Elderly patients ask for more cannabis in Laguna Woods

Elderly retirees residing in the Laguna Woods Village are
demanding more access to local medical cannabis collectives to help treat their
various ailments. The elderly members of the senior home, located in South Orange
County, must find other ways to obtain their cannabis medicine, since
California is constantly waging a battle over where and how the herb should be
distributed. 

A Pew Research Center survey from last year found that over
half of baby boomers throughout the nation now support cannabis. According to
USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics Director Dan Schnur, senior citizens also
make up for a remarkably reliable voting percentage in the nation. “If you’re
an older voter and he only pro-marijuana surrogates you see are 30 or 40 years
younger than you area, that may have somewhat limited appeal. But hearing the
same message from someone with whom you feel a common bond may be more
persuasive,” Schnur told the Los Angeles
Times.

Bob Ring, who ran a term as mayor six years ago in Laguna
Woods, had actually approved and supported those who wanted a collective
nearby. Regulations were even made by Ring and his council that aimed to
control any possible collectives that wanted to open up in the area (which
included a distance limit from places where children were often found, as well
as a limit from other collectives, and specific days and hours of operation). However,
no landlords would allow any collectives to open up shop anyway. “We tried,”
stated Ring, who is now 81-years-old. “Certainly at my age, in this stage of
life, I don’t want to give anyone a hard time.”

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Fortunately for Laguna Woods Village, there is at least one
relatable and reliable person residing in the home who has found a way to bring
cannabis to many suffering senior citizens. Lonnie Painter, who is 68-years-old
and also the creator of the local Laguna Woods Medical Cannabis Collective, is
a source for supplying cannabis to local elderly patients on a very small scale.
He originally began growing the herb in the Laguna Woods community garden and
eventually filed paperwork with the county to turn it into a non-profit. Now, local
patients can go to him for medicine. But, it’s only a small step in the right
direction. He is just one small grow op, and in Laguna Woods alone, there are
16,400 people—one small collective is not enough. However, with the
ever-evolving cannabis rules and regulations in California, the seniors in
Laguna Woods and seniors in many other Orange County areas are coming out in
support of better access to the herb throughout the county. Hopefully within
the next two years there will be an increase in the number of collectives and
access points for patients who really need this natural medicine.