The recent California state law provides a legal pathway for licensed cannabis operators to donate excess and expiring products at no cost to eligible patients.
From the onset of this new legislation, one of the longest-standing chapters of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Los Angeles NORML, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, began working alongside the Veterans Cannabis Coalition to affect change through SB-34. Los Angeles NORML Executive Director, Ian Rassman, and Veterans Cannabis Coalition CEO and Founder, Eric Goepel, made it their organization’s mission to focus on developing programs surrounding this unique legislation.
Their program is based on a model developed by Goepel and Shelly McKay, the Co-Founder of Kannabis Works where the program was pioneered. She launched the first day the new SB-34 legislation came into effect on March 1st, 2020. Kannabis Works has maintained a consistent monthly donation since that time. They have become