Harborside Health Center in Oakland used to have a program where they would give you $17 worth of marijuana (the price of a high shelf gram) if you would write letters to what they called Prisoners of War, which are basically, people who were jailed for cannabis related crimes.
There was also an option to write to government officials. They had templates and forms, but that never really interested me.
What interested me was the binder full of stories of men and women who were in jail for marijuana crimes. It was appalling to see the plethora of people who were jailed. People who had a personal stash on them, people who were "legal" in their state, but "illegal" according to the feds, and people who were incarcerated for using the medicine that is saving their lives.
One particular case that struck out to me was about a man from New Orleans. He had less than a 1/2 ounce on him, and was riding a bike when he was pulled over. He was picked on because he had a criminal background. Even though at this time in his life he was supporting 7 children and his mother through self employment as he was not able to get a job because of his past felonies, he was a weed smoker and was "caught." He had 15 years put on him, extra because he was not a first time offender.
Incidents like this hurt my stomach and remind me of how lucky I am to be a woman in California. Although being brown becomes more of a liability every day, I realize that here in Cali we have a lot of privileges and freedoms that the other states don't enjoy.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post today.
Of course, I was still smoking that Mendocino Cherry while I wrote this. My pipe isn't letting it taste too much like cherry though... 
endocino cherry while I wrote this.
Yeah lousiana has got to be the worse state when it comes to cannabis. I recall a young man getting 15 years for 2 joints! Smh
Btw im in Salinas, I have been to harbar side San Jose, isnt it crazy how expensive weed isnow?!
Hello to the salad bowl and thank your neighbors for my veggies :)
I am waaaay south in So-Cal and weed is a lot better priced here, but, its sold at speakeasy's which make me a little uneasy when purchasing. Still, 2 grams for $20 is not bad at all.
I do kind of miss the Harborside feel, and the yoga classes and such that they used to offer for their patients.
Happy to see another Californian here :)
Very happy seeing you use the canna-curate tag 😃
Im so happy to be here!
Congratulations @cannawriter! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPVote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!
Hey Cannawriter,
Came here looking for some reggae and Jamaican content and saw a post about weed which has to do with American politics. I get that Rastas smoke weed but I would upvote you if you made a stro Ger connection between this post and Rastas.
Thank you for your feedback.
I will be more mindful when it comes to my tagging. When I created the account I came up with a list of "Universal Tags" where my work would fit, and now I see that it won't always be the case.