Any Advocacy Groups Out There to Support Small Care Givers

Connecticut may soon be a medical marijuana state, though that is far from certain. The current bills working their way through CT's legislature require that patients grow their own, or find a single care giver. Care givers may only have one patient for whom they provide medicine. So, for the moment, it seems that CT will not be working with the large cooperatives seen in some other states, and will keep things small-scale.

I feel that if the CT law passes, we would benefit from an advocacy group that would accomplish several things:

- Work with the government to develop unambiguous regulatory guidelines for growers (patients and care givers)
- Work with growers to develop ethical standards which would in turn legitimize their efforts
- Keep big business out of medical marijuana
- Provide dependable information to patients on the appropriate acquisition and use of medical marijuana
- Provide a supportive community where growers can improve their craft

Are their any good models of advocacy organizations that meet these needs?

I am concerned with the troubles other states are having in terms of black market sales, raids, over-priced medicine, etc. and would like to know what could be done to reduce some of these problems in Connecticut.

Thank you for your help.

the stereotype about pot here in the northeast is far more then other parts of the country. God forbid I get my card, start growing, and then get raided. There goes my job, my clients, etc etc...

Judging by what is currently going on in other states, I feel like many people here in CT will just choose to remain "illegal" and take that chance. a shame, but i think it is the reality

sorry i know this has nothing to do with your post really!

hobbyhorse a lot of people said the same thing here but the reality of the situation is that it is easy to follow within the rules and regulations without getting yourself into trouble, If you have set patients that you provide for and do not sell to just anyone you can be a caretaker and live as a grower who has very strong protection and safety, remaining illegal is more often than not much more risky and dangerous than its worth.

If you want to take a look at some of the organizations we have in michigan I will give you some examples: on the political side of the spectrum we have Compassion Clubs, the MMMA, and other organizations.

MMMA: http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/ - this is an example of a political organization based around medical marijuana - 'providing services, advocacy and information to medical marijuana patients, caregivers, health care providers and their community. '
There is other organizations with similar structures and goals but its organizations like these that give us a voice in politics.

Compassion Clubs - This is small community organizations generally based around the community of one county or city they provide services and also advocacy for the community, education, networking - they can also serve the dual purpose of giving an avenue for patients and caregivers to exchange products and medicine - think of it like a cannabis farmers market or auctions - most of these clubs however only give you the network to do this and forbid exchanged on their property/dime. They are structured as a non-profit organization with monthly or weekly meetings and multiple volunteer professionals on staff - I believe a doctor and/or nurse needs to be on the staff - The most important function for the compassion club on realist level is that it links the local community togather providing a social nerve center and gateway for new patients into the system. I am not sure the logistics but hopefully I gave you an idea of where to start.

examples of compassion clubs in michigan:
http://www.genesee3c.com/
http://downrivercompassion.org/