--- title: Free Pot for The Poor in Berkeley | TIME description: The city council will require that medical marijuana dispensaries provide free cannabis to the poor. canonical: https://time.com/video/WcRzLGYI/ og:title: Free Pot for The Poor in Berkeley og:description: The city council will require that medical marijuana dispensaries provide free cannabis to the poor. og:url: https://time.com/video/WcRzLGYI/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WcRzLGYI/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Free Pot for The Poor in Berkeley twitter:description: The city council will require that medical marijuana dispensaries provide free cannabis to the poor. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WcRzLGYI/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Free Pot for The Poor in Berkeley > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Free Pot for The Poor in Berkeley [Watch (HLS stream): Free Pot for The Poor in Berkeley](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WcRzLGYI.m3u8) (2:38)  _Published 2014-07-09. The city council will require that medical marijuana dispensaries provide free cannabis to the poor._ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:58 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Watch: Inside One of New York’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensaries](/video/8UkmeWNa/) ### Watch: Inside One of New York’s First Medical Marijuana Dispensaries [Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids](/video/6Ic4KUCK/) ### Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids [The New Poor of Fresno](/video/4Ja1p5ii/) ### The New Poor of Fresno --- ## Transcript Berkeley, long ago, submitted its reputation for being one of the most liberal cities in America. That one for you. Today it's certainly living up to that image by giving away free marijuana to the poor, in what appears to be the first of its kind ordinance nationwide. Berkeley will require that its medical marijuana dispensaries, provide provide free cannabis to low income residents, which would also include the homeless. Is it a good idea to give free cannabis to the homeless? When you count it that way, it sounds you know, peculiar but we're talking free medicine. This is medical cannabis, cannabis that is used to relieve pain for glaucoma and heart problems and things of that nature, so I think it is a good idea. Darrell Moore and the entire city Council voted in favor of the measure. Part of a 20 page ordinance to amend the municipal code. It says at least 2 % of a dispensaries marijuana should be given to the indigent. You still must have a medical marijuana ID card or referral from a doctor. But even here in Berkeley, where we placed an open mic, some worry the new ordinance will lead to abuse. Berkeley already has a terrible homeless problem, it's just going to attract more homeless people to the area. I volunteer here at the local rehab clinic. And I think its really gonna increase the number of drug problems that myself and my colleague see on a regular basis. Low income here is defined as making less than $ 32, 000 a year for an individual, and less than $ 46, 000 for a family of four. And this will open a doorway for people to just get marijuana and sell it. And as opposed to using it themselves for medicinal purposes. But advocates say this measure is all about compassion, by providing medicine to those who can't easily afford it. You might think that a business would be opposed to having to give away their product for free. But here in Berkeley with their medical marijuana dispensaries, that is not the case and in fact one of them, The Berkeley Patient's Group where I am, has already been doing it for years. We realize that it's very difficult for those who are severely ill to keep their employment and maintain their income at a steady pace for them to be able to purchase their medicine. 10, 15. The medicine can get expensive. Frequent users can easily spend hundreds of dollars or more each month. The dispensary says, its been giving free weed to about 200 of its customers. And the city will even require the free marijuana be the same quality on average, that is dispensed to other members. 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