Belmont Shore Natural Care Donates to Local Charities, The Underprivileged and the Overlooked

California’s not-for-profit model of medical cannabis sees an increase in contributions and donations going back to communities where medical cannabis dispensing centers exist.

By Sam Sabzehzar  |  October 12, 2011

Long Beach’s Belmont Shore Natural Care (BSNC) has been giving back to the community ever since they opened up in Belmont Shore, a small and quant beach community in Long Beach, California.

Though they have seen in increase in the amount of patients that come to their dispensary after the city began shutting down various dispensing centers throughout the city, they have been told by the U.S. Attorneys they must close within 45 days, and cities like San Jose are trying to close them within 14.

In San Jose and Oakland, where Harborside Health Center recently lost a fight with the IRS where they had hoped to write off some of the expenses that are included in the cost of operating, there has been a tremendous amount of donations, from free alternative health care, to monetary donations to various non-profit organizations, and even schools and educational materials that budget cuts have taken away.

Both medical marijuana companies contribute to their local communities, with Harborside donating to local Americans for Safe Access organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, and BSNC working closely with local beach clean up events and other Long Beach non-profits.

Now that some of the most charitable organizations in the medical cannabis movement are being forced to close, many of the funds that go to underprivileged people and communities will stop flowing in, and some of those who will be out of a job in the next 45 days just may be on the receiving end of the donations they helped give out in the first place.

Harborside remains vigilant in their determination to remain open beyond the 45 days warning-shot fired by the Feds, and we’ll see how much help local policing will be used to uphold the state’s 15-year old law voted on by the people, or will they fold to the federal government’s pressure?

Perhaps a little of both.  Harborside will continue to do so much good that it will be difficult to remove it from the community through force with the assistance by the local authorities.

Long Beach’s medical marijuana program, on the other hand, is so corrupt that Belmont Shore Natural Care may not have the political capital to remain open while LBPD is desperate to take bribes in the first place.

Peace officers who oppose prohibition, along with judges who are sick of seeing wasteful spending on a drug war that has no end in sight, and no victory attainable, can speak out and aid patients who will not find safe access to medical cannabis once the threat is put into action.

And places like Belmont Shore Natural Care and Harborside Health Center will continue to provide safe access in the meantime.