Written by As the cannabis industry continues to grow, our focus remains on the non-stop need for patient access:
The compassion program that brought our family together is about to make an advancement of epic proportions. Through collaborations with other entities and with the creation of Genevieve’s Dream, Inc., we’re opening the doors back up to supplying patient needs. For years true compassion was the air we breathed, it was the backbone of a subculture of love that created what’s now a mad rush for income. It created a market that does supply a lot of cannabis patients but has also priced many out of natures medicine that they truly need. As we continue to share our family’s journey and the dream of Genevieve to have a Carousel Village – it fuels knowledge, love, and a desire to give. Many times the opportunity to provide compassion will open the heart of a businessperson to a whole new world – the world I’ve lived in for the better part of the last decade. It’s a universe of care for others and a need to see people succeed. The very last word we think of ever in the world of compassion is greed. Profit is by far secondary to patient needs.
Many will ask “How do you do it” as they come by the house to pick up a jar of infused coconut or other oils. The only thought that comes to mind is “How does everyone else not do it?”. I know that there must be profits, there must be income, and there must be compliance in order for a business to stay afloat. The fact that’s became very clear is that compassion can not be done on a small scale effectively – it takes a team to keep the Dennis Peron dream of compassionate care alive. The man with the plan for Prop. 215 back in 1996 in California that made history with a team of compassionate folks gaining the passage of a one page voter approved initiative that legalized cannabis for medicinal use for the first time since prohibition was all about helping people – never did they dream of an industry that lost vision of the very people it served, but it slowly is doing so. Seeing this happen is a cause of alarm and a huge reason why we decided that we needed to join up with other large compassion providers and launch Genevieve’s Dream, Mikes Medicines, Nanobles, Forest Bathing, Relaxation Revolution and other products that we can eventually offer to people in need at decreased costs or for absolutely free.
California went through a brutal two year period of time in which our compassion abilities were hindered by the passage of the recreational law Proposition 64. Little did voters who were anxious to see the current 1 billion dollar tax revenue from the sales of adult use marijuana know – they were voting “YES” to ending an era of giving away cannabis to the sick and disadvantaged. Suddenly all compassion providers were faced with the high probability of being shut down by the state and even worse – criminal action against us. It wasn’t the first letter that we received from the state that caused the end of an era of compassion – it was the final one that stated continuing to gift cannabis oils to countless people would be construed as a felony act of conspiracy to violate state laws. Compassion programs that had THC had to end, only Hemp derived products could be given away as they do not fall within METRC or the standardized state Medical Marijuana laws – especially in California.
Quickly the prohibition of gifting that would cause a misdemeanor within the initiative people voted for turned into something much worse. As people thought they were freeing those incarcerated over cannabis instead they created a whole new wave of criminal activity of the current use of it that had no bearing on breaking any laws prior to the passage of this law. In essence the law that’s allowed many entities to make millions of dollars and allowed the state to make 1 billion in taxes – prohibited the gifting of cannabis and oils to such an extent that the very patients that created the industry were left out in the cold and often still are. But it doesn’t have to stay that way anymore – we have SB 34 and the memory of Dennis Peron to keep alive. Patients over profits will always be our #1 concern so we’ll never really fit into the industry as most know it.
souls that celebrated Genevieve’s non profit entity. She needed a wheelchair to get upstairs and through the crowd.
Many have read the Cannabis Love Story, if you haven’t click on that and do so now! The tale of how I met Genevieve and Anne Mari is beyond intense and now has became embedded in Cannabis History. Between her Carousel Challenge website and now Genevieve’s Dream – it’s an ongoing story of compassion, love, and perseverance that not only created a family but also non stop continually churning education machine that teaches the world about plant medicine in such a unique way.
It can be difficult to sway a person who doesn’t believe cannabis is medicine – or a person that doesn’t want to hear the differences between THC and CBD for example. But when you share with them Genevieve’s journey and the Cannabis love story every changes – doors open and people start listening as no longer are you talking about something that people associate with getting high. Now it’s a story about a guy with cancer traveling the countryside giving away oils to kids with seizures who runs into a special child along the way that steals his heart. It’s now a story of overcoming using an alternative medicine and how pharmaceuticals that caused a child to regress were able to be discontinued with plant extracts taking their place. No longer is the reader enthralled in thoughts of reefer – instead it’s all about love and what this new plant medicine can do. There’s no need to let that individual know there’s a 10,000 recorded history of use of the cannabis plant!
When we look at educating people about cannabinoids and how they work it’s something that has to be done with finesse or quickly the crowd is lost. Most people are just now swallowing the fact that this plant they didn’t like too much is the answer to their problems and can give them and their family members great relief. As people learn more about THC and CBD it opens doors to learn even more. Even the industry itself is learning day by day – so we need stories like Genevieve’s to pave the way to a tomorrow where the populace accepts cannabis as much as they do candy – which means some still won’t like it but it will be on shelves in most stores you go into.
We look forward to announcing a new ‘California Compassion’ program in the near future – we’re working out details with a major distributor and product manufacturer who’s entertaining production of the Genevieve’s Dream and Mike’s Medicine’s product lines.
(Update 8/12/2020: Ali Ganji who was working with us to create and promote multiple product lines including Genevieve’s Dream, Carousel Challenge, and potential others as well as the California Compassion project passed away tragically at age 41 only weeks ago. He had plans for Genevieve’s Dream we’re still trying to uncover and wanted her Carousel Challenge non profit to succeed. this is a man that loved our daughter – please read his tribute. Let’s remember those that remember patients in need. Thank you, Mike.)
Mike Robinson, Medicinal Cannabis Patient. Founder, Global Cannabinoid Research Center. But, most of all, Genevieve’s Daddy
