Filmmaker's Statement
Ann Alter, Director & Producer
The genesis for this documentary came from a funding opportunity and my passion for making social change films. In the process of researching the topic, I was struck by the uniqueness of California's medical cannabis laws in creating a legal framework for the dispensing of cannabis.
The first step involved contacting people in the field to discuss medical cannabis distribution. We discovered that not much had been written since the mid 1990s just after Proposition 215 passed. Early on in the process I learned about some folks in Santa Cruz doing amazing work with terminally and chronically ill community members. The medicine, community and hospice care provided by members of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) is truly inspiring and became a focal point for the documentary. The club scene in the Bay Area came to represent another end of the spectrum. Its true heyday ended in 1998 when a federal suit was filed against six prominent clubs including Dennis Peron's (the central pioneer of the medical marijuana movement). Since retracing the past was not within our budget, we embarked on a journey to capture the club scene today. Most people were reluctant to be filmed and many clubs didn't want the attention. With California Senate Bill 420 naming collectives and cooperatives as legitimate business structures for dispensaries, these became other models to document: Humboldt Patient Resource Center with a year-round indoor garden and a large client base, and the Tehama Health Collective with an outdoor garden serving a small group of patients. Since no scholarly work exists on the subject of medical cannabis distribution in California, we centered on seeing some of the sights and hearing people's stories.
Dispensing Cannabis started as a documentary on the production and distribution of medical cannabis. When it became clear that following the story of medical cannabis cultivation could jeopardize the safety of the crew, we limited our focus to dispensing options for patients who don't have their own private cannabis gardens. How do dispensaries insure the safety, potency and variety (i.e. strain) of their medicine? With no checks and balances in place within the industry and a significant underground market for recreational marijuana, the concerns and suggestions of physicians, people in law enforcement, and other professionals involved in the field were sought to add depth and additional perspectives to our story. With the legal uncertainty of medical cannabis at the federal level, many people were reluctant or unwilling to be filmed. I am grateful to the individuals who agreed to talk and help bring light to this historical moment in time.
With the exception of myself, and Erik Schjeide, (graphics, sound mix and DVD mastering), the people who worked on this documentary were students at Humboldt State University. Most of the students had no previous experience making a documentary, conducting interviews, or using the equipment. It was a steep and quick up-hill journey that spanned nearly two years. We shot roughly 70 hours of footage to make this 56-minute documentary. Throughout the process I had the pleasure of working with some talented and highly motivated students, all of whom I met through this project.
My hope is that cannabis will be rescheduled so that medical research can be pursued. Qualifying patients need safe access to high quality medicine. The legal uncertainty of the conflict between federal laws and state laws needs to be addressed and the stigma attached to using the drug eliminated.
Also see Filmography Ann Alter
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