Legal Deal

Desert Dawn Caregivers delivers medical MJ directly to Tucsonans

I once met a guy in a parking lot in the projects in Augusta, Ga., to buy a bag of pot.

It was a drive-by street purchase of the most-stereotypical variety, made through the window of my buddy's beat-down truck in the middle of the night, in the shadow of the seediest public-housing complex in town. I used to go to a van in the same parking lot to buy diapers and laundry soap with food stamps, which is a different story, but it tells you the kind of place I was dealing with.

It sucked.

The caregiver, so to speak, thrust a folded piece of paper into my friend's hand and snatched his cash—then someone smashed a bottle in front of his truck. Our new friend told us we'd better split before the crowd at the, er, dispensary got out of hand, so we did. We sped off, only to find the paper stuffed with crumbled-up leaves. The skinny white kids didn't go back for a refund—it was a lesson learned.

Things have changed.

Now I can call Desert Dawn Caregivers, a collective run by a local caregiver and his patient-wife, and have my meds delivered anywhere I need them—without broken bottles or the threat of arrest or violence.

Desert Dawn's caregiver, Brian, met me in a coffee shop, but he offered to meet me anywhere I found comfortable. He will come to your home or meet you in a park or whatever. He was very quick and met me within an hour of my phone call.

It was a little surreal purchasing meds over a table in a coffee shop. What we did was completely legal—it was a patient-to-patient transfer with a donation for costs. Nonetheless, it was a little hard to shake that old familiar Don't-Let-Anyone-See-Us vibe from back in the day. I got over it quickly.

Brian brought out a backpack with the meds—all he had at the time was Chemdog—and I kinda surreptitiously slipped him a cash donation for a small, pink bottle. (Brian was apparently wrong about this strain, which I have never had, being an indica. Most other sites across the World Wide Internets call it a sativa-dominant hybrid.) He is growing for himself, his wife and one other patient, for the time being, and offering his extra meds for other patients. He was between harvests when I met him, which left him a little short on variety, and he recently had some mold issues in his grow room and had to destroy several plants.

I found Brian to be a nice guy, if a little nervous. You can't blame the guy, since he is meeting strangers who know he is carrying MMJ and possibly cash. Interestingly, Brian did not ask for my MMJ card, taking my word for it instead. Neither did I ask for his card, preferring instead to see how it all played out. There was no verification in either direction. I appreciate his willingness to help a stranger connect with meds at risk of life and limb, which sounds a little dramatic, but is true.

Overall, despite the lack of variety, I give Brian and Desert Dawn several thumbs up. I know I only have two, but they deserve several for convenience and the awesomeness of buying meds anywhere I want for a decent price. Go Brian.

Mr. Smith approves.