Tag: California

While Santa Cruz County planners sort through the more than 200 last-minute responses to the proposed cannabis environmental impact report, plans are in the works to allow qualified growers temporary permits.

As California government strives to lead the nation in health, all who feel passionately about the subject are invited to submit their input on how to get better through Let’s Get Healthy California “Innovation Challenge.”Community leaders, health practitioners and wellness groups are encouraged to participate by sending their suggestions to California Health and Human Services agency through September 30, 2015. Improvement recommendations should cover the following subjects:• Healthy Beginnings• Living Well• End of Life• Redesigning the Health System• Creating Healthy Communities• Lowering Cost of CareFinalists from each goal area receive recognition at the statewide Innovation Conference in early 2016. Selected submissions are also set to appear on the Let’s Get Healthy California website, which launches in 2016. Additional attention is slated for the statewide Open Data Fest in spring 2016.“This Innovation Challenge allows people to think outside of the traditional public health framework to create innovative solutions that support the Triple Aim of better health, better care, and lower costs,” said Dr. Karen Smith, CDPH Director and State Health Officer. “We hope that these ideas will launch Californians on a path to living healthier lives.”And while the challenge takes place on a statewide level, a Scotts Valley based business has already been in the innovation mode with its effort to make people healthier.Since its inception in last year, Nourish Balance Thrive has helped more than 400 people get healthier with customized plans that consider the whole body, not just its illness. Their regimen considers the body as a mechanism capable of self healing once it’s set on the right track.Through dietary modifications, exercise and stress management techniques, Nourish Balance Thrive leads each client to their desired goal.When asked about the subject of getting healthy, co-founder Christopher Kelly said that nobody really knows what a healthy diet is.“Further compounding the problem is the fact that what might be healthy for you could be unhealthy for me. Everyone has different goals, and those goals change from time to time,” he said.Kelly, a professional mountain biker, formed his business with three others. The team includes Kelly’s wife, who is a food scientist, another pro mountain biker, who is a doctor, and a registered nurse. Kelly functions as the coach who helps clients find their way to optimal health.He claims to have healed his own issues by following Nourish Balance Thrive’s methods. By getting healthy, he became even faster on his bike.“I was racing amateur before all of this, I fairly recently upgraded to pro,” he said. “To do that you have to beat all the other amateurs. The real win is living to tell the tale! Longevity and health is what I really care about.”And while the whole body approach is already a step away from conventional medicine, the fact that Nourish Balance Thrive does it all remotely is yet another proof of how the road to getting healthy is changing.“All the coaching takes place over the phone or Skype and we all work from home,” said Kelly. “People prefer it this way, especially the men who only go to doctor as a very last resort.”In addition to coaching and nutritional support, Nourish Balance Thrive offers lab testing of various sorts as part of their services. That way the whole body picture can be explored to the fullest.Fatigue, insomnia, digestive or hormonal problems are evaluated using scientific methods. The labs Nourish Balance Thrive uses may be considered uncommon in a traditional setting. So having these types of sources only helps form a better picture of health for everyone.“Often people come to us for help because they’re doing all of the above and they’re still not getting the brochure experience,” Kelly said. “Perhaps they’re still not sleeping, or their sex drive is gone, or they’re still tired. In these circumstances the testing we do is extremely helpful for performing a critical evaluation of the person’s biochemistry.”And while the innovation seems to take place with or without the state’s initiatives, there is still much work ahead for being able to get the services and support one may want at an affordable cost.“Insurance will pay for the drugs that manage a disease, but they won’t pay for all of the above which probably would prevent the disease from ever happening,” said Kelly.To submit ideas for the California Health and Human Services agency, visit [email protected]. To learn more about Nourish Balance Thrive, visit www.nourishbalancethrive.com.  

Credit card transactions at cannabis clubs may be the future of buying the medicine. State Board of Equalization (SBOE) panel, comprised of industry leaders, politicians and financial experts convened their first meeting in Sacramento last week to discuss financial impacts of the booming industry, which currently operates on a cash only basis.Board Member Fiona Ma, CPA led the meeting, with a statement that access to banking is one of the biggest challenges faced by medicinal marijuana providers.“As we move towards a paperless society, it is unfair for a whole class of citizens to live their lives using cash and manual transactions,” she said.Though the 1996 Proposition 215 legalized dispensary operations in California, cannabis club owners have been unable to function like any other business due to federal restrictions imposed on banks.Jeff Angell of Creekside Collective in Boulder Creek said that prior to last year; he handled all his transactions by getting money orders and paying in cash. Approximately a year ago, one of the local banks created an infrastructure that allows medical marijuana dispensaries to open business accounts. Having that happen has been a time saver because it’s now easier to do basic things like payroll.“I am encouraged by the meeting they have had because we believe in sensible regulations, and we are proud to pay taxes. That legitimizes us,” he said.But despite the fact that Creekside Collective’s bank facilitates some of the day-to-day routines; the system has its limitations.“Our situation is we are in the middle,” he said. “We have some access to banking, but we don’t have access to using credit cards. If we needed a line of credit, we couldn’t do it like any other business.”Angell said that as far as he knows, none of the dispensaries are allowed to accept credit cards, and everyone faces the same obstacles when it comes to accounting.“Our patients have to use ATM and get charged a fee,“ he said about the teller machine that’s on site. It’s so much more convenient when everywhere else you go you can use a credit card.”Angell’s business currently serves a few hundred patients per month; some come more frequently than others. For everyone’s safety, cash is stored off site. There are security cameras inside and out, and overall Angell said he considers himself lucky to be the owner of a small dispensary in a peaceful community.To keep up with fair reporting to the government, Angell uses a point of purchase system that tracks every transaction the collective makes. That way, should an audit occur, the information is all in one place. The collective also keeps a paper record of transactions with vendors.Even if the SBOE meeting marks the first step to progress, decisions are expected to be slow going forward. Since Angell became owner of Creekside Collective in 2012, he has seen little change in the way the state handles medicinal marijuana commerce.“Sadly, I don’t think we’ll see real change until Congress acts,” he said. “Because cannabis is considered a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance, the Feds have to do something about it.”