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Erin Burnett OutFront-20140708-23:47:00

tonight a new high for washington. it is official, washington now the second state where people can legally buy recreational marijuana. demand is expected to be huge. one reason is that, as of now, there are only 24 stores in a state of nearly 7 million people. and only one store in the city of seattle, which is sort of a stupendously shocking fact or statist statistic. but now washington looks to be cautiously bringing pot the masses. one california city is actually going to go further. marijuana there is available only for medicinal use is now looking to actually give pot away specifically to the poor. the berkeley city council is expected to approve that plan. are they going way too far too fast? dan simon is "outfront". >> reporter: berkeley long ago cemented its reputation for being one of the most liberal cities in america. today it's living up to that image by giving away free marijuana to the poor in what appears to be the first of its

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Erin Burnett OutFront-20140708-23:52:00

with that because they can't afford it should they not been b able to have access to it, berkeley is trying to figure out a solution to that issue. >> and now, and now washington state. so they are the second state to allow recreational marijuana, but, you know, the amazing statistic we were talking about, there is 24 shops across the state setting it. so what is going to happen there? >> i think you will see more shops come online, more dispensaries, erin, a reason why you have so few is washington put up all kinds of red tape in a way that's more, much more than colorado. colorado has plenty of hurdles that dispensary owners need to get through to open there, but nothing like what we're seeing in washington, and a lot of people say that's really good because as this industry moves out of the shadows and becomes more main stream, you have to have the proper rules in place. you want to make sure the right kinds of laws are on the books and make sure the dispensary

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Erin Burnett OutFront-20140708-23:49:00

i volunteer at the local rehab clinic. i think it will increase the number of drug problems that miss and my colleagues see on a regular basis. >> reporter: low income here is defined as making less than $32,000 a year for an individual and less than $46,000 for a family of four. >> this will open a doorway for people to just get marijuana and sell it as opposed to using it themselves for medicinal purposes. >> reporter: but advocates say this measure is all about compassion by providing medicine to those who can't easily afford it. you might think that a business would be opposed to having to give away their product for free, but here in berkeley, with their medical marijuana dispensaries, that's not the case. in fact one of them, the berkeley patients group where i am has already been doing it for years. >> we recognize that it's difficult for those who are severely ill to keep their employment and maintain their income at a steady pace for them to be able to purchase their medicine.

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Erin Burnett OutFront-20140708-23:51:00

so what is interesting here is that if you're someone who can't afford this care because your health insurance won't cover it, medicaid is obviously not going to cover it. berkeley has actually come up with a way to address that problem. >> and, you know, it's interesting when you put it that way and of course, as you point out, you've done this research and seemed to make sense to you and it does to a lot in the medical community. sanjay gupta has come around to that thinking. a lot of people say i wouldn't want to work with someone high on pot. when you think about it, beyond just medicine and as far as society, it doesn't seem to be a society good. >> and that gets into recreational use, which is something that's different, of course, and in this particular case, i think erin, for berkeley, for them to come up with a solution to be able to provide that medical use, if someone is suffering from a debilitating illness, something like cancer and there is a shot this is going to help them deal

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Erin Burnett OutFront-20140708-23:50:00

>> reporter: the medicine can get expensive. frequent users can easily spend hundreds of dollars or more each month. the dispensary says it's been giving free weed to about 200 of its customers. and the city will even require the free marijuana be the same quality on average that is dispense to other members. in other words, the good stuff, dan simon, cnn berkeley, california. >> out front, bloomberg television anchor trish is author of "joint adventures inside america's almost legal industry." trish, great to see you, as always. you heard dan's report. do you think berkeley went too far here with this issue of free pot? >> erin, it comes down to whether you believe that there is a legitimate use for marijuana for medical purposes. i happen to believe there is, and i think the medical community is pretty united on that, as well.

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Erin Burnett OutFront-20140708-23:48:00

kind ordinance nationwide. berkeley will require that its medical marijuana dispensaries provide free cannabis to low income residents which would also include the homeless. is it a good idea to give free cannabis to the homeless? >> when you couch it that way, it sounds peculiar, but we're talking about free medicine. this is medical cannabis. cannabis that's used to relieve pain for glaucoma and heart problems and things of that nature. >> reporter: darrell moore and the entire city council voted in favor of the measure. part of a 20-page ordinance to amend a municipal code. it says that 2% of the dispensary's marijuana should be given to the indigent who still must have a medical marijuana i.d. card or referral from a doctor. but even here in berkeley where we placed an open mike, some worry the new ordinance will lead to abuse. >> berkeley has a terrible homeless problem. it will attract more homeless people to the area.

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