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Our Mission
SPARC is a nonprofit collective dedicated to providing lab-tested, affordable, high quality cannabis and subsidized health services to our members.
We aim to educate our members about cannabis treatments and other alternative health approaches to supplement their medicine.
SPARC advocates for government change. We seek to be a voice for the implementation of best practices for the regulation and taxation of medical cannabis.
SPARC History
Serving members since 2001…
SPARC began as a collaboration between several small collectives serving distinct patient populations in San Francisco. SPARC's work was focused primarily on serving low-income members suffering from chronic and terminal illnesses.
As our member-base continued to expand through the integration of small member collectives, we sought a permit from the City of San Francisco to open a central healing center and dispensary. This important step allows us to increase our capacity to serve a wider array of members. Our organization is rooted in the same compassionate, member-centered service that we have maintained for almost a decade. We work to bring a community-friendly and scientific approach to providing medical cannabis to our members.
Your membership with SPARC helps us continue to expand our free health service programs, as well as our subsidized distribution network for seriously ill, low-income members in San Francisco.
We have been providing medical cannabis to critically ill patients in hospice at no cost for almost 10 years.
“We are grateful for SPARC’s partnership and support. We have seen many members whose conditions have greatly improved through the use of cannabis for pain management, nausea, harm reduction and other valuable medical uses.”
– Tim Patriarca, Former Executive Director of Maitri AIDS Hospice
As a not for profit organization, our proceeds are reinvested directly into member services and community activism. As we grow, our advocacy and member services grow, too.
TO BECOME A MEMBER OF SPARC FOLLOW THIS LINK AND JOIN US.
Our Medicine
SPARC maintains close relationships with our member cultivators to ensure that they are using sustainable growing techniques to bring out the best qualities of the plant.
Our aim is to provide consistent high-grade cannabis our members can rely on. We focus on bringing out the highest medicinal qualities of each strain that we offer. We constantly work to increase our knowledge of new cultivation techniques and innovations, and we work with our members to ensure this knowledge finds its way into higher quality medicine. Because of the relationships that we have, we can offer more affordable prices to our members on select top-shelf medical cannabis.
The Lab
SPARC is one of the few dispensaries in California to have its medicine tested to ensure safety and quality. It is vitally important to ensure that there is no trace of mold or pathogens in any cannabis that is provided for members.
Quality is usually determined by the amount of symptom relief that a medicine provides and the reliability of the medicine to produce the desired effect. Not only do we measure the amount of THC in each strain we offer, but using standard analytical techniques, we can assay for the presence of other therapeutically significant cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD). Our packaging lists the percentage of THC, CBD, and CBN concentrations for each strain, allowing our members to select the right medicine for their health needs. Our long-term aim is to develop a more scientific approach that includes the possibility of documenting and researching which plant variations and horticultural practices can be combined to maximize the healing qualities of specific strains.
SPARC Member Services
SPARC’s approach to healing involves providing members with a wide array of healing tools to confront their unique health challenges and improve their daily lives. While members of our collective come to us first for medicine, over time we want them to utilize other healing techniques that can help them address their problems.
To see descriptions of our services which include meditation, accupressure, Ayurveda and SPARC support groups, follow this link to services. To see our service calendar follow this link to our service calendar.
SPARC offers access to centuries-old healing traditions, including traditions where cannabis has been used to foster self-healing through meditation.
While cannabis has been popularized in North American pop culture as a hazy, sleep-inducing substance, many South Asian cultures traditionally use cannabis for selective meditations as a means to awakening. In India, there is over 3,000 years of history behind cannabis as a tool for healing in Ayurvedic medicine, as well as an aide in spiritual practice. To learn more about ancient traditions that used cannabis, visit the Spiritual Use of Cannabis section of our website under Cannabis Research.