How several copies of West Coast Leaf, “The Cannabis Newspaper of Record,” ended up on the news racks outside of Full Circle Farm remains a mystery, but officials with the sustainable community garden say one thing is clear: drugs and alcohol are not permitted on the farm.
The issue was brought to the attention of the Sunnyvale City Council, Full Circle Farm, Raynor Park and Birdland Neighbors as well as the Santa Clara Unified School District in late December, after about 15 copies of the newspaper were found by 34-year Sunnyvale resident Tappan Merrick.
In a letter to the school board, Merrick raised concerns over the legality of the distribution of the paper about marijuana, since the location is near Santa Clara Unified property adjacent to Peterson Middle School.
“Everybody who is shopping there is going through that entrance,” Merrick said. “Any kids that are dropped off to go to the farm for educational purposes, sometimes by school buses, are dropped off there. I was walking by there and just didn’t think it was an appropriate spot.”
Full Circle Farm rents 11 acres of land from the school district to operate the educational farm, which also provides school cafeterias with fresh food.
At the request of neighbors, the farm registered its address a few years ago so that both the Sunnyvale Sun and Santa Clara Weekly papers would have their own stands outside of the farm’s grounds. The discovery of the West Coast Leaf publication was the first of its kind, Full Circle officials stated.
West Coast Leaf is owned and operated by Creative Xpressions located in El Sobrante. The paper, published every three months, highlights the latest marijuana headlines in the state, nation and worldwide.
Greg Leonard, board chairman of Sustainable Community Gardens, a community-based nonprofit that oversees Full Circle Farm, said it is illegal to “just drop off paperwork” at a registered stand. He also said the farm was not pro-marijuana, as had been inferred in the letter to the school board.
“We can remove any papers that are distributed illegally,” Leonard said. “We are proud of our staff for having an awareness and for calling us asking what to do about the issue.”
“The farm is a drug-free environment,” added Wolfram Alderson, executive director of Full Circle Farm. “We do not advocate for the legalization of marijuana. We advocate bringing healthy, fresh produce to kids and their family’s mouths.”
Mikki Norris, managing editor of West Coast Leaf, stated in an email that Full Circle Farm is not listed under the paper’s distribution list and that “it may be an overzealous supporter or advocate who took it there, in which case we can’t control that.
“We only want our paper to go where it is wanted.”
