Community organizations and the Long Beach Collective Association (LBCA) are teaming up to provide vouchers for a free pre-rolled joint to residents 21+ who get vaccinated at a Houghton Park pop-up vaccine clinic next Saturday, July 24.
The program, dubbed “Joints 4 Jabs LBC,” will give out free joint vouchers for the first 150 Long Beach residents that get vaccinated. Residents ages 12 to 20 can also receive vaccinations at the pop-up but are not eligible for joint vouchers.
“We all want to have a safe summer and enjoy one another’s company even as the pandemic continues on and recreation opens up,” said James Suazo, executive director of Long Beach Forward. “Cannabis is part of our Long Beach culture and to safely share a joint without contributing to the spread of COVID-19, we must all do our part to get vaccinated.”
Last week, the City of Long Beach reached a vaccine milestone with 70% of adults, or 253,638 residents, receiving at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I can’t thank the community enough for getting Long Beach to 70%,” Mayor Robert Garcia said in a statement last week. “Since the start of this pandemic, our city has led and followed the science. This is a huge milestone but we will continue to work hard to get more folks vaccinated.”
Vaccinations have lagged in North and West Long Beach. The downtown 90813 zip code has the lowest percentage of vaccinated residents, standing at 43.1% as of July 8. The North Long Beach 90805 zip code, where the pop-up clinic will take place, follows with 48.3% vaccinated residents.
The Joints 4 Jabs event is part of the Healthy Long Beach campaign and was made possible through a partnership with Cannafame’s Hesh pre-rolls, VRX Labs and Flight on Cherry dispensary.
“The LBCA supports public health efforts. Cannabis products provide safe access to alternative medicine,” a statement by the LBCA said. “Supporting vaccination efforts for our communities falls in line with LBCA stance on promoting healthy living and prevention.”
The move comes as the highly transmissible Delta variant is expected to become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the country. Vaccines are effective in preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 variants.
“With the delta variant becoming the dominant COVID-19 strain in Los Angeles County, we want our unvaccinated neighbors to catch a free marijuana strain instead so we can protect each other,” Suazo said.
The one-day clinic will take place on Saturday, July 24 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Houghton Park, 6301 Myrtle Ave, Long Beach, CA 90805.
