California might have experienced a revolutionary moment after social cannabis was legalized in the state. However, the new laws allowing social cannabis are taking a toll on compassionate care programs and even medical cannabis patients.

Steve Stevens, a medical cannabis patient, who uses cannabis to treat symptoms of AIDS and colon cancer, lives on social security in San Francisco, which makes it almost impossible for him to buy $70 to $80 eighths or $400 ounces. But, for almost a decade Stevens has received medical donations of cannabis flower by Sweetleaf Collective, a compassionate care program that’s made it possible for him to medicate for his conditions on a daily basis.

“I use cannabis every day to treat a number of things,” Stevens told Forbes. “I was officially diagnosed with HIV back in 1984 and then AIDS 15 years ago, and I’ve been on the cocktail ever since. I resisted taking the meds at first because the early ones were not only killing AIDS, but they were also killing people and destroying their livers. So I waited until I really needed them.”

Under California’s current legislation of social cannabis laws, cannabis businesses are required to pay taxes on all products including donations and samples. Consequently, donation-based business Sweetleaf Collective, which donated over 100-pounds of cannabis flower and shake to 150 chronically-ill patients last year, is required to pay over $50,000 in taxes on cannabis which it isn’t making profit on, causing the program to halt, leaving patients like Stevens out of medication.

“People are going to die because of this,” Joe Airone, founder of Sweetleaf Collective, told Forbes. “It keeps me up at night and it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. This compassion program is saving so many sick people’s lives. Sometimes when we make deliveries, the patient cries and says, ‘I would be dead already if it wasn’t for you.’ These patients need Sweetleaf. I truly didn’t see this happening with legalization.”

While Airone doesn’t believe compassionate care programs are being targeted on purpose, he does claim that it’s an unintended consequence of regulating legal cannabis. As a result compassionate care programs are being shut down in California by the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulatory Safety Act (MAUCRSA).

Other donation-based businesses and programs who have also been forced to halt their business are following suit and helping Sweetleaf Collective gain public and media attention and support.

Sean Kiernan, president of WFWP, another donation-based program, provides cannabis to veterans suffering from PTSD, physical disabilities and other war-related health issues. WFWP, prior to being placed on halt, received pounds of donated cannabis from cultivators. But after the required tax announcement, Kiernan and his group are looking for other ways to get funded to provide veterans the medication and support they need.

“The cost of operating a business drastically goes up under the MAUCRSA, and thanks to the track-and-trace-system no one can donate or give any product away without paying taxes. We’ve had to change [WFWP’s] model as a result,” Kiernan told Forbes.

Airone also continues efforts to receive funding elsewhere, and while fundraising may not be the best idea, considering the huge amounts of funds required to run such a business, he won’t stop at anything to ensure that those who need the plant to survive will get it. 

“Some people have suggested to us that we just do some fundraising,” Airone told Forbes. “But with the type of money needed to do our job the way we’ve been doing it, we’d need to raise enough to buy a condo in the Bay Area. This is about coming together for the sake of people’s lives and bringing the focus back to compassion.”