District Service
what is a gsr?
GSR is short for "General Service Representative," an important link in how MA works.
The GSR is a person elected by a meeting as a liaision to their local District and M.A. World Services. They come to the monthly district committee meeting and report on how their meeting is going and get any support needed. It's a two way street: they also bring news from the District and Marijuana Anonymous World Services back to their meeting in the form of announcements called Pitch Points. Pitch points are on this page.
When are the monthly District meetings? Next up is November 13th, 2024.
The Los Angeles area District meetings are hybrid and meet the second Wednesday of every month from 7:30 pm to 8:30 PST. At 7:15pm, Chip and Literature orders are filled in person.
We meet at Stoner Park in West LA (1835 Stoner Ave, LA 90025). There is a parking lot off of Missouri Ave. We are in the Community Room next to the outdoor basketball courts, and we have pizza!
The Zoom link, which is the same every month, is here.
Anyone is welcome to attend, whether you represent a meeting or not. People from other districts are also welcome.
How do I get on the email list for the meeting reminders and district news?
GSRs and the District primarily communicate via our Google Group. Reach out to info.MADistrict7@gmail.com and ask to be added.
OCT /NOV 2024 Pitch Points
EVENTS-- November 17th Softball game with District 6
Sunday November 17th at Stoner Park, 1835 Stoner Ave, Los Angeles. 1pm for Softball throw down, and 4pm for a communal meal and trash talk. Suggested donation of $10. All are welcome. Bring your mitt (if you have one) and your good vibes.
MeetingS that Need Support
-Wednesday 7:30 pm "Dual Diagnosis" online Zoom meeting, a unique meeting for addicts who are also diagnosed with mental health conditions.
-WednesDAY at a Time, 11 am PT Wednesdays on Zoom has lots of newcomers and is reconnecting with the District
-Last Dance with Mary Jane Online 8:30 pm PT Thursdays on Zoom also has lots of newcomers and lost contact with the District until recently ----- See our Meetings page for Zoom links
The 2024 MA Membership Survey is now live
MA World Services is surveying its members (that's us) in order to help more addicts who suffer. The Public Information Committee in particular will use this to get the word out more about M.A.
In 2020 a similar anonymous survey was provided to the fellowship and our goal is to continue this every 4 years to track our fellowship's demographics. You can find the survey on the home page of the M.A. World Services website or using this link: MA12.org/Survey2024
MEETINGS CAN STILL MAKE Donations to the chip fund
If your meeting is able to donate towards our "Chip Fund", the District hoped to receive it by Oct 15th but can still accept it. We do not want to interfere with 2025 Convention fundraising. This would be a 7th Tradition Donation from a meeting to the District, specially earmarked towards our large initial order of sobriety chips from a new supplier who has a large initial minimum order. We are hoping to attain Chip Autonomy and end the supply chain Chip Crisis of 2022-23. Remember to write Chip Fund in the memo on Paypal. Individual members can also donate to help meet the goal. See at the bottom of this page for the background on this. https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/MAdistrict7
MA Literature: District 7 has restocked our Inventory
Life With Hope is $11, the workbook is $6, and all pamphlets are available at no cost.
Please contact the Literature Chairs Rob R or Jeff D at mad7lit@gmail.com to put your order in.
Remember books and chips are now picked up in person at the monthly district meeting. (7:15 before the meeting starts at 7:30) If you are a remote GSR, someone from your meeting can pick up for you.
D7 TREASURY REPORT
D7 Treasurer's Report FY 23-24 Link here The District Treasurer’s email is mad7.treasurer@gmail.com
DONATE TO DISTRICT 7 If your meeting has covered its monthly expenses, please consider donating to the District. These donations help the District and MA World Services function and carry the message to marijuana addicts all over the world. To donate to District 7, visit http://PayPal.me/MAdistrict7 OR log in to http://Paypal.com and contribute to info@MAdistrict7.org. In the notes, add your meeting name + "7th Tradition."
MA WORLD SERVICE NEWS
JOIN A COMMITTEE -- Any member of M.A. can get involved with World Service committees. Right now, the Social Media branch of Public Information is seeking members to bring M.A. "out of the dark ages." You can email social@ma12.org if this interests you. There is also a WhatApp group for Service in M.A. and you can join that here:
The new MA DAILY Reader, Living Every Day with Hope
Sign-up to receive “Daily Dose of MA Recovery” the Living Every Day with Hope daily email blast.
MONTHLY CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP
Meet with your fellows monthly to engage in writing exercises, discuss our recovery and creativity, and share our work. We will share tips about the writing process, provide prompts, and have time for sharing. All that is needed is a desire to write.
1st Saturday each month, beginning October 5th, 2024 at 9 am PT / 12 pm ET
To sign up, email Write@ANLP12.org. Learn more here: https://anewleafpublications.org
PArticipate in the publishing side of M.A.
A New Leaf Publishing ( ANLP ) was born out of the fellowship’s desire to carry its spiritual message though print and other media to the addict who still suffers. Seeking volunteers for roles as ANLP Content Editor, ANLP Treasurer, ANLP Secretary and ANLP Design Editor. Not necessary to have Design skills as a paid Creative Designer will be involved, so anyone with an interest can reach out about the role. Please contact chair@ANLP12.org about the volunteer ANLP service roles.
The descriptions for the ANLP volunteer roles and paid Special Worker positions are all posted on the MA Website (where it says "MA is Hiring") or at https://marijuana-anonymous.org/open-positions/
mar-anon announcement
Info for friends and family members with a marijuana-addicted loved one. There is a program for loved ones of Marijuana Addicts similar to Al-Anon and Nar-Anon. It is Mar-Anon. Check out their website at mar-anon.com. They have an online meeting daily and recently two in-person meetings have opened up though neither are in the District 7 area. (One just opened in the San Diego area.) Please pass on this information to interested folks.
Thank you for your strength, your hope, and your service.
BACKGROUND on the Chip fund
Many of us want chips of the quality we used to have, with a handy chain to attach them to things. Your District Committee is raising money to put in an order for new chips from a new supplier. This will make chips cheaper overall for meetings, and allow us to get stock of anniversary/birthday chips for 2+ years again. We need about $2,000 total to make the minimum required order, which should last us for years. To meet that goal we are asking each meeting to consider a 7th Tradition donation between $100 and $200 before Oct 15th. Consider passing the basket twice, or bring your creative fundraising ideas at the next District Meeting. Reach out to Chip Chair Lydia N at 206-418-9607 or ask your GSR for more information. If you donate through PayPal, just mark in the comments that it is for Chips. Paypal link here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/MAdistrict7
You can also learn more about why items that have the M.A. logo need to be in compliance with what M.A. World Service needs around legal issues by clicking here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/
Authorized vendors of Chips currently, the list can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CXvF-lDSStz_AJFagRjy0b2JmPvg7yBQyOXLpq0j1Yw/edit?tab=t.0
Classic Chips have the keychain ready hole in them. Newer plastic chips do not, and only go up to One Year.
OTHER DISTRICT BITS
Check your meeting listing on this website to make sure all is up to date. Has anything changed or does anything need to be clarified? The webmaster's email address: info.MADistrict7@gmail.com
FOR GSRs - if you miss three consecutive district meetings with no communication, your meeting listing may be taken off the District website. You can send word by email to the MAD7@Googlegroups email. If you can't attend, please consider finding a replacement to come in your place or send an email update.
Stay in Touch with M.A. World Services via Newsletter
M.A. World Service has two free email newsletters you can subscribe to: Carry the Message and A New Leaf, the M.A. Literary Publication. Find the sign up option on the Marijuana-anonymous.org homepage or support page.
- Closed Captions in meetings: Please update meeting listings to indicate if your virtual meetings utilized this accessibility feature. Link to tutorial on enabling Zoom Closed Captions
- A New Leaf Newsletter wants to hear your story. The key focus is on what happened and what it is like now rather than what it was like (i.e. the message, not the mess :) Email stories@anewleafpublications.org
District 7’s Relation to MA World Services
The fellowship of Marijuana Anonymous is served by the non-profit corporation called Marijuana Anonymous World Services. The purpose of MA World Services is to provide everything necessary for the fellowship of MA to function. Similarly, District 7 provides services to MA meetings in our territory, the Southern Los Angeles Metro area. District 7 is one of many MA Districts that have chosen to support the broader services offered by MA World Services (shout out to our sweet sister district, District 6, serving North Los Angeles).
Typically, each D7 meeting elects a General Services Representative, or GSR, who makes weekly or monthly announcements from our district or from World Services at their meeting. GSRs meet once a month to share information and updates, and to collect the pitch points we make in our GSR announcements.
For more information about the different levels of service that make up Marijuana Anonymous, take a look at the "Services" tab on the MarijuanaAnonymous.org website.
What is "District-level service?"
When you come to the monthly District meeting as a GSR you are doing District Level Service. If you want to get more involved, there are Chair positions open right now like Public Information and Hospitals and Institutions. Suggested 6 months to 1 year sobriety.
As a new Chair, you'd get help to learn all you needed (which is called service sponsorship, where a fellow with experience in your new position trains you). Some of the District-level roles will sound familiar from the positions you can hold in an MA meeting, like Treasurer, Literature, Chips, and Hospitals and Institutions Chair (H&I). Other District Chair roles include Events, Webmaster, and Public Information. Come to a meeting and ask about the service role that interests you. Even if it's currently filled, you'll get an idea of what you can bring to the table in the future, and get to know more fellows.