ICMAG Administration endorses The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010

[Hrpuffnkush]

Well jed thanks I guess haha, I kinda feel like I prepared for a battle with my mental ammunition and some merc rushed in ahead of me when I was reloading or something hahaha. I don't want to make it seems like a war/battle by any means. I suppose the only thing I can add is most of what I heard reading that was "my daddy this and my daddy that". So preschool its just sad, I realize ya'll may have great respect for your father however, man up and think for yourself. Your fathers lived in a different world at your age or younger. I also hate when these ass-clown thin-skinned west coast kids act like its such a cakewalk especially for the rest of the country. Ever been beyond your own ant hill son? Prop 19 is a solid step forward for the cannabis community at large. I'm getting really impatient with the converts thing. I mean we all love cannabis in some fashion or another right? Why in the blue hell are we disagreeing on something so benign? I expected the nay-say from non-enthusiasists/patients who are caught up in reefer madness Ver. 1.0-present. Get the rocks out of your skulls and help make this happen.

-S.E.

Make it personal why dont you ...
This thin skinned kidd is over 40 and was born into cannabis
day in to day out 40+ and still counting
respect is due to all Elders in the cannabis where ever they may come from.... i dont mean me or my pops .. learn some
dont you wonder where a lot of the cannabis you smoke today came from?

The just of what im saying is ----->>> Hasty Decisions lead to POOR RESULTS INT THE LONG RUN!

if your so righteous and want to display you supreme cannabis activist knowledge IQ.. i would think you would be smart enough to look at the long term results from hasty decisions....

Now is not the time for prop 19
i dont wana deal with a bunch of stoned drivers around LA anyways LOL the drive bad enough here already
so some MMj Special interest group came cash in..

Sensitive arent we LOL

PS ...congrats on your new born .. explains why every post you make have a comment about kidds in it one way or a another

 

[BigBudBill]

Now is not the time for prop 19
i dont wana deal with a bunch of stoned drivers around LA anyways LOL the drive bad enough here already
so some MMj Special interest group came cash in..

Holy shit! You just pulled a page from the TRUE BELIEVER bible. I'm going to go throw up.UNFUCKINGBELIVEABLE!!

 

[StoneElemental]

Make it personal why dont you ...

I certainly never intended for that sorry if you percieved it as such.

This thin skinned kidd is over 40 and was born into cannabis
day in to day out 40+ and still counting

Thats nice tho you're certainly not the first.

respect is due to all Elders in the cannabis where ever they may come from.... i dont mean me or my pops .. learn some

I respect the elders that earn my respect as I would have to earn theirs aswell, I certainly wouldn't respect every elder just because they're an elder. Sorry wether or not you're interested you'll have to earn my respect please don't just expect it.

dont you wonder where a lot of the cannabis you smoke today came from?

Not so much, I have a few good clues, take this to a teenage kid you'll probably have better luck.

The just of what im saying is ----->>> Hasty Decisions lead to POOR RESULTS INT THE LONG RUN!

Yes and most of us have learned that the hard way. I realize the implications of what could happen. If anything negative happens to the prop it may well be because californians became complacent and then stopped bothering to pay attention. Also judging by the lengthy bureaucratic process applied it by no means seems to be a hasty decision.

if your so righteous and want to display you supreme cannabis activist knowledge IQ.. i would think you would be smart enough to look at the long term results from hasty decisions....

Calling the kettle black huh? Talk about making it personal, seems I've hit a nerve. You seem to be very hastily against the prop. You and I both can only speculate as to what will actually happen if the prop passes or not that being said IMO its a solid piece of legislation to start with. Again if it passes the future of such will be determined by those involved.

Now is not the time for prop 19
i dont wana deal with a bunch of stoned drivers around LA anyways LOL the drive bad enough here already
so some MMj Special interest group came cash in..

Ok so thats your opinion and I'll respect that even tho I highly disagree. Also I read somewhere that marijuana users have lower incidence of traffic accidents/violations than totally sober drivers. I'm not sure how true that is but it certainly is an interesting notion even knowing I won't touch a car key under any influence.

Sensitive arent we LOL

Again not so much, on the surface I'm calm but inside I'm laughing...hard.

PS ...congrats on your new born .. explains why every post you make have a comment about kidds in it one way or a another

Erm, if you mean the display pic of the baby it's not mine and I chose it because it reminded me of a face I might make as an infant. As for commenting at others as kids, I see someone acting out how children do and I refer to them as such. I find myself quite average but the more I see emotions flaring so easily over simple discussions the more I believe folks are having internal tantrums and taking it out on others further proving just how thin skinned a decent amount of people really are. Thanks for totally assuming, now billy what happens when we assume?
_______________________________________________________

Anyhow it's all edging closer and closer folks I won't tell you how to vote but at least please vote altho I am inclined to encourage you all to vote yes! on Prop 19 that is! I know with everyday that passes I get more anxious as to the outcome! Again please vote yes on Prop 19!

-S.E.

 

[someotherguy]

to say again, i'm voting NO and so are most of my friends and family..

prop 19 is a government ploy to gain more power.

anybody in california can use ganja legally, much moreso than prop 215 would allow, by simply getting a doctor's rec.

if legalization must come, let it be tax-free and cultivation friendly.

my dad, who is 70 yrs old and has been smoking for 40+ yrs, says he sees prop 19 as a desperate attempt by our broke, corrupt gov't to exploit and weaken yet another subculture in the name of "freedom"

here's something for you to read numbnuts.

SOG

From the Family of Jack Herer, author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes

Van Nuys, California, August, 2010

Dear Friends of Hemp and Cannabis,

Our father, Jack Herer, was a man of leadership, compassion and idealism. He worked relentlessly for decades to achieve his dream of legalizing Cannabis hemp in all its forms, personal, medical and industrial. He wanted Cannabis to be free and open, and to be given full respect for its enormous economic, environmental and cultural benefits.

As an idealist, Jack was adverse to half measures. He originally opposed Prop 215 because it stopped at medical use only. He initially opposed Senate Bill 420 because it set limited quantities as a safe harbor. Over time, however, he came to appreciate the freedoms they created, and took pride in the role he played in inspiring those changes. Jack’s great fear about Prop 215 and SB 420 was that people would accept those limits, become complacent and stop working for full legalization. He feared we would be stuck with medical use forever.

Likewise, Jack railed against Tax Cannabis 2010, now Proposition 19, and its plan for limited legalization and local authority to tax and regulate marijuana sales to adults 21 and above. It falls far short of what he wanted. Jack ‘wanted it all,’ and Prop 19 is just a part of that dream. Unfortunately, Jack passed away before Prop 19 made the 2010 ballot; so many people think he would still oppose it. We don’t believe that, and we ask that everyone stop saying he would cling to that position as we move toward the Nov. 2 vote.

As his family, we want the world to know that the last thing Jack Herer would want is for Californians to vote to keep Cannabis illegal. He was smart and had the political savvy to know that once a measure is on the ballot, the time for bickering has passed. That is why he campaigned for Prop 215 despite its shortcomings. That is why, were he able, he would now be telling voters to rally around and Vote Yes on Prop 19.

Does that mean he would want everyone to stop and be happy with the modest changes that Prop 19 affords? Absolutely not! What Jack would want us to do right now is to support Prop 19, and come Nov. 3 he would be right back again, telling you to renew your commitment to bring a comprehensive California Hemp and Health Initiative to the voters in 2012 or some future date. Jack Herer would ask – no, he would demand your yes vote on Prop 19, along with a pledge to continue fighting for the plant, the people and the planet.

It is true that Prop 19 does not fulfill our father’s dream; but it takes us much closer to achieving it than we are now, and for that reason we, his family, endorse Prop 19 today.

Please vote yes on Prop 19 Nov 2, but do it with the dedication to keep working toward complete legalization in Jack’s honor.

Sincerely, Dan Herer et al.

 

[someotherguy]

Schwarzenegger Decriminalizes Marijuana In California http://marijuanasaveslives.org/schwarzenegger-decriminalizes-marijuana-in-california/My link

October 1st, 2010 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

Yesterday, outgoing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 1449 — which reduces adult marijuana possession charges from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil infraction. NORML would like to thank the 2,500+ of you who took the time to write the Governor over the past week via NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’, and the many more who called the Governor’s office directly in support of this historic measure.

Senate Bill 1449 amends the California Health and Safety Code so that the adult possession of up to 28.5 grams of marijuana is classified as an infraction, punishable by no more than a $100 fine — no court appearance, no court costs, and no criminal record.

Passage of this bill will save the state millions of dollars in court costs by keeping minor marijuana offenders out of court. The number of misdemeanor pot arrests has surged in recent years, reaching 61,388 in 2008.

The new law, which takes effect on Jan 1, 2011, will have an effect even if Californians vote to legalize marijuana by passing Prop 19. Proposition 19 leaves misdemeanor possession penalties in place for public use and smoking in the presence of children; under SB 1449, these offenses would be simple infractions.

“Gov. Schwarzenegger deserves credit for sparing the state’s taxpayers the cost of prosecuting minor pot offenders,” said California NORML director Dale Gieringer, “Californians increasingly recognize that the war on marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources.”

 

[BigBudBill]

Schwarzenegger Decriminalizes Marijuana In California My link

October 1st, 2010 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

Yesterday, outgoing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 1449 — which reduces adult marijuana possession charges from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil infraction. NORML would like to thank the 2,500+ of you who took the time to write the Governor over the past week via NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’, and the many more who called the Governor’s office directly in support of this historic measure.

Senate Bill 1449 amends the California Health and Safety Code so that the adult possession of up to 28.5 grams of marijuana is classified as an infraction, punishable by no more than a $100 fine — no court appearance, no court costs, and no criminal record.

Passage of this bill will save the state millions of dollars in court costs by keeping minor marijuana offenders out of court. The number of misdemeanor pot arrests has surged in recent years, reaching 61,388 in 2008.

The new law, which takes effect on Jan 1, 2011, will have an effect even if Californians vote to legalize marijuana by passing Prop 19. Proposition 19 leaves misdemeanor possession penalties in place for public use and smoking in the presence of children; under SB 1449, these offenses would be simple infractions.

“Gov. Schwarzenegger deserves credit for sparing the state’s taxpayers the cost of prosecuting minor pot offenders,” said California NORML director Dale Gieringer, “Californians increasingly recognize that the war on marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources.”

To me this shows, just like with 215 and the follow up SB420, prop 19 is a work in progress. Every step forward counts and this is a nice counter to the concerns over some remaining misdemeanors recently posted on these prop 19 threads.

 

[binaryfission]

respect is due to all Elders in the cannabis where ever they may come from.... i dont mean me or my pops .. learn some
dont you wonder where a lot of the cannabis you smoke today came from?

its like once a void of no's is present it creates a vacuum, that sucks the nearest Nay-sayer into a black hole of idiocy.

 

[TruthOrLie]

HUrrah for the Terminator.

 

[krunchbubble]

Schwarzenegger Decriminalizes Marijuana In California http://marijuanasaveslives.org/schwarzenegger-decriminalizes-marijuana-in-california/My link

October 1st, 2010 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

Yesterday, outgoing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 1449 — which reduces adult marijuana possession charges from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil infraction. NORML would like to thank the 2,500+ of you who took the time to write the Governor over the past week via NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’, and the many more who called the Governor’s office directly in support of this historic measure.

Senate Bill 1449 amends the California Health and Safety Code so that the adult possession of up to 28.5 grams of marijuana is classified as an infraction, punishable by no more than a $100 fine — no court appearance, no court costs, and no criminal record.

Passage of this bill will save the state millions of dollars in court costs by keeping minor marijuana offenders out of court. The number of misdemeanor pot arrests has surged in recent years, reaching 61,388 in 2008.

The new law, which takes effect on Jan 1, 2011, will have an effect even if Californians vote to legalize marijuana by passing Prop 19. Proposition 19 leaves misdemeanor possession penalties in place for public use and smoking in the presence of children; under SB 1449, these offenses would be simple infractions.

“Gov. Schwarzenegger deserves credit for sparing the state’s taxpayers the cost of prosecuting minor pot offenders,” said California NORML director Dale Gieringer, “Californians increasingly recognize that the war on marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources.”

hey yo, you conveniently forgot this in your quote......

Arnold Schwarzenegger-
"I am opposed to decriminalizing the possession and recreational use of marijuana and oppose Proposition 19, which is on the November ballot.

Unfortunately, Proposition 19 is a deeply flawed measure that, if passed, will adversely impact California’s businesses without bringing in the tax revenues to the state promised by its proponents."

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/october012010/schwarzenegger-marijuana.php

 

[Smoke Buddy]

I received my sample ballot the other day. Here it is!!!!

 

[someotherguy]

hey yo, you conveniently forgot this in your quote......

Arnold Schwarzenegger-
"I am opposed to decriminalizing the possession and recreational use of marijuana and oppose Proposition 19, which is on the November ballot.

Unfortunately, Proposition 19 is a deeply flawed measure that, if passed, will adversely impact California’s businesses without bringing in the tax revenues to the state promised by its proponents."

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/october012010/schwarzenegger-marijuana.php

i didn't conveniently forget shit dude, i shared an article with my fellow ICMaggers that i found posted elsewhere.

note that the article is an article about the signing, not a statement by the Governator, so not a 'quote' at all.

and you conviently forgot to post his entire statement so i'll do it for ya.

peace, SOG

btw, who gives a rats ass what he THINKS anyway?

-------------------------------------------------------------

To the Members of the California State Senate:


I am signing Senate Bill 1449.


This bill changes the crime of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana from a misdemeanor punishable only by a $100 fine to an infraction punishable by a $100 fine. Under existing law, jail time cannot be imposed, probation cannot be ordered, nor can the base fine exceed $100 for someone convicted of this crime.


I am opposed to decriminalizing the possession and recreational use of marijuana and oppose Proposition 19, which is on the November ballot.
Unfortunately, Proposition 19 is a deeply flawed measure that, if passed, will adversely impact California’s businesses without bringing in the tax revenues to the state promised by its proponents.
Notwithstanding my opposition to Proposition 19, however, I am signing this measure because possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is an infraction in everything but name. The only difference is that because it is a misdemeanor, a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury trial and a defense attorney.



In this time of drastic budget cuts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, and the courts cannot afford to expend limited resources prosecuting a crime that carries the same punishment as a traffic ticket.
As noted by the Judicial Council in its support of this measure, the appointment of counsel and the availability of a jury trial should be reserved for defendants who are facing loss of life, liberty, or property greater than $100.


For these reasons, I am signing this bill.


Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger

 

[binaryfission]

hey yo, you conveniently forgot this in your quote......

Arnold Schwarzenegger-
"I am opposed to decriminalizing the possession and recreational use of marijuana and oppose Proposition 19, which is on the November ballot.

Unfortunately, Proposition 19 is a deeply flawed measure that, if passed, will adversely impact California’s businesses without bringing in the tax revenues to the state promised by its proponents."

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/october012010/schwarzenegger-marijuana.php

and you forgot he was a politician. Read in between the lines. he is playing politics. He isn't supposed to be in favor of Prop 19.

 

[Neo 420]

The good leo.....

XXXXX,

My name is Neill Franklin, and I'm the Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). LEAP is made up of current and former prosecutors, police officers, judges, and other members of law enforcement who believe prohibition has failed this country for far too long.
Contribute today

Proposition 19 will help restore the public's respect for law enforcement, which has been greatly diminished by its involvement in imposing cannabis prohibition. Good cops want laws that allow us to fight violent crime, not crack down on cannabis.

That's why I'm doing everything I can to promote the Yes on 19 campaign's "End Cannabis Prohibition" $75,000 fundraising drive. California has the opportunity to lead the nation toward a more sensible cannabis policy, but the Yes on 19 campaign needs the resources to seize this historic moment and win on November 2.

Contribute $15 to the Yes on 19 campaign today, and they'll send you an awesome "End Cannabis Prohibition" bumper sticker. Contribute $50, and they'll send you a t-shirt.

I worked for 33 years as a cop in Maryland, where I served as a narcotics officer. I worked the streets and oversaw 17 drug task forces. I busted hundreds of drug dealers, from high-level drug dealers to somebody with one pot plant. I was proud of my work.

Two things transformed my viewpoint on prohibition and convinced me that what we were doing not only wasn't working, but was simply unethical, bad policy.

The first was when the Mayor of Baltimore, Kurt Schmoke, declared on TV that the drug war wasn't working for our city. "We need to have a discussion about where we go from here," I remember him saying. That got me doing my own research, and I became skeptical that our policies were effective.

Soon after, one of my good friends, Corporal Ed Toatley -- one of the best undercover agents in Maryland's history -- was killed in the line of duty.

That was the last straw. What we were doing wasn't working. I told my police commissioner I had to speak out. And for the last ten years, that's exactly what I've been doing.

Today, I'm asking you to join me and make a generous contribution to the Yes on 19 campaign in honor of Ed Toatley, the 60,000 people we arrest every year in California for cannabis possession, and the countless others affected by our failed cannabis policies.

Thanks so much for standing with LEAP in favor of Prop 19.

Courage,

Major Neill Franklin
Executive Director
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)

 

[Neo 420]

http://progressive.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/article.php?article_id=339


I obtained this through another thread here on icmag and thought I would share it with all of you. Great piece. Definitely pertains to the subject matter here....

 

[SCF]

The good leo.....

XXXXX,

My name is Neill Franklin, and I'm the Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). LEAP is made up of current and former prosecutors, police officers, judges, and other members of law enforcement who believe prohibition has failed this country for far too long.
Contribute today

Proposition 19 will help restore the public's respect for law enforcement, which has been greatly diminished by its involvement in imposing cannabis prohibition. Good cops want laws that allow us to fight violent crime, not crack down on cannabis.

That's why I'm doing everything I can to promote the Yes on 19 campaign's "End Cannabis Prohibition" $75,000 fundraising drive. California has the opportunity to lead the nation toward a more sensible cannabis policy, but the Yes on 19 campaign needs the resources to seize this historic moment and win on November 2.

Contribute $15 to the Yes on 19 campaign today, and they'll send you an awesome "End Cannabis Prohibition" bumper sticker. Contribute $50, and they'll send you a t-shirt.

I worked for 33 years as a cop in Maryland, where I served as a narcotics officer. I worked the streets and oversaw 17 drug task forces. I busted hundreds of drug dealers, from high-level drug dealers to somebody with one pot plant. I was proud of my work.

Two things transformed my viewpoint on prohibition and convinced me that what we were doing not only wasn't working, but was simply unethical, bad policy.

The first was when the Mayor of Baltimore, Kurt Schmoke, declared on TV that the drug war wasn't working for our city. "We need to have a discussion about where we go from here," I remember him saying. That got me doing my own research, and I became skeptical that our policies were effective.

Soon after, one of my good friends, Corporal Ed Toatley -- one of the best undercover agents in Maryland's history -- was killed in the line of duty.

That was the last straw. What we were doing wasn't working. I told my police commissioner I had to speak out. And for the last ten years, that's exactly what I've been doing.

Today, I'm asking you to join me and make a generous contribution to the Yes on 19 campaign in honor of Ed Toatley, the 60,000 people we arrest every year in California for cannabis possession, and the countless others affected by our failed cannabis policies.

Thanks so much for standing with LEAP in favor of Prop 19.

Courage,

Major Neill Franklin
Executive Director
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)

right on man, LEAP is a great organization. who had done wonders, and seen first hand what this has done to our society as a whole. ITs the old divide and conquer tactic's our government has pulled. They have divided us on so many different topics, that now we are confused, they can come in for the kill... just like any prey.

 

[SKUNK420]

hey yo, you conveniently forgot this in your quote......

Arnold Schwarzenegger-
"I am opposed to decriminalizing the possession and recreational use of marijuana and oppose Proposition 19, which is on the November ballot.

Unfortunately, Proposition 19 is a deeply flawed measure that, if passed, will adversely impact California’s businesses without bringing in the tax revenues to the state promised by its proponents."

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/october012010/schwarzenegger-marijuana.php

+1

Now I have a comment for SEIU and the NAACP who were of many groups supported the One Nation rally this past October 2nd and who also endorse Prop 19.

After watching video from this rally and seeing the marxist & communists and SEIU and NAACP all standing hand in hand to pollute (fact) the National Mall and the World War II Memorial with their propagranda flyers and union financed ( guessing at a fact, but a small private non union business probably printed the signs that was paid for by union member fees) professional printed protest signs and plastic water bottles. Did anybody check to see if Al Gore made sure they used solar power to provide electcity for the p.a. system? Were the union buses powered by batteries or biodiesel? I bet not. The only reason why I ask is because they are the most compassionate people in the world.

I will now fight Prop 19 to the death because of the union supoport of Prop 19.
You have your view and I have mine.
I see ( my opinion)the involvement of the unions and current politicians as a group of people who are setting themselves a place in politics. I see miss use of the money like the state lottery was supposed to provide 33% of each dollar to education. Now that people don't play the lottery as much there is less money for eductaion. Same old crap politicains setting up social programs that are dependent on tax revenue. Those who support are going to move up in the political world. They are just telling you want you want hear just like Barry O. did and now 2 years laters we have nothing new just more confusion as to the direction the country is going.
Prop 215 passed in 1996 and now because we were so uninformed on how this law would be emplemented or interpeted, we were so hopeful that we would all live happily ever after if we just voted yes. So now 16 years later and we have more confusion then ever as to what is legal and what is not.

I am not going to repeat the same mistake of the past on this on Prop 19.

 

[dagnabit]

I will now fight Prop 19 to the death because of the union supoport of Prop 19.

so stand with every leo?

ill take the naacp over the dea any day

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

Years ago I watched this movie called 'Pumping Iron' starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.....and watched him toke on a spliff after a workout.....whilst quite obviously enjoying the effects....back then in the 70's consuming cannabis was very illegal in California....

Now Arnold is making exactly what he was doing (back in the 70's) an 'infraction' penalizing it with a $100 fine......whilst not endorsing Prop 19 that if passed would make what he was doing in the 70's completely legal......because quite obviously he was toking recreationaly......since he was Mr Universe and didn't seem to me to be using cannabis medicinally ......oh the hypocrisy of politics.....

More recently I have seen Arnie toking on what are probably/look like Cuban cigars that I believe are also illegal in the USA, since the USA has had an embargo on Cuban goods for years...

Cuban cigars are illegal in the United States, except for pre-embargo cigars which are very rare and extremely expensive. If U.S. citizens attempt to buy, own or bring any Cuban cigars into the U.S., they may be subject to fines and other penalties, depending on the particular circumstances.

Cuban Cigars Are Illegal at Home and Abroad
Technically, although an American citizen cannot even purchase or smoke a Cuban cigar while traveling abroad, there may not be any practical way to enforce the restriction. That being said, a cigar smoker who ever wanted to try a Cuban cigar may want to take the chance while traveling in other countries. Canada and Mexico are not very far from many American cities, and those who are planning a Caribbean cruise will find Cuban cigars for sale on many of the islands.

...does anyone know of an American ever busted and fined for smoking Cuban cigars?.....and if so is it an 'infraction' too?

 

[vta]

...does anyone know of an American ever busted and fined for smoking Cuban cigars?.....and if so is it an 'infraction' too?

I've brought hundreds of Cubans home from trips over the years. I always remove the wrappers and put them in a travel humidor. A couple times I was asked by customs if they were Cuban cigars to which I relied No..Nicaraguan, I like them better. Then on my way I went.

 

[vta]

PRESSING HIS POT LUCK

Amid a Hazy Maze of Federal, State and Local Rules, Richard Lee Has Become a Marijuana Millionaire and Major Voice for Legalization.

Richard Lee rolled his wheelchair up the ramp and glided onstage, steering himself to a table draped in a green cloth with "Oaksterdam University" spelled out in gold, varsity-sweater letters.

The founder of the nation's first marijuana trade school was there to deliver a few inspirational words to about 70 students hoping to become the next Richard Lee, an entrepreneur who says his medical marijuana dispensary, nursery and other pot-related businesses bring in as much as $7 million a year.

Lee fiddled with a camera pointed at a leafy plant until an image came into focus on an overhead screen: a ready-to-harvest marijuana bud.

But when he spoke, it was about the business, not the bud. To Lee, the pot business is a political tool to achieve "the most important thing," an end to decades of prohibition. He believes Americans can be persuaded to legalize pot if they see it toked and taxed without dire consequences.

"When I started, they were like, 'No, that'll never work. It will lead to chaos, end of the world, apocalypse, dogs sleeping with cats. It'll just, you know, never work.' And so we had to just basically do it," Lee said. "So that's why I remind you to not be about growing bud and selling bud and making money.

"Be involved in the politics," he said, "and good luck to you. Be careful."

Buds and politics are his life. Lee, 47, has built his pot businesses into a kind of legalization pilot project in Oakland. Now he hopes California voters will take the next step. He is the driving force behind Proposition 19 on the Nov. 2 ballot, which would let people 21 and older grow and possess marijuana and allow local governments to permit retail sales and collect taxes. So far, he has spent $1.5 million to draft the measure, get it on the ballot and sell it to voters.

With his cowlicky hair, aviator glasses and reticent smile, Lee looks disarmingly boyish, as if time stopped in 1982 when Nancy Reagan told Oakland schoolchildren to just say no. But he has become one of the most visible and effective spokesmen for legalization. He comes across on television as earnest, knowledgeable and surprisingly candid for a man who became a millionaire selling a drug that is still illegal under federal law.

Oaksterdam University, founded three years ago, gave Lee a platform. The school started as a lark when he ran a newspaper ad touting "Quality Training for the Cannabis Industry." He didn't intend to provide it, he says. It was agitprop meant to stir media attention.

"I was trying to figure out the best way to promote the idea of a cannabis industry," Lee said, "instead of all this nonprofit cooperatives, a bunch of hippies, peace and love, sharing their bud together, like a Coca-Cola commercial -- you know, teach the world to sing. No, this is like Budweiser and Jack Daniel's. It's a business."

Within days, Lee had a list of applicants, and a joke became a school. It still reflects Lee's subversive sense of humor. The seal is modeled on Harvard's, but with the motto "Veritas" replaced by "Cannabis."

The school, which offers classes on cultivation, cooking, legal issues and pot as a business, has outgrown two sites and now occupies a 30,000-square-foot office building in Oakland. Classes are also offered in Los Angeles, Sebastopol and North Bay, Mich. Some 12,000 students have earned certificates. Fees range from $250 for a weekend seminar to $650 for a 13-week course.

The university is the centerpiece of Lee's businesses, located in a timeworn area near Oakland City Hall that began to revive when marijuana dispensaries were drawn to its cheap real estate. Lee opened one of the first in 1999.

In a bid to demonstrate that marijuana can be a tax-paying, job-generating business like any other, he launched other pot-related ventures including a retail outlet that sells plants from his nursery and a weed-themed gift shop. Lee's enterprises employ 52 people. He promotes the area as a destination for pot tourists and pays the owner of a Model T to drive them around.

He presides over the neighborhood, nicknamed Oaksterdam after pot-friendly Amsterdam, with a proprietary air. He straightens signs. He scoops up trash. He is frequently recognized and asked to pose for photographs. "I feel like the guy in the Mickey Mouse costume," he said.

At Coffeeshop Blue Sky, his dispensary, Lee tries to make the point that a pot shop can be as innocuous as a corner market. He rolls past the caffeine to the room where an employee sells Hindu Skunk ( "Effect: Cerebral; Bouquet: Spicy with sweet undertones" ) from behind a Dutch door. He shows off pot cupcakes, chocolates, lollipops and a concoction with seaweed and alfalfa that he calls "total Northern California."

Lee is single, lives in a one-bedroom apartment and drives a 13-year-old Bonneville. Of his pot prosperity, he said: "I never saw it as my money. I see the businesses as part of the politics."

He operates in a gray zone created by conflicting and murky federal, state and local laws, themselves a reflection of the country's divided attitudes toward pot.

The California attorney general's office says medical marijuana dispensaries and nurseries must be not-for-profit collectives run by patients or caregivers. Most cities with dispensaries adhere to that view, but Oakland lets individuals own dispensaries and make a profit, provided it's not "excessive."

Lee maintains that state law is vague enough to allow for his "liberal, progressive" interpretation that medical cannabis can be a profit-making business.

Under federal laws, marijuana is illegal for any purpose. But the Obama administration has decided not to arrest dispensary operators who are in "unambiguous compliance" with state laws.

To avoid antagonizing federal narcotics agents, Lee talks about his business with a practiced vagueness. "If you don't rub it in their faces," he said, "it's not an issue."

At the same time, Lee insists he has been on a "suicide mission" for almost two decades. "Every year, I try to get busted, and I can't do it," he joked. If it happens, he is prepared. The plants in his nursery sprout from pots labeled: "Juries cannot be punished for their verdicts."

If they become evidence in a trial, Lee hopes the jury will get the message.

Lee grew up in Houston and went to a Catholic high school. His parents were Goldwater Republicans who taught their five sons that marijuana was "the weed of the devil," although they now support his initiative.

He studied communications at the University of Houston but was drawn to extracurricular work as a stagehand for campus shows. He dropped out of school and became a lighting technician for bands. "Everyone I've worked for, you've heard of," he said, naming LL Cool J, Dwight Yoakam and Aerosmith.

In 1990, on tour with Aerosmith, Lee fell and landed on his tool belt. A severe spinal injury left him paralyzed from the waist down. "It was kind of a freak thing because I didn't fall very far," said Lee, who turns silent when pressed for details.

The accident changed everything for the fiercely independent 27-year-old, who used to drive a motorcycle and pilot an ultra-light aircraft. "You could go on a deserted island with a girl. That's fun. So, you know, when you can't get out of the plane, it kind of slows down the fun," he said.

A year later, Lee and a friend were in a drive-through at a Jack in the Box in Houston when carjackers stole their vehicle. "They pulled out large-caliber revolvers and put them to our heads," he said.

The police took 45 minutes to arrive. When Lee, who had left his wheelchair at home, asked for a ride, he says one of the officers cracked, "What do we look like, a taxi company?"

He says he stewed over the delayed police response until he had an epiphany.

"I thought about that the police are wasting their time looking for people like me and my friends, you know, cannabis consumers, instead of the real criminals, the real sociopaths and predators out there," he said, explaining how he was inspired to crusade for marijuana legalization. "The cause saved my life."

He started with a stunt, setting up an informational table on marijuana outside the Houston Police Department. "They were not amused. It lasted about 15 minutes," he said. An officer spotted a water pipe and arrested him. Lee said he spent a night in jail and pleaded no contest.

In 1992, Lee opened a store devoted to non-psychoactive pot. He cheekily named it "Legal Marijuana -- The Hemp Store." It was more soapbox than store. Lee would talk to customers about the absurdity of outlawing a plant as versatile as hemp. "You could start a conversation, and then they started going, 'Wow, the stoner's not stupid,'" he said.

He also started to talk about pot's medical benefits, saying it quieted the spasms in his legs. Now he mostly avoids the subject. "I've always been for total legalization and seen medical only as a political reality," he said.

Lee moved to California in 1997, a year after it became the first state to allow marijuana to be consumed as a medicine. In a warehouse near the Oakland Coliseum, he started a growing operation that he said yielded about a dozen pounds a month. One night, he heard booming and felt the building shake. "I'm like, 'Oh, that's got to be the front door being kicked in, right?'" he said. It was a stadium fireworks display.

He lived in the warehouse for seven years. "You learn not to socialize much," he said. Jeff Jones, who ran the medical marijuana cooperative that Lee supplied and is one of his closest allies, said he was reclusive. He marveled recently at how Lee has managed "to come out of his closet for the last decade."

When he did, he proved a shrewd political strategist.

In 2004, as Oakland clamped down on dispensaries, Lee spearheaded a local initiative requiring police to make marijuana their lowest enforcement priority. To appeal to non-users, he pitched it not as legalization, but as a way to "tax and regulate" marijuana. The measure passed with 65% of the vote.

Marijuana is now all but legal in Oakland. Underground clubs sell it to adults with no pretense that it is for medical use. Four dispensaries pay a tax approved last year that raises about $800,000 a year. The now-pot-enamored City Council has endorsed Lee's legalization initiative, approved a plan for four enormous indoor marijuana farms and placed a pot tax increase on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Council members who were once adversaries treat Lee as a respected advisor. "Let me just thank you for who you are and what you've done for the industry," Councilman Larry Reid said at a hearing after Lee had spoken.

Lee decided to push a statewide initiative even though veteran activists urged him to wait until 2012, when the presidential election would probably bring out more liberal voters. He believed the recession made his tax-and-regulate message all the more resonant.

"He's it. It was his idea. He bankrolled it. His team wrote it," said Dale Gieringer, head of the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Lee has contributed about three-fourths of the $1.9 million the campaign had raised by midyear. His go-it-alone approach left some natural allies on the sidelines, including wealthy donors who bankrolled earlier measures to loosen California's drug laws. And Lee has been vilified by some within the medical marijuana community who prefer the status quo and who argue that the initiative could disrupt their businesses and jeopardize patients' access to pot.

Polls show that about half the state's voters support Proposition 19. Lee, who professes a visceral distaste for politics, had hoped to fade into the background when the initiative made the ballot. But with no high-profile supporters and no money for TV ads, he remains its most visible advocate.

One recent day, Lee drove into San Francisco to search for potential donors and endorsers at a fundraising lunch for a union-backed nonprofit. Wearing his usual Oaksterdam polo shirt, he stood out among the sharp suits and sleek dresses.

As the speeches began, Lee flipped absently through the program, studied ceiling beams and chuckled when Mayor Gavin Newsom announced he had one final thought after stem-winding past several other final thoughts. When the pinstriped Democrat strode out, Lee sped after him and asked for an endorsement.

Newsom, a candidate for lieutenant governor, reeled back in theatrical horror. "Oh, Jesus," he cried. "Oh, God. Oh, God."

He swiveled. He vanished.

Undeterred, Lee went back inside to try again.


Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Author: John Hoeffel, Reporting from Oakland