“Tax us!” The declaration was nearly unanimous in the crowded hall.
Almost all 175 attendees at the Feb. 19 statewide activists conference, Measure Z and Beyond: The Agenda for Marijuana
Reform in California, agreed that they were ready and willing to pay a fair tax if they could purchase and consume legal cannabis at licensed and regulated businesses. The two holdouts were of a more libertarian bent.
The process of how to move in that direction was on the minds of the activists from 23 counties who came to the heart of
Oaksterdam to discuss the Oakland Cannabis Regulation and Revenue
Ordinance. Many are clearly interested in bringing a similar initiative or ordinance to their areas and ultimately to the state level, and these topics took up the morning session.
The afternoon focused on legal and medical marijuana issues such as the pending Raich Supreme Court ruling, dispensaries and local guidelines, followed by breakout sessions focusing on specific topics.
 Attendees filled the YMCA theater.
Several elected officials arrived throughout the day
to show support, including City Councilmember Desley Brooks, Alameda
County Supervisor Nate Miley, School Board member and mayoral candidate
Dan Siegel, and AC Transit board member Rebecca Kaplan. The audience
roared when Susan Stephenson capped off her presentation on campaign
tactics by playing a recording of the Bay Area’s popular US
Congresswoman Barbara Lee giving a telephone endorsement for Measure Z
that went out to 30,000 Oakland voter households just days before the
election.
The conference at the YWCA was co-sponsored by the
Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance (OCLA), California NORML, Drug Policy
Alliance (DPA), Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), and Americans for Safe
Access (ASA).
“You’re making history here,” MPP director Rob
Kampia stated. He pointed out that Measure Z is the first tax and
regulate measure to pass in this country, and this is the first
conference that is focussing on this tactic. Working in Washington, DC,
Kampia doubts that Congress is ever going to pass a tax and regulate
bill. “It’s going to have to come from the states that have initiative
processes.” There are 17 such states in the country.
Measure Z – A Success Story
Judy Appel, a former attorney with the Drug Policy
Alliance and board member, moderated a panel of OCLA board
members and staff.
Richard Lee, owner of the Bulldog Coffeeshop said he
worked with Sup. Miley and his aide, Joe DeVries, two strong supporters
of medical marijuana in Oakland. They ran a focus group in 2003 to see
where voters stood and found that 8 of 10 women supported taxing and
regulating cannabis to raise funds for the cash-strapped city. “The
time was right. The support was there,” he said. He formed OCLA-PAC
with a stellar cast of organizers and activists, to develop and
implement the initiative.
Board member Dale Gieringer gave a breakdown of the
costs and benefits of ending marijuana prohibition as an incentive for
reform. “The state is wasting 150 million dollars a year enforcing
marijuana laws, when it could be generating at least $1 billion a year
in tax revenue,” said Gieringer, director of Cal NORML.
“It helped that we started off with some solid
endorsements from respected local political leaders,” said board member
Mikki Norris, director of the Cannabis Consumers Campaign. Having two
city council members, two supervisors, a school board member, and AC
Transit board member endorse the campaign early on, made it easier to
generate more endorsements later. “After we got the support of the MGO
Democratic Club, we were able to get all the Democratic clubs and Green
parties behind us,” she said. She named a long list of supporters that
included state Sen. Don Perata, the California Nurses Association, Rev.
Harold Mayberry, the superintendent of Alameda County Schools and
others that can be found on the web site, www.taxandregulate.org.
 Stephenson and Norris give an electoral pitch.
Nuts and bolts discussed
Stacey Swimme, Field Coordinator for Americans for
Safe Access, moderated the medical marijuana panel. Court-qualified
cannabis expert Chris Conrad kicked off the session with a PowerPoint
presentation on state demographics showing that work is needed in the
Central Valley and eastern regions.
 A bouquet with the scent of freedom.
“The more we regulate ourselves the better,” added
Jeff Jones, Director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Coop, which has
verified and issued ID cards to thousands of qualified medical
marijuana patients who use them to gain access to dispensaries and as a
safeguard against arrest.
Steph Sherer, Executive Director of Americans for
Safe Access, gave a call to action. “We must be prepared and ready for
when the Raich decision is handed down by the Supreme Court.” Americans
for Safe Access is asking supporters to gather outside of their US
representative's local district office two days after the decision is
announced, to honor a good decision or to mourn a bad one. “We need to
show the nation we are watching”
 Conrad gives a presentation on state demographics.
Legal consultations
People got free legal advice from a group of
attorneys including Rob Raich, whose wife, Angel, is a plaintiff in the
Supreme Court case. “If we win, it will be a tremendous victory for
patients all over the country. If we lose, the status quo will be
preserved, but local and state laws are still protected,” Raich assured
attendees. “And we still need to change laws at the state and federal
levels.”
Oakland attorney, Bill Panzer discussed nuts and
bolt issues about protecting yourself as a patient. Attorney Omar
Figueroa told patients that if you grow cannabis, you might want to get
multiple recommendations to protect yourself from police. “Post
documents around your garden. Don’t say anything. Let the paperwork
speak for itself. Don’t make statements to law enforcement,” he warned.
“Ask to speak to a lawyer.”
Joe Elford, an attorney for ASA, discussed the
motions for return of property when marijuana is seized from patients
and ASA’s lawsuit against the CHP for violating patients’ rights under
Prop. 215.
 Elford, Panzer, Figueroa and Raich share their perspectives. |
Volume 1 
The Men's Wearhouse George Zimmer
