Legal Pot in California in 2010? "Oaksterdam" Provides the Model

Can you get a FAFSA grant or any others to be able to attend Oaksterdam....I am ready to roll valedictorian. Seriously though there is a need in the medical community and I would love the opportunity to grow and supply for local medicinal patient facilities. There are many in Oregon that honestly can't tend to gardens. I would rather have the right to help supply dispensaries than to try co-op or multiple patient gardens.

legalize it... dont criticize it...
Hemp is a wonderful plant. Great for producing many products (it can even be a renuable source of oil) and is totally sustainable. It doesnt degrade the land like tobacco and other crops do, and it can grow anywhere!!!
Its good for the environment and the economy!!!

I missed this posting yesterday and posted it myself today.

Yeah, I feel dumb but, it's a good article.

Thanks Ras.

Ladies, Gentlemen..

I put my ass on the line for you. I want your help. If I have to go to prison for saying it, then so be it .Following is a direct quote from a letter to me, written by one of my state senators. The Honorable Mr. McConnel is a senior senator.

My post isn't on this specific topic. Unless you want to consider the legalization of marijuana the topic. I post this for your information. As an advocate for legalization, I've done more than run my mouth on Current. I wrote my governor. My governor is the Honorable Mitch McConnel, minority whip of the the Senate. Republican.

I write now to include you in his response to me. Understand please, I respect this gentlemen. No matter your feelings for him, he's stood up for the citizens of my state, KY. I respect him. I think he's wrong, but I respect his opinion. He said...

"Your comments are part of a growing national dialogue on our society's attitudes and the government's policy towards crime. But because of the harm that substances like marijuana and other illegal drugs pose to our society , I oppose their legalization. The detrimental effects of drugs have been well documented; short term memory loss, loss of core motor functions, heightened risk of lung cancer, and even death. Illegal substances such as marijuana can also sometimes serve as gateway drugs, leading our children into even more dangerous drugs after first trying marijuana. Further, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the use of marijuana even for medicinal purposes. And I am troubled by the manner in which many of the legalization proposals propose to make marijuana available to the public without the approval of the FDA.

This is the face and words of the enemy my friends. He's not stupid. And he's not really my emeny. Probably smarter than I. But wrong. Dead wrong. Don't for one second, abandon our stance. It's guys like this we need to convince. We have to SHOW him.

Legalize marijuana!! NOW!!!!

make it so already

I have a 215 for anxiety I was taking very toxic meds for years untill my liver was inlarged so MJ helps not toxic to the liver and alot better for you than alcahol. When my 87 year old mother had cancer I made tea with it it really helps with nausea. I hope they make it legal.
If you don't know what a 215 is it is Cali's medical MJ sorry country I was born and raised here. I have a open mind and that was before my 215.

approved...let the individual choose what is ingested into the body/NOT big brother

i cant say if it will become legal or not but i do not believe it will boost our current economic situation. that can only be done by creating jobs on a massive level but i digress. should the herb become legal the price would drop due to over growth because anyone who wanted to could grow. at least i think that would be a natural consequence of legalization.
that would be nice.

why are they waiting till 2010? They will be out of money on July 28th according to their controller in a interview he did with bloomberg TV this afternoon.

Enough!! Enough talks and discussions. Legalize it already and let's get on with regular day living. We are in a world where North Korea is threatening the world with nuclear war! Iran is right behind North Korea also threatening to use and continues to build nuclear weapons.
Clearly, marijuana is not what the world fears.
Legalize it and let us get on with facing vital and urgent issues.

This is going to be epic.

It should be legalized for so many reasons. If tobacco and alcohol, are why isn't cannabis?
If it helps people with medical problems it's a sin not to let them have it. We buy aspirins in drug stores, convenient stores, groceries stores... why not have it with natural remedies? Or prescription?
Decades ago we knew it helped prevent or correct cachexia in cancer patients. Who knows maybe it would prevent untimely deaths in anorexic patients. But it can't be done with out shedding the obsolete view of IT!

Just think of all the tourism too. "Oaksterdam" would be the hottest place to go in America, and the money coming in would astronomical. Win-win situation as I see it.

If we all take a peek intothe future, we will see that it is slowly going to be more and more accepted in various states and eventually will lead to leagalization and regulation. I already know a few people closely and I can easily say that they are not criminals and they are good citizens who care for others. The old images of guyy slobbering in the gutter wearing rags, is gone. Facing the present and the future requires maturity. Let's hope the governments awaken to the new day, because it is here.

The only people that disfavor legalizing pot seem to be those whose positions rely on outmoded, discredited propaganda.

Lee's group plans to send the initiative to California Attorney General Jerry Brown in July for the summary and title oversight required by law. Signature gathering will begin in August, with 650,000 signatures required by January to make the November 2010 ballot. An efficient political operation, with paid signature gatherers, as well as thousands of volunteers is expected.

Recently I spent a morning in Oakland with Lee touring the array of facilities that make up his Oaksterdam network, including his ownership of seven buildings in a few block radius. The fact that Lee is at the center of the legalization action is not a surprise, given his drive, passion and obvious business skills. In fact, it is tempting to say, after spending time with the a whip smart political advocate and businessman, that I have seen the pot future and it is Richard Lee and Oaksterdam.

Lee is not exactly a household word in political and drug reform circles. But based on his current media attention -- including Geraldo, MSNBC, and tons of print articles, he very soon will be the person most associated with pot legalization in America. Lee is no "Johnny come-lately," either. Over the past decade, he has taken major strides in building a cannabis business empire in the entertainment section of Oakland which includes new bars, restaurants, a rash of new highly designed condos, the popular Paramount Theatre, and the spectacular renovation of the famous Fox Theater, which lay dormant for many years. Lee joked that he heard that when the Allman Bothers Band played in Oakland recently, that the Fox enjoyed the pungent small of pot smoke, a welcome sign for the area to be pot friendly. Much of the downtown growth effort comes from initiatives begun when Jerry Brown, now Attorney General and candidate for governor, was Mayor.

Lee also has a number of political successes under his belt. In fact in the next few weeks, Oakland voters will be voting on a July special election mail-in ballot that includes Measure F, which would make their city the first in the nation to establish a new tax rate for "cannabis businesses." If the measure is approved, Oakland medical marijuana businesses, which generate an estimated $20 million annually in sales - and are now charged at the general tax rate of $1.20 per $1,000 gross receipts - would see that rate raised to $18 per $1,000, a 15-fold increase.

According the Carla Marinucci, reporting for the San Francisco Chronicle, the measure was supported enthusiastically by Lee and overseers of other city medical marijuana dispensaries as one that could contribute more than $400,000 a year to city coffers while also giving the medical marijuana businesses an increasingly mainstream profile in a major city.

Another ballot success has been Measure Z, which passed by Oakland voters 64- 36 in 2004. Measure Z gave Lee and many local pot advocates some serious maneuvering room, attempting to effectively legalize marijuana use in the city. More than 30,000 Oakland residents signed petitions to put Z on the ballot which asked Oakland Police to put all other criminal activity before the prosecution of pot users and requested city officials to advocate legalization of adult marijuana use statewide.