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WEED DEALINGS - STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINES

What's an activist worth? Not much as I've come to see it. Most activists who I've met think that protesting, reading

Adbusters

, and espousing anti-corporate rhetoric is an occupation. That's why I'm hesitant to call the people I met at

the Emerald Cup

activists. They're not activists, they overflow the term activist. They don't just stand in opposition. They strategize, analyze, anticipate, organize, and educate. They're not just out there waving signs every time something disagreeable happens. No, the folks who I met have been on this struggle since the early 70s, pushing for what they think is right.

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What I have is two stories, from two states. Each is drastically different from the other, and the people caught up in them are having very different experiences. When I went to the Emerald Cup I was basically sitting in on a grand reunion of the folks who've been pushing for fair use of cannabis since the beginning of the movement. They had converged from places all over the country, so it was interesting to be privy to the differences in everyone's experiences with their local government. And as you might expect, tales run the gamut from some of the most cooperative government agencies in Northern California, to the militaristic enforcement of the War on Drugs in East Coast states. It's a wave, and the wave is doing all kinds of stuff besides moving in a straight line.

Because every state is making up their own medical cannabis laws there isn't much consistency from one state to the next. For many, the legislation governing marijuana has been in place since Nixon was in office. That means we are being regulated from a time when marijuana was grossly misunderstood. They are sitting in 1950 and telling us what to do in 2011. In 1950 they were convinced that marijuana causes cancer and ruins minds, while now we know that marijuana can halt the growth of tumors, prevent the breakdown of neurons, and help ease the pains of cancer and HIV. It's understandable that folks would be in opposition to marijuana if they've never tried it. And it's understandable to see that folks wouldn't want to try marijuana, because in the 1950s they were told that it could do all kinds of bad things. The old mindstate is further reinforced by the war on drugs, and much like the war on terrorism, the war on drugs doesn't seem to be a war so much as an extended feat of attrition by two groups conflicted over right and wrong.

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Even though California has made patients' rights clear, some city organizations have attempted to challenge those rights. So even in California there are discrepancies from city to city when it comes to what is and isn't allowed under SB 420. But in spite of many difficulties, Northern California has proven itself to be the most favorable community for patients, activists, government, law enforcement, and industry members. And, it's in Northern California that Pebbles Trippet has lived her life in support of the marijuana movement. Since the 70s she's been patiently working to end the cannabis prohibition. "This is a peace issue. We are a civil rights movement against the war on drugs."

For Pebbles, the frontline is her hometown of Mendocino. Here she is carving out a living for herself as a farmer, and working with local officials to establish a Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board. Currently Mendocino enforces marijuana regulation through a civil ordinance. This means that enforcing regulations can levy harsh results, while the terms of compliance are somewhat unassuming in comparison. Here residents are struggling with retrofitting more than headbusting. Because Mendocino is a producing region, you'll find many farmers here who are growing for a number of patients in a number of places. This means that the limits for how many plants can be on one piece of property should be higher. The county is granting exemptions to current limits, but this is done with too much reservation.

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But for Pebbles this is to be expected. Of course there should be some hangnail to remain, because that's been the nature of this movement from the beginning. It's a constantly changing beast : "If you really want to make an impact, you have to be patient. You can't expect results tomorrow." Pebbles has a zen-like quality about her (as cliché as it sounds, it's true). At 80 years old she's more spry than a lot of the desk addled 20-somethings I know. She was incredibly vibrant and gracious with the people I saw her interact with. While many might try to say that Pebbles is in a losing position I would argue otherwise. She is winning harder than any rappers. She caught a charge, took the bid, appealed, won, and changed the way the law was enforced. Because of Pebbles 215 patients are given explicit permission to transport medicine.

And while Pebbles may be closer to the crest of the wave, Steve Sarich is somewhere in the break catching flack further up the Pacific Coast in Seattle.

It's a bit of a chicken and the egg dilemma when you look at the states where citizens and governments seem to be at odds. If citizens were less brazen, would government be more willing to negotiate? If governments were regulating marijuana based on up to date facts, would citizens find themselves in such predicaments? The answers to those questions aren't really important though, because it's never cut and dry like that. With an issue like medical cannabis you're dealing with a lot of people with a lot of different interests. There are folks who believe that cannabis is bad for you; there are folks who believe that utilizing the cannabis plant—not just the flowers—enhances their lives greatly; there are some people who think medicinal use should be open to anyone who finds healing value in the plant; there are some people who believe that only those stricken with the most serious illnesses should have access to medical cannabis; there are some people who believe that cannabis should be legalized for anyone over 18; and the dualities go on and on and on. And all these dualities overlap and get intertwined, and then we find ourselves amongst them as citizens and government, and we struggle to find our way out smoothly, and what happens is what Steve Sarich has had to deal with.

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In Washington Steve Sarich was grazed by a shotgun blast intended for his face. The shot was fired by a man who had broken into Sarich's home to rob him. Sarich wound up shooting the shooter's accomplice, and called 911. When the police showed up they seized Sarich and his wife's personal medical marijuana and clones—small plants grown from cuttings of older plants—which were being grown for distribution through Sarich's dispensary. Unfortunately there isn't much that can be done, and there isn't much more to it. Cases like this go to trial, and sometimes end favorably. And sometimes they end poorly, get appealed, then end poorly again. Or favorably. That's pretty much it. Afterwards it's back to the eternal struggle of citizen versus law.

Sarich is in the paint harder than most rappers. Plain and simple. He is one of many in an ongoing list of casualties—some of whom manage to resurrect themselves several times—in the war on cannabis. It's not a war that anyone wins, just like "real" wars. It divides our country, it diverts much-needed revenues, it inhibits the growth of new wealth, it fills prisons, it destroys lives. In a war like this there isn't plodding incremental work towards lasting victories. This is run and gun from both sides. Law enforcement and government have a very specific idea of how to regulate, citizens disagree, resolution is precluded, and dispute ensues.

And so it ends with an oldie but a goodie from the index of human experience: duality. It's the firm stick and the supple branch; going with the flow and going against the grain; laying low and standing out. Know where you're at and know where you stand.

ZACHARY G. MOLDOF

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