I know that you, kind parent, brought your child to Berkeley this weekend as a celebration of his or her academic achievements. After all, as you’ve proudly told all the other mothers in your social circle, UC Berkeley is not the kind of school to which just anyone is accepted. It takes someone special, and now you — I mean, your child — have the acceptance letter to prove what you’ve known all along: Your child is special.

This weekend, then, is a reward, the culmination of four years of picking your child up from various extracurricular activities and paying a small fortune for College Board tests.

But there’s something permeating the crisp Berkeley air this weekend that’s tainting the entire experience. It smells vaguely familiar, like something your own dorm room might have smelled like 20, 30 years ago …

Let me just say in advance that I’m sorry the administration chose this weekend to invite the legions of Berkeley hopefuls to campus. Even the head honchos in California Hall must know what April 20 (better known as 4/20) means to college hippies.

Now, dear parent, slowly count to 10, and stall the panic that’s already settling in. Just because you catch a whiff of weed in the air does not mean that you should march your child right back home.

Because, first off, chances are he or she already knows what weed smells like. Face it: Your son isn’t a child anymore — he’s growing up. And if he really is confusing that scent with skunk (as I myself innocently did three years ago), find comfort in the fact that his first exposure to drugs is with you in broad daylight rather than in a dingy frat house with people he will have just met come August.

I know that all those half-naked stoners on Memorial Glade (beautiful, picturesque Memorial Glade!) are really torching your fantasy — no pun intended. I know you’ve always pictured Berkeley as a bastion of academia and culture. Take two steps inside the North Reading Room at Doe Library, and you’ll encounter the former in spades. Just take a look at that ceiling, I’m serious.

Berkeley is every bit the academic hot spring those brochures broadcast — it’s tough, competitive and soul-sucking in the most rewarding way possible. Four years here, and your child will come out on the other side an idealistic radical perfectly poised for a quarter-life crisis.

And as far as culture goes … well, your child always said he wanted the authentic college experience, right? So here you two are, standing in the middle of Sproul Plaza, being bombarded with tours and activities and information, and all you can smell is marijuana occasionally mixed with the stale-sweat-and-cigarette aroma of a homeless man.

If Berkeley the university is a respected and dignified old man, then Berkeley the surrounding city is a dangerous (and most likely disowned) wild child. Yes, there are homeless people squatting on the sidewalk (a right the citizens of Berkeley actually fought to protect this last fall). Yes, there are at least 57 Nepali souvenir shops within a five-block radius. Yes, People’s Park is the condensed version of all your vivid nightmares involving your child away at school.

And yes, the yuppie inside of you wants to flee to College Avenue or Fourth Street before you have to “experience” any more of this.

But do me a favor, OK? Take one long look at your child. Watch him closely as he soaks it all in this weekend: the campus that seems impossibly big, the dirty city streets pulsing with pedestrians, the utter lack of comforting and homogenized chain restaurants. Watch him as he watches everyone else. Watch him want to be a part of all of it. Watch the paralyzing fear duke it out with overwhelming excitement on his face. I bet the excitement wins out.

I know that today may seem like a total letdown to you, parent. Memorial Glade, clogged with lazy students, just became a train wreck you can’t tear your eyes away from. But at the very least, take comfort in the fact that this only happens one day a year and that you never have to stare it in the face again. There are 364 more days to visit your child once he’s settled into his dorm.

And bear in mind that there are so many things for your child to see and do this weekend that he might not even remember this vivid scene (as long as you usher him away fast enough).

I’ll leave you with a little story that I’m sure you can relate to. When my mother’s friend was applying to law schools, he was stuck between Berkeley and Stanford. So he toured both. Beforehand, he was warned that Berkeley is the kind of school you either immediately love or hate; there’s really no in-between.

As soon as he set foot on campus, he saw a crazy man wearing a dress. He ended up choosing Stanford, though his son oddly enough now goes here. Funny how fate works. The moral of the story stands true: As far as Berkeley goes, you either love it or hate it.

So let your child love it.

Contact Annie Gerlach at agerlach@dailycal.org.

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In addition to the Memorial Glade scene for cannabis enthusiasts, the Bay Area will also play host to Hempcon 2013 in San Jose — a medical marijuana convention that I was initially made aware of via, you guessed it, a bathroom wall graffito. On the third floor women’s restroom of Wheeler Hall, in a stall closest to the entrance, “HEMPCON” is written in all caps. Probably just another doped up student promoting a little gathering, I assumed. How very wrong I was.

Just a few days after seeing the bathroom wall endorsement, I noticed hundreds of bright pink Hempcon advertisements posted on telephone polls throughout South Berkeley and Oakland as I drove to Santa Barbara. Later came the billboards. When driving back home through San Francisco, I saw the most costly and conspicuous one yet: a giant Hempcon billboard along highway 101, a prime location. Keep in mind these types of advertisement campaigns likely cost thousands of dollars, at the very least, even without televised or radio-broadcasted commercials.

So what exactly is Hempcon and where is all the money coming from?

The idea that there could be so much financial and professional event planning put into a weed convention clashes with the way many Berkeley students probably view marijuana. Smokers here might like to think that each leaf they buy is homegrown by a guy named Sunshine who talks to his plants every night and only uses organic, sustainable growing practices.

Hempcon, on the other hand, seems to be a slightly different narrative. Mega Productions is the corporate entity that is responsible for planning the event. According to Mega Productions’ website, its clients have included AT&T, Pepsi, State Farm Insurance, Microsoft and Ebay. The convention itself, which is touted as America’s largest medical marijuana exposition, will showcase exhibitors, a keynote speech and even musical entertainment. Legal advocates, medical practitioners and dispensary representatives should also be present.

There is this sentiment among many pot smokers that weed is one homogenous, counter-culture movement that champions camaraderie, peace and relaxation. Wherever you are, whatever strain of grass you’re smoking — it’s all one love connected by the beauty of getting baked.

Sure, marijuana might have some of those qualities. It certainly promotes love more than a plastic appliance from Walmart would. But just as it is important to know where your fruits and vegetables are coming from, it is also prudent to understand where your weed originates. Was it delivered from outside the U.S. in a giant illegal transport? Through which hands has it passed? If there are any negative externalities associated with the production or transportation of the good, then it is the responsibility of the consumer to make a sound decision based on such information. In the same way that a bathroom wall scribble can turn out to be part of a larger corporate event, what lies behind bud can be more than meets the bloodshot eye.

Contact Kimberly Veklerov at kveklerov@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter: @kveklerov.

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The suit, filed on Oct. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, could affect all dispensaries in California — including the three medical cannabis dispensaries in Berkeley — after a federal crackdown on cannabis dispensaries began last fall. The crackdown negates a promise by the Obama administration not to raid dispensaries in compliance with state law and guidelines.

Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in California, located at 1840 Embarcadero in Oakland, has embroiled itself in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice, which issued a memo in June 2011 stating it would enforce federal laws relating to medical cannabis regardless of state laws.

Berkeley Patients Group, the oldest and largest Berkeley dispensary, voluntarily closed last May after receiving letters from the U.S. Attorneys’ Office. The dispensary has plans to reopen, despite continued pressure from the federal government.

The Berkeley dispensary received letters earlier this year stating that it was in violation of a federal law mandating that dispensaries be located 1,000 feet away from schools and playgrounds — California’s minimum requirement is only 600 feet away.
Berkeley City Councilmember Jesse Arreguin said Berkeley’s situation is different from that of Oakland because Berkeley has not had any raids or forcible closures.

“We have not discussed (filing a suit), and I don’t think we would,” Arreguin said. “Unlike the situation in Oakland, the federal government has not shut down dispensaries in any raids here. Berkeley’s situation is different.”

However, Arreguin said he feels the council should support the lawsuit and file an amicus curiae — or a “friend of the court” — which would allow Berkeley to publicly show its support in the Oakland lawsuit.

“It’s unfortunate what happened in Oakland,” Arreguin said. “I hope it doesn’t happen in Berkeley, but we need to speak out about it. It’s a very tenuous time for patients and providers of medical cannabis because there’s a lot of uncertainty of what’s going to happen next.”

Though the chances of Oakland winning the lawsuit are slim, the suit could prove to be beneficial to dispensaries everywhere because the case shows the city of Oakland taking a stand, said Charlie Pappas, a member of the Berkeley’s Medical Cannabis Commission.

“It’s a real lawsuit, and most of the elected officials won’t even write a letter,” Pappas said. “A few have, but this is real action. It might not help dispensaries be more legal, but it might help them fight back more.”

Additionally, Kris Hermes, spokesperson for Americans for Safe Access, said Oakland’s lawsuit could relieve some pressure from Berkeley dispensaries.

“Currently, they are in fear that at any moment the federal government could threaten their landlords to evict them, as the Justice Department has done in literally hundreds of locations around the state,” Hermes said.

Though Berkeley Patients Group was the only dispensary to close in Berkeley, they did so voluntarily — unlike many dispensaries across the state that have been forcibly shut down or raided.

“It’s a practical fight as well as a symbolic fight,” Hermes said.

Contact Ally Rondoni at arondoni@dailycal.org.

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Yet The Daily Californian published an op-ed on Aug. 20, called “Marijuana ban would protect youth, families,” admonishing the use of marijuana, not alcohol, which is arguably the more harmful drug. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that more than 37,000 annual U.S. deaths, including almost 10,000 in California, are attributed to alcohol use. On the other hand, the CDC does not even have a category for deaths caused by the use of marijuana.

The vast majority of adults who use marijuana don’t develop an addiction or move on to harder drugs. The latest research on cannabis and schizophrenia runs contrary to mainstream media hype, and the author’s assertions about marijuana and pregnancy are without basis.

Certainly, marijuana can be abused, and caution is necessary when indulging in it, especially in the form of edibles. When I traveled to Amsterdam, I was given an informational pamphlet at my hotel with principles of safe cannabis use. In a world of legalization and regulation, this would be commonplace.

A long-term epidemiological study from UCLA found that cannabis is not related to lung cancer. Still, vaporizing it is more healthy than smoking, since carcinogens are contained in the plant matter that is burned when smoking.

Softening laws doesn’t lead to more underage use. In California and other states that have passed medical marijuana laws, teen marijuana use is down. Similarly in the Netherlands, marijuana use and hard drug use is lower among teens than it is in the U.S.

California NORML doesn’t condone underage use or driving under the influence. I recommend anyone with iPhones download the Alertometer application to test your ability to drive, whether you’re using marijuana, alcohol or prescription drugs. Workplace drug testing has been shown not to improve workplace safety.

California NORML estimates that legalizing marijuana for adult use would bring in $1.2 billion yearly in sales taxes, with ancillary benefits of $12 billion to $18 billion. Drug cartels don’t pay taxes, and they don’t ID for underage users.

I see that UC policy prohibits student drinking that impairs “work performance, scholarly activities, or student life.” A similar policy around marijuana, instead of the criminal status it now has, would be more sane and just. As it stands, students are subject to arrest, jeopardizing student loans, future employment and more because of marijuana use.

California NORML is fighting to change that.

— Ellen Komp, deputy director at California NORML 

Contact the opinion desk at opinion@dailycal.org.

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Marijuana is not medicine, and 98 percent of the patients aren’t suffering from serious illness. They just want to get high or are in it for the money. Since students’ generation will soon inherit the empire, you had best take an honest assessment of the true social and economic impacts of marijuana and other drugs.

America has declined in the world academically, with 1.2 million high school drop outs, more than 6.1 million kids being raised by grandparents or in foster homes and an annual cost to the nation for substance abuse of  more than $1 trillion.

While isolated components of the marijuana may have medicinal value, the entire plant does not. Real medicines have known ingredients, dosage and potency and must be reproducible in consistent form, like pills. They must pass scrutiny of the Food and Drug Administration, and they are never dispensed by 21-year-old kids in retail pot shops whose only training comes from smoking pot. And smoking is never an acceptable delivery system.

Marijuana causes brain damage, particularly during adolescence, and is harmful until the brain is fully developed at age 25 or later. It can also lead to psychosis, including schizophrenia and paranoia, and suicidal depression, and 17 percent of those who start smoking before age 18 will become addicted to it.  Used alone, it doesn’t kill by overdose, but almost all of the 3,400 Americans who die monthly of overdose started their drug journey with marijuana. And overdose isn’t the only cause of death or only adverse outcome. Addiction alone will ruin one’s life and family.

Scientific research has shown that because of the potency of today’s pot, a fetus can incur brain damage and physical harm only two weeks after conception, before many women even realize they are pregnant. Even if the  pregnant mother stops, it’s too late for the baby.

You have a choice of what to believe regarding Rep. Barbara Lee’s H.R. 6335. Either she is unenlightened on the true harms of marijuana or her philosophies are shaped by campaign contributions or both. In either case, she has violated the public trust to safeguard people and our tax dollars.

If you are part of the 81 percent to 85 percent of young people who don’t smoke pot, keep in mind that shortly your hard work will have to pay for the burden of those who work less or not at all.  Think hard about whether you want to do that.

Help stop the hoax!

Roger Morgan is the founder and director of Take Back America.

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Although a date of reopening has not yet been determined, construction to renovate the interior and exterior areas of the new property at 2366 San Pablo Avenue in the commercial district has already begun.

According to a permit application submitted in July by Sean Luse, chief operating officer for the dispensary, BPG applied to remove and replace the asphalt parking lot and renovate the interior and exterior structures of the building, such as placing new tiles and adding doors to make it accessible for disabled people. The estimated exterior cost of renovations is $49,000, according to the application.

“BPG has and will continue to be a positive community resource serving patients in the City of Berkeley and the surrounding region,” reads a BPG press release.

Last fall, the U.S. Department of Justice began a statewide effort to enforce regulations on the the marijuana industry throughout California and sent letters to owners of commercial marijuana stores that they were not complying with federal laws and could be subject to closure.

BPG closed May 1 after receiving a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s Office warning the dispensary that it was in violation of a federal law that stipulates that dispensaries cannot be located within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds, although California law only requires a 600-ft. distance between schools and dispensaries. Since its closure, the dispensary has continued to operate through delivery services.

According to the press release, the dispensary’s new location will be more than 1,000 feet away from all elementary, middle and high schools.

BPG will also have a security guard stationed 24 hours per day for seven days a week to monitor the property, according to the release. The release states an eight-foot fence complete with an alarm system will surround the area and security cameras will be operated by a 24-hour remote.

Although neighbors have expressed some concerns regarding how the establishment may affect their businesses, the press release states the dispensary is “committed to working proactively” with the community.

Berkeley Patients Group could not be reached for comment as of press time.

“(BPG) intends to (reopen), and I would encourage them to,” said Dan Rush, chair of the Berkeley Medical Cannabis Commission and director of the Medical Cannabis and Hemp Division at United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

According to Charles Pappas, a member of the commission, the commission will meet in September for further discussion regarding the move.

Last week, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, introduced the Medical Marijuana Property Rights Protection Act, which would prevent the U.S. Department of Justice from using forfeiture laws to seize property from medical marijuana dispensaries that are compliant with state laws.

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A criminal complaint against Trinh, 45, and operation participants Lan Jin, of Berkeley, and Andy Wong, of Oakland, was filed with the court by a special agent of the FBI on April 30, 2010. The complaint stated that according to evidence, Trinh, Jin and Wong had engaged in a conspiracy from 2008 to 2010, during which they cultivated and distributed marijuana as part of a large-scale operation.

Trinh, Jin and Wong were arrested during the execution of a federal search warrant on April 29, 2010. According to the criminal complaint filed, federal agents found about 160 plants that were soon determined to be marijuana plants at Trinh and Jin’s Berkeley residence. Agents also found indicators of an indoor marijuana-growing operation, such as fans and hydroponic growing tools, in the garage.

Additionally, agents found 729 marijuana plants in the lower level of Wong’s residence, according to the complaint.

In a bedroom of Trinh and Jin’s home, a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol loaded with eight rounds was found. Agents also found considerable amounts of what appeared to be cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine, according to the complaint.

The office of U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag stated that Trinh made his initial appearance in federal court on May 3, 2010.

In March 2012, Trinh admitted he was in charge of managing the marijuana operation sites. He also admitted to stealing electricity from Pacific Gas and Electric Company in order to support the operation.

According to a June 26 press release from Haag’s office, Trinh was sentenced to 15 years in prison “for masterminding a large-scale marijuana cultivation conspiracy.” The sentence, which was determined by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston, included “a five-year period of supervised release and a restitution order of $74,000.”

Wong and Jin were sentenced to 24 months and 12 months, respectively.

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Certainly our school’s celebration is no match for that of UC Santa Cruz, but that’s all right. Unlike the Banana Slugs down south, we actually have work to do anyway. Besides, Berkeley’s cannabis culture is much more interesting considering our campus’s rich history. Ironically, one of UC Berkeley’s biggest benefactors was a critical player in banning the drug in the United States. The newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst (of the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre) launched a yellow journalism campaign in the 1930s, turning popular opinion towards prohibition. So, next time you’re at the Greek, light up to truly stick it to the man!

But while our school may seem like a utopian portal back to the 1960s on 4/20, life is less blissful outside of the Berkeley bubble. Although UCPD is fairly tolerant towards marijuana on campus, the federal government is certainly not, if you walk a few miles down Telegraph.

Just two weeks ago today, the Drug Enforcement Agency raided Oaksterdam University, shutting down the city of Oakland’s celebrated marijuana training school. Tragically, the raid involving hordes of armed federal agents occurred at roughly the same time and just a few miles away from the shooting at Oikos University that left seven dead. Although the officers certainly couldn’t have predicted the massacre or intervened in time, the incident nevertheless stands as a symbolic statement of our government’s perverse priorities. Instead of improving our broken criminal justice system, the federal government has counterproductively concentrated on prosecuting nonviolent “crimes” like cannabis possession for too long.

Unfortunately, the trend is only worsening under President Obama. Despite having promised on the campaign trail not to waste “Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue,” Obama and his administration have raided more than 100 pot dispensaries. This pace is so incredible that it’s currently poised to exceed President Bush’s previous record.

Now, you may be asking yourself, what’s so terrible about the War on Drugs? Perhaps the propaganda of the past has been a bit over the top (see: “Reefer Madness”), but drugs are still bad, right? We all have that annoying stoner friend who raids our kitchen without permission while high. Perhaps a little drug war would force him to have a more productive life, right?

Wrong. Proponents of prohibition often forget that drugs are already illegal. So, the fact that marijuana is so prevalent today is living proof of the ban’s failure. Indeed, the facts unquestionably prove that prohibition is ineffective. A survey from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, for example, found that pot and prescription pills are more accessible to teens today than beer. And the past is even worse. America’s national alcohol prohibition from 1919 to 1933 only led to higher consumption and crime.

Unfortunately, America has not learned from her history and has only repeated it. Regarding increased consumption, a 2010 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that marijuana use has been on the rise over the past decade. Regarding crime, America’s prohibition has created a black market in which Mexican drug cartels battle each other and their government to smuggle narcotics into the United States.

In the past six years alone, more than 47,000 people have been killed in Mexico because of drug-related violence, according to government estimates. Such are the unintended consequences of our government’s War on Drugs. If drugs were legalized in the United States, on the other hand, customers could buy safer products from legitimate businesses. Instead, drug users today have no choice but to buy products of the Mexican Drug War from back alley dealers.

But, at the end of the day, the question we should all ask ourselves this 4/20 is not one of policy but philosophy. Do we want a government that asserts control over our bodies in regulating what we choose to consume, or do we want a government that respects individual freedom? Smoke a joint, and think it over.

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