OAKLAND MEDICAL MARIJUANA WORKERS VOTE TO UNIONIZE

Medical Cannabis Employees Opt for Representation As State's
Legalization Vote Nears

Almost 100 workers in Oakland's medical marijuana industry have voted
to be represented by organized labor, a first-of-its-kind event for an
industry trying to build public support.

Marijuana advocates joined leaders of the United Food and Commercial
Workers union in making the announcement Friday. Californians are
split over a November ballot measure that would legalize use of
marijuana by adults 21 and older, but proponents of the initiative
hoped labor can now give them a boost.

"I think it's another historic step toward ending cannabis
prohibition," said Richard Lee, founder and president of Oaksterdam
University and a proponent of the Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative.

The federal government outlaws marijuana, including for medicinal
uses. But Ron Lind, the president of the 26,000-member UFCW Local 5,
based in San Jose, said he sees the "potential for thousands" of
workers in California's medical marijuana industry to be represented
by the union - and the potential for even more to join the union if
the state initiative is approved.

Lind said Local 5 will support the initiative not only because of its
workers in Oakland, but also as a way to generate more tax dollars to
help save public service jobs.

"We have to come up with more revenue," he said. "So here's an
excellent way to do it - to regulate the industry, to legalize it and
then tax it. It's a no-brainer."

The union will represent workers at Oaksterdam University, the Patient
ID Center, the Blue Sky Coffee Shop, the Bulldog Cafe, the Oaksterdam
Gift Shop and AMCD Inc., also called Old Oaksterdam, the union said.

The Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative would allow people who are at least
21 years old to possess, grow and transport marijuana for personal
use, and would let cities and counties decide whether to regulate and
tax commercial production and sales. It would increase the criminal
penalty for providing marijuana to a minor and prohibit consumption in
public or while minors are present.

It has drawn the opposition of law enforcement organizations and
Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Tim Rosales, a spokesman for Public
Safety First, a group formed to defeat the measure, said he doesn't
see the union's involvement with medical cannabis workers as a game
changer.

"I don't think this changes the dynamic that this is a very
controversial issue," he said. "It certainly doesn't change the fact
that this is a seriously flawed initiative."

A recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed 49
percent oppose legalization while 48 percent support it. The poll had
a 2 percentage point margin of error.

Whatever the impact on the initiative, the unionization of medical
marijuana workers in Oakland boosts the city's reputation as an
industry leader. Oakland became the country's first city in 2009 to
adopt a voter-approved special tax on cannabis dispensaries. The
city's four licensed dispensaries are expected to pay about $500,000
to city coffers this year.

Oakland is also moving toward regulating commercial growing
operations. Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Larry Reid are expected
next month to introduce legislation that would provide grow permits to
three or four large-scale cultivators. The idea behind the legislation
is to cut down on the dangers that often come with unregulated and
unlicensed grow operations.

Kaplan was also involved in bringing the labor union together with the
medical marijuana community.

"We are a city that cares about jobs, that cares about economic
opportunity and that cares about worker rights," she said Friday.
"This opportunity today for the unionization of a new industry makes
it possible for us to build good jobs with worker rights and
responsibility."