Jerry Said “No”

About 75 people attended an April 10 meeting of the San Diego chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) at the WorldBeat Center.

"We're going to start pushing a lot more on the initiatives," said Craig Beresh, NORML’s regional director, referring in particular to the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act, which will be on Californians' ballots on November 8.

Beresh told the group that, ideally, voters would pass the act and also elect a sympathetic governor — though he noted that it's not just Republican gubernatorial candidates who have criticized legalization.

"Jerry Brown said no, too,” said Beresh. “We need to vet all our candidates and see who supports us."

Rudy Reyes, a member who is running for the County Board of Supervisors, warned that the county has been developing an "Orwellian" set of rules for medical marijuana collectives, with limited input from the public.

"It was hushed,” said Reyes. “No one knew it was happening."

Reyes urged members to get involved in local government. He also noted that one way to fight overly burdensome restrictions on collectives would be lawsuits that draw on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"Under the ADA, we have certain rights, federal rights," said Reyes.

A group of attorneys was available after the meeting to field questions from members.