The Jack Herer Initiative to legalize marijuana in California has been filed

Charles Jacobs has filed The Jack Herer Cannabis Hemp Initiative with the California Attorney General.  Mr. Jacobs has spent the past two years as Jack Herer's assistant, caregiver, and friend.

Jack Herer, known as "The Emperor of Hemp" and author of the Emperor Wears No Clothes, suffered a heart attack three minutes after delivering an impassioned speech at Hempstalk in Portland on 12 Sep 09.  His last words were against taxing marijuana.  He spent some time in a coma but is now out of ICU and is recuperating at Legacy Emanual Health Center in Portland.  Brain scans show damage but improvement over previous scans and he has been moving his fingers.  

The Jack Herer Cannabis and Hemp Initiative is the fourth initiative regarding the legalization of marijuana to be filed with the California Attorney General for the November 2010 election.  The proponents must wait until the official title and summary are prepared before they can begin gathering the half-million signatures required to qualify for placement on the ballot.

Initiatives in California have 150 days to gather signatures.  The signatures must be validated 131 days before the election and it takes at least a month to validate them.  The other three initiatives that would legalize marijuana in California have already begun their signature drives.

In recent weeks Dennis Peron (author of Proposition 215), Ed Rosenthal, and Green Cross of San Francisco have announced their opposition to taxing medical marijuana and the Regulate Control and Tax Cannabis 2010 Initiative (ROT 2010).   Proponent Richard Lee of Oaksterdam U and Blue Sky coffee shop in Oakland has stated he will spend a million dollars on gathering signatures.

Steve DeAngelo, of Harborside medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, has also announced his opposition to the Oaksterdam U initiative, but his stated reasons have more to do with the lack of a well-defined distribution system than any ethical qualms over taxing medicine.

It is questionable whether the other initiatives, including Jack's, will be able to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot as they do not have the proceeds from the sale of marijuana to medical marijuana patients to pay signature gatherers.

For a discussion of the relative merits of the four initiatives see:  The Jack Herer Initiative and Oakland's marijuana legalization initiative is still a Trojan Horse.

People have been asking if there is a way to donate money to help Jack pay for his medical bills.  An account has been set up at the U.S. Bank at: Emanuel Hospital Office, 220 N Stanton, Portland, OR 97227, (503) 275-7280.   Just tell them you would like to donate to Jack Herer.