news analysis by LEO
E. LAURENCE, J.D.
Copyright © 2011 by Leo E. Laurence for Zenger’s
Newsmagazine • All rights reserved
Faced with
powerful pressures from federal prosecutors and an aggressive city attorney, medical-marijuana
dispensaries are also struggling with disunity in their own ranks.
There are two
major community organizations involved: the Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a
broad-based organizations with several “chapters” spread throughout San Diego county;
and a financially stronger group representing dispensaries, the Patients Care
Association’ (PCA).
Although their
interests are nearly identical, they aren’t talking to each other.
And the PCA is
split between local leaders who successfully scored a victory by forcing the
city council to repeal its ordinance that was a de facto ban on dispensaries, and a man who is trying to
personally take all the credit for that victory, Randy Welty.
Disaster Expected
Welty is pushing
two ballot initiatives, one locally and
one statewide. To pay the huge
cost of these initiatives, Welty is pushing the PCA to put on a huge gala with
$500 tickets. No way in hell that will work, especially with no professionals
producing the gala event and an impossible, one-month promotional time. This
isn’t La Jolla, and even there a sizeable lead time is required to promote and
advertise a major event.
Welty, however,
is polished in selling, and he’s trying to do it again with the two
initiatives, though copies of neither initiative are available.
The PCA meetings
are nominally run by 28-year-old dispensary owner Alex Scherer. But, according
to PCA members, Scherer has difficulty chairing the meetings because Welty
“takes over” with long speeches that make him into a “Rambo” character of the
medical marijuana community. There is a lot of resentment locally because Welty
seems to be trying to take credit for the hard work of locals.
“It’s either
Welty’s way or the highway,” said one PCA member critically. When a recent PCA
meeting voted to give control of a major project to a local board, rather than
a statewide group run by Welty, Welty got upset and walked out of the
meeting. The tension in the PCA
meeting was so thick you could cut it.
After he
returned from his “smoke break,” the conflict continued.
“I’m not going
to work with the local group,” Welty said bluntly. “You have to put me in
charge to get my support.
“We need $5,000
by tomorrow, but only have $2,000,” he added.
Everything he
discussed during his speeches was in general terms with no specifics.
Even the
so-called “budget” for the gala he was promoting didn’t have detailed figures,
though the event was just weeks away. A six-page promotional document he
distributed listed “expenses” at $85,000, but didn’t give specifics of those
expenses.
The major income
from the “gala” event was the tickets at $500 each, and he anticipated selling
600 . . . to whom?
With talk of two
initiatives, one local and another statewide, Welty didn’t answer a question as
to which would control local dispensaries.
There was
considerable talk about lawsuits that have been filed against local and federal
prosecutors, but nobody at the PCA event had details of any of them.
Photo caption: Alex
Scherer, 28, of Ocean Beach runs meetings of the Patients’ Care Association,
when Randy Welty isn’t giving a speech and taking over. Photo by Leo E. Laurence.
