Pubdate: Thu, 05 Feb 2015
Source: North Coast Journal (Arcata, CA)
Copyright: 2015 North Coast Journal
Contact:  http://www.northcoastjournal.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2833
Author: Grant Scott-Goforth

BUYING IN

The suits are coming! The suits are coming!"

That premonition has grown in recent years from a whisper to a peal 
among some cannabis activists, small farmers and 
behind-the-curtainists, and the conspiracy theories are true (sort 
of). No, Phillip Morris hasn't unleashed additive-laden joints onto 
the mass market, but venture capital and ensuing corporate structure 
are flooding into Colorado, Washington and other marijuana-friendly states.

Is it as scary as the back-to-the-landers think? It's hard to say 
what the long term effects will be. But one activist-cum-entrepreneur 
thinks a balance can be found.

Alex Rogers is the executive producer of the International Cannabis 
Business Conference, a two-day event "aimed at the high echelon of 
cannabis entrepreneurs," as Rogers described the Portland event to 
the Oregonian last year.

Indeed, the conference's website, global logo and panels of activists 
and celebrities is a symbol of the slick commercialization of the pot 
industry, and an indicator of the growing acceptance of marijuana as 
legitimate business.

Among the speakers slated for the Feb. 15 conference and VIP 
reception, held this year at the San Francisco Hyatt Regency: travel 
author and TV star Rick Steves, Orange County coastal bourgeoisie 
Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, as well as preeminent 
marijuana entrepreneurs, activists and journalists.

The conference, with its $599 early-bird ticket price, must strike 
fear in the heart of any dedicated counterculturalist.

But Rogers, who speaks rapidly and excitedly, isn't some 
silver-tongued fat cat. "We believe in the consciousness of the 
plant," he said over the phone last week. "We believe in that 
hippie-dippy shit still."

Rogers said he cut his teeth advocating for marijuana with Jack Herer 
and Dennis Peron in late '90s Northern California; pre-215. At the 
time, Rogers said, Herer opposed medical marijuana because he feared 
it would derail full legalization, which he saw as a civil liberty 
issue. Rogers sees that as a realized premonition, noting that there 
wasn't another concerted effort to fully legalize until the country 
was thrown into recession.

"All the activists, they thought, 'Oh my gosh, a window of 
opportunity. We can push legalizing pot because of the commerce of 
it.' People forgot where they came from and the true meaning of the 
plant. They got greedy."

Rogers said he put on a veneer in order to gain traction in the 
industry. After eight years living in Europe, he returned to Oregon 
where he founded what he says is the third largest medical marijuana 
clinic in the state, licensing 5,000 people a year. (Oregon legalized 
medical marijuana in 1998, two years after California.)

He appeared in network TV ads - "Clean cut Alex," he said. "That was 
really important back then. Now that I'm successful I'm letting the 
world see the real me, which is more of a revolutionary activist than 
a prominent businessman. And it feels good."

Rogers says he spent tens of thousands of dollars promoting marijuana 
legalization in Oregon last year, despite his prediction that it 
would mean fewer people seeking medical recommendations (aka 
customers). Now, he's throwing his energy into the ICBC.

It's a stigmatized industry, Rogers said, so it's important to be 
professional - thus the conference's slick presentation.

With an expected 1,000 attendees, Rogers says there are only 21 
vendor booths - a distinction from the more party-like cannabis 
events of recent times. "I have the luxury of not having to accept 
everybody's money," he said, instead focusing on creating an event 
that was "real, gritty and informational," with a day committed to 
culture, politics and advocacy and a day committed to business.

"If you're not down with the cause and you just want to make money .. 
if you don't care about the plant or the rights or the cultural 
revolution that was supposed to go along with legalizing 
[marijuana]," Rogers isn't interested.

He envisions legalization that ensures people can grow and possess 
marijuana and have successful boutique farms that can weather 
inevitable Big Marijuana, and he sees the ICBC as a way to get the 
smartest people together to make that a reality.

"If you're not hip to what's going on and understanding some of the 
nuance of the culture of the cannabis industry, then you're swimming uphill."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom