Pubdate: Thu, 11 Jul 2013
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Debra J. Saunders
Page: A12

CANNABIS SUMMIT DOUBLES AS DAY CARE

California's marijuana advocates need to inhale a breath of fresh air
and take a long look at their judgment, or lack thereof.

Monday I attended the International Summit on Cannabis news conference
at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel to hear why Vicente Fox, former
president of Mexico, supports legalizing marijuana as a means of
curbing drug cartel corruption and violence. Onstage with Vicente were
Oakland medical marijuana biggie Steve DeAngelo, a Washington state
lawmaker, a budding marijuana venture capitalist, an attorney - and
Oaksterdam University Chancellor Dale Sky Jones and her 21/2-year-old
son.

What, I wondered, is a little kid doing up onstage sitting next to a
world leader at a news conference about legalizing marijuana? (Unlike,
say, an event for juvenile diabetes, early childhood education or a
policy matter that really is about kids.) And the answer was: pretty
much whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted.

Like any toddler asked to sit quietly for an hour while a bunch of
adults do nothing but talk, when he got tired of sitting still, he
fidgeted, ran behind the speakers, scooted off the riser, lunged
toward the stage and generally tried to amuse himself. He wasn't
having a tantrum, but he was highly distracting.

I am not faulting the boy. He's still in diapers. No, I wondered: Did
anyone at the pot summit realize that it's sort of disrespectful to
have a kid fidgeting and running around while a former leader on the
world's stage is talking policy?

Everyone has seen parents who treat their children like accessories
and drag them where children do not belong. But seeing a kid at a
presser while the former president of Mexico discussed drug violence
in his country? For me, that broke ground.

When Jones spoke, she told reporters that legalizing marijuana for
medical and recreational use is "about the children." And: "This
little one is a constant reminder to all of us why we're really here."

Not one participant - not Fox, not DeAngelo, not the state pol, not
the money guy - bothered to say that legalizing marijuana would not be
a boon for tots. Would-be marijuana mogul Jamen Shively stressed that
he supports "adult responsible use" of cannabis. So didn't any of
these guys ask: Why was a toddler onstage?

Jones told me that she had not expected to participate in the press
event, so she didn't arrange for a sitter. She also said that as the
head of the marijuana training school Oaksterdam, she frequently
brings her son to pro-marijuana events.

"Officially, I am kind of stunned," she said. "You're the first person
to make me feel ashamed for being a mom in public." Most people, she
added, think it's great that she advocates for legalized marijuana as
a mom with her young son at her side.

Not me, and I voted for the 2010 California ballot measure to legalize
marijuana. I went to the news conference expecting to write about drug
violence in Mexico, as I've done before and will do again. But I
walked out wondering what these advocates, who want to convince the
public that legalizing marijuana will improve civil society, were
thinking. But I don't think they were thinking at all.
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MAP posted-by: Matt