The true story of Organica: the building on Washington that it occupies was sitting vacant for several years. It was an ex-boat repair place and was filled with trash and bums living in the place. A developer was trying to buy the building but the deal was going sour so Organica rented the place and cleaned it up and made it look nice. This was Aug. 2006.

After we rented the building with a lease that stated it was in Marina del Rey, we found out that the front 50 feet of the building was in Culver City, so we had to find out how to open the collective in the LA part of the building. In the meantime we put on art and music events and local Westside promoters used the space called cre8tivity which was a freedom art space, but it got too popular - the parties were out of control with too much freedom that we afforded people to express themselves and be who they wanted to be with no judgment. There is a huge need for this. Look at the success of Burning Man (if people don't have a way to blow off steam they will go crazy).

One year later in Aug. 2007 we opened Organica - it was 4 months before the ICO (Intermediate Control Ordinance). We were in compliance with the law. We turned our paperwork in to the city, including getting our resale tax permit to pay sales taxes. We followed protocol for dispensaries as well as Attorney General Jerry Brown's guidelines. We filed taxes every quarter. We are a collective. All of our members are from California. All of our medicine comes from California and from our collective members. We distribute organic medicine at all different ranges = from very low priced outdoor to top-grade lab approved grown medicine. The proof is in our member base. We have the largest member base on the Westside for a reason - we were doing it right.

Now why we were raided when Obama said there are no more raids is the question. The funny thing about this is you have to be in violation of fed and state law, yet there is no one that can even interpret what the legal way to operate is, so it's all a gray area since the state accepts the sales taxes. Then is the state guilty too? Why is this happening? This collective was not in violation of state law. There are no charges that it was. The IRS involvement is typical, yet there are no tax issues.

Why has this most complex plant that provides medicine as well as pulp for paper fiber and seed for protein-rich food been crucified as well as its supporters while corporate America can put out products that are killing millions of people every year like pharmaceuticals, tobacco grown with radioactive fertilizers and alcohol? Why would such hypocrisy be tolerated? Because of all mighty $$! The powers that be have no way to regulate and control the plant or movement so it's a war on anyone who does support it. In my opinion the best way to solve this is to let the industry be and tax it through a mandatory card system in which anyone who wants to have cannabis gets a card that IDs them as a patient and to have some sort of credit system to tax medicine as it is bought and sold. Please have some compassion learn the truth. Be part of the solution.