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Bufford says war on drugs costly failure

By ERIC STERN | Modesto Bee | October 4, 2004

In the history of America's love-hate relationship with Marijuana, George Washington grew hemp on his plantation.

Now there's a bong salesman running for Congress.

James "Lex" Bufford, owner of the Strawberry Alarm Clock smoke shops in Merced and Madera, is the Democratic candidate in the 19th Congressional District, which stretches from Fresno to Modesto.

He's campaigning on a drug reform platform against five term Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, who grows wine grapes.

"If you want to call me a drug dealer, you have to call him a drug dealer, too," said Bufford, 52, who lives in Chowchilla.

[Suetaznote: Wine vs. weed, who will win, the legal drug or the illegal harmless one? Probably the wine, because it's already accepted in society even though it causes far more damage. ]

A self-described "Marijuana activist" and "former medical Marijuana supplier," Bufford beat a Marijuana "possession for sale" charge in 1992 in Madera County when the judge threw out his case for lack of evidence.

Police accused Bufford and three others with planning to sell 3½ pounds of Marijuana. Two of the others were convicted; the charge against another person was dismissed after she went to a drug program, according to court officials.

As an activist, "I wouldn't have any credibility if I didn't have an arrest," he said, comparing himself to Jesse Jackson and other civil-rights protestors who have gone to jail for civil disobedience.

"I'm not ashamed of it," he said. "I'm proud of it. It's like a feather in the cap."

Bufford's campaign has drawn the attention and praise of pot-culture magazines. And he speaks with outrage about a recent U.S. Justice Department crackdown on drug paraphernalia that snared pothead icon Tommy Chong last year.

"I own a system of shops right now where John Ashcroft, the attorney general of the United States, would like to put me in prison," Bufford said.

He wants Marijuana decriminalized, then taxed and licensed like tobacco.

An acknowledged "long shot" in the heavily Republican district, Bufford's message to get supporters to the polls is, "tune in, turn on and turn out."

He says Radanovich is too lockstep with the Republican agenda, and Bufford ticks off a list of issues he would support in Congress: providing greater access to health insurance, withdrawing troops from Iraq, supporting stem cell research, restoring the Hetch Hetchy Valley, building light-rail lines to Yosemite and cleaning the San Joaquin Valley's air.

But back to Marijuana — "the 'M' word" that Bufford says makes some mainstream Democrats nervous. Despite some bravado about his past, he's still cautious about revealing too much about his career choices.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you I did this or I did that if it might have been illegal," he said.

He went into the legal water-pipe trade in 1996, opening a store in Madera. The second shop opened in 2001 in Merced, and he's starting a record label.

Bufford said the war on drugs has been a "colossal failure."

"It's the most expensive and longest war we've had," he said. "They've gone after Marijuana, which is relatively benign and harmless."

Attention needs to focus on dangerous drugs such as methamphetamine and heroin, and rehabilitation programs, he said.

Green Party candidate Larry Mullen, 59, a Fresno teacher, also is running for the seat on the California Green Party platform, which can be viewed at cagreens.org/platform.

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Silva Haze J

Ol' Washington grew it, smoked it or whatever he did with it, doesn't that tell us something? The first president did it, many other presidents smoked it (probably, I can't say 100% they did). I'm glad this guy is running for Congress, there needs to be more people like this, even if he doesn't win, it will encourage others.

Wine vs. Weed: We all know that the legal drug will win, and the illegal "hazardous" weed will be looked down on. Alcohol causes so many problems, it isn't funny, and I've witnessed a lot of it, like violence, domestic abuse, ADDICTION, to name a few. Weed isn't addicting, if anyone suddenly stopped smoking weed, they wouldn't have withdrawals like with alcohol.

If I lived in CA I would definitely vote for this guy, he even agrees that the "war" on drugs is a failure and that they're going after the wrong drug, and even to this day raiding medicinal marijuana smokers' and growers' houses/farms. He's right, around the area I live, there are NO rehabs for any kind of drug but weed and I think alcohol. There is a big problem with crack and meth around here, and there's no clinics. I sure hope this guy wins, or is atleast heard about by many people, it will help get marijuana legalized.

xxdr_zombiexx

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Alien Space Signal

There's no money for your issue so long as we're squandering $50 billion a year on the DrugWar. Ben Masel

Fear became the ultimate tool of this government - V.