I am not opposed to recreational drugs. I am opposed to drug abuse (see “Needle Exchange”).

I’m not going to deny prior drug activity, including and especially LSD. I will never deny the efficacy of psychedelics on my growth experience as a human being.

Let’s just say I’ve done a lot of stuff in the past. Many things once or twice, some things multiple, multiple times. Marijuana is an old familiar, over many years. Now, it’s a rare occasion that I even get “stoned,” and that’s only at home, in my spare time, when I can set aside some time to relax, kick back and enjoy the high. And I may just end up cutting that out as well if it gets at all in the way or is a perceived negative in my campaign for Third District Supervisor.

Ever since “Reefer Madness” extreme, disingenuous laws and an intimidated population have made rational discussion of recreational drug use, and for that matter medicinal applications of banned substances, very difficult.  About a decade ago I attended a biotech conference in South San Francisco. One of the speakers commented that if it wasn’t called “marijuana” there would be hundreds of derived, useful medicinal compounds. This is slowly changing.

(I asked Jack Herer how he came to discover the classic “Hemp For Victory.” He said some Coptic Christians were doing research at the Library of Congress, and by chance stumbled upon it. They thought he might be interested in the find. He was.)

We are blessed with one of the great psychedelics research organizations of our time right here in Santa Cruz, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

Look to Uruguay and Portugal for leadership on drug reform. I hold this as a “Boomer” responsibility, to own up to their past, and acknowledge that our present drug hysteria is a dishonest, costly failure, and advocate true reform, in their lifetimes.

Soon, marijuana will be legal in California. It’s a good step. Everything gets abused. We need more health care for drug abusers, and a culture that accepts the human condition, rather than the hypocrisy of denial. Let’s work towards sensible, responsible recreational drug law reform.

Leadership. Empowering. Inspiring. This is our time.

Bob Lamonica for Supervisor 2014. FPPC# 1361998.