Recently I launched a bipartisan effort – the United States Cannabis Coalition -to persuade President Donald Trump to honor this pledge made during the presidential campaign to respect the states’ rights to legalize marijuana. We want the President to order Attorney General Jeff Sessions to continue to honor the ‘Holder Memo” which ordered the feds to stand down on enforcement in the States where cannabis has been legalized under President Obama.

I am not a newcomer to this cause. I have written, spoken, marched and rallied for drug law reform for 20 years. I spoke at a “Countdown to Justice” rally along with Russell Simmons and Rev. Al Sharpton demanding reform of New York’s draconian Rockefeller drug laws, among the most racist in the nation. I actively wrote and spoke for reforms to the New York law in 2006 and 2008. I am also a witness in a new lawsuit filed against the Federal government to overturn the feds classification of cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug.

Partnering with me in this important endeavor is Orlando trial attorney and major Clinton donor and fundraiser John Morgan, Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano, Congressman Matt Gaetz and HBO’s Bill Maher among others.

I spoke to the Cannabis Business Expo in New York City in June, and the bipartisan approach I outlined including an effort to take Cannabis off the Schedule 1 drug classification so doctors can prescribe it to people who might benefit, was well received. I was scheduled to speak before the LA- based Cannabis Business Expo on Sept 14.

Shortly thereafter, a small group of dissidents announced a boycott and began pressuring the Expo organizers to cancel my scheduled speech. The basis of their objection are things I have tweeted that they deemed to be racist- but it is vital to know that everything they cite is based on documentation from Media Matters for America. My twitter feed is lively and not for the faint of heart. I comment on many matters. This bogus claim I am a racist, anti-Semite or misogynist is based on old tweets that are either taken out of context, twisted or in some cases simply fabricated. I most certainly never referred to myself as a ‘N*gga with a Nixon Tattoo.”

Even though this attack on me was both orchestrated and based on a false narrative of who I am in what my motives are I was deeply disappointed in the organizers of the expo who canceled my speech, stampeded by a small but well-organized group of loudmouths more interested in scoring political points than in the future of continued legal access to cannabis.

Taking credit for abridging my First Amendment rights is something called The Minority Cannabis Business Association headed by a woman who calls herself “Mo Money” or something. In her Facebook posts Ms. Money betrays her stunning ignorance.

They objected to my speaking due to my “deplorable racist, misogynistic and anti- Semitic rhetoric while many of the alleged quotes that offend them are simply fabricated things I never said. I did actually issue a public apology to Herman Cain, Ben Carson, Alan West and Roland Martin for using the word “negro” in an attempt to be sarcastic. Criticism of individual women does not make one a misogynist nor does criticism of an individual Jewish person make you an anti-Semite. This is simply recycled David Brock Bull shit.

Ironically Ms. Money says she conferred with the Rev. Al Sharpton who is being paid $25,000 to speak at the same World Cannabis Business Expo in Los Angeles while I was speaking pro bono. Perhaps Ms. Monty is unaware of long-standing charges of anti-Semitism against Rev. Sharpton based on things he has said that could be construed as viciously anti-Semitic. Rev. Sharpton has apologized and atoned for many of these utterances and I for one have a forgiven him. Others say that he should be prevented from speaking at the Los Angeles Expo. Does Ms. Money see the hypocrisy of her attack on me while turning a blind eye to Sharpton’s rhetorical excesses?

The Minority Cannabis Business Association said that I “should be prevented from speaking because of my uplifting of some of the worst drug warriors in our country to prominence and Presidency, such as Nixon, Reagan and Trump. Is she kidding? When it comes to the failed, expensive and racist war on drugs, both political parties are complicit and there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Just in terms of raw numbers of those prosecuted under our archaic Federal drug laws, Obama and Clinton make Reagan and Nixon look like pikers. Let’s not forget that it was Bill and Hillary Clinton who brought us the 1994 crime bill, among the most racist tools of the war on drugs. A close examination of Vice President Joe Biden’s record will show that he is perhaps the greatest drug warrior of all time. Hillary’s vice-presidential candidate, Tim Kaine is also a total prohibitionist. Like I say, there’s plenty of blame to go around when it comes to the nation’s current drug law fiasco.

Despite all of this I am prepared to work with any Democrat, liberal, or socialist who supports legalized cannabis and wants to avert the reigniting of the war on drugs under President Donald Trump.

Not content to malign me, Ms. Money of the Minority Cannabis Business Association goes on to attack the co-chairman of United States Cannabis Coalition Orlando , John Morgan. Morgan selflessly financed and provided the strategy for an effort that was ultimately successful to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes in the state of Florida. Morgan is also a prominent trial attorney, Democratic fundraiser and potential Democratic candidate for Governor in 2018.