Harborside Health Center co-owner Steve DeAngelo brought his book tour to New York Dec. 17 where he did a reading from The Cannabis Manifesto at a HighNY-sponsored event.
Wearing his trademark porkpie hat and braids, DeAngelo offered samples from his 175-page book, published by North Atlantic Books in Berkeley. He started his career as an active and concert promoter in Washington, DC. After co-founding the hemp-clothing line, Ecolution, in the late '90s, DeAngelo moved to California where he soon set up shop in Oakland and opened Harborside, which eventually earned the designation, the biggest dispensary in California. They have since expanded to San Jose and recently Portland, where they're operating their first non-medical store.
During the Q&A session, he said...
'I cringe every time I hear the word "recreational." It's not a leisure time pursuit. It's a requirement for health.'
DeAngelo contends that marijuana use is all a part of person's desire to achieve wellness, hence the books sub-title, A New Paradigm for Wellness.
Asked about the controversy in California over the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) currently being supported by the DPA and MPP, he stated: "No piece of legislation is perfect. We have to get over it and get it passed. At the end of the day I'd vote for the Parker or Reform.ca drafts." (Parker refers to AUMA, Most Reform.ca supporters are now backing AUMA.)
He added about Issue 3, the legalization initiative that was rejected on Election Day...
'I wouldn't have voted for Ohio. That was more at home in Putin's Russia than here in America. It's the only time I ever opposed as cannabis initiative. It has to be pretty extreme for me to oppose it.'
Purchase copies of The Cannabis Manifesto here.
