I thought this was interesting because they will be in the same union with us. By "us" I mean any/all UFCW member.



(May 29) -- In Oakland, Calif., medical marijuana isn't just legal. It's organized.

One hundred workers in the medical marijuana industry voted on Friday to unionize as part of a retail agriculture and community patient care union, a CBS affiliate reported.

The workers are employed by Oaksterdam University, which trains people to work in the medical marijuana industry, dispensaries and a medical marijuana gift shop, among other places.
Dan Rush, a Local 5 organizer, told CBS that by being in a union, marijuana industry workers "will get the same respect in the community as a police officer, a nurse or a mechanic."

They will join 26,000 other workers who comprise the Local 5 union. Union organizers hope that more people in the industry will join them. Ron Lind, Local 5's president, told Mercury News that there is "potential for thousands" of medical marijuana workers to unionize.

The medical use of marijuana – which is an illegal substance under federal law – has long been a controversial topic.

But many are starting to see the drug as a source of revenue and jobs at a time when the economic slowdown has delivered a hammer blow to employment and local government finances.

California will vote in November on the Control and Tax Cannabis initiative, which would make it legal for those over 21 to grow, possess and transport marijuana for personal use. It would also allow local governments to regulate and tax the industry.

In July 2009, Oakland voters backed a proposal to impose a gross sales tax on medical marijuana. The city's four licensed dispensaries are expected to pay $500,000 into the city's coffers this year, Mercury News reported.

Lind told CBS that the union has not given its backing to legalizing marijuana, but that it may do so in the future.

Rebecca Kaplan, an Oakland City councilwoman and potential candidate for mayor, told CBS that the unionization was "a good day for Oakland," a city that has unemployment rate of over 17 percent.

"It's about jobs, development and economic growth," she said.

Others took a more personal view. Cassie Leone, a 24-year old who works at a marijuana dispensary, said being a union member would add legitimacy and status to her working life.

"Now I can go home to my parents and they can see it's a good thing and a normal thing," Leone told The New York Times.