Robbie Waters – From Sacramento City Council to Political Consultant for Marijuana

The tables have turned. Cops and City Council members are joining the industry of Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library was named after him and his name appears on a number of plaques affixed to many other buildings around town. No one thought he’d take this route next, a career in the medical marijuana industry. Waters had opposed the industry for years.

Robbie Waters is a legacy in Sacramento. The Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven Library was named after him and his name appears on a number of plaques affixed to many other buildings around town. No one thought he’d take this route next, a career in the medical marijuana industry. Waters had opposed the industry for years.

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys welcome the news. If you remember, it was Waters that lead the raid on the medical-pot dispensary on 16th Street a few years back and seized 22 pounds of marijuana and nearly $50,000 in cash.

“I was 100 percent opposed to medical marijuana in the city of Sacramento,” said Waters, the former lone Republican on the Sacramento City Council.

Waters and his council members often felt it difficult to find a middle ground between the rights of patients and the rights of other citizens who opposed the industry. Through the political negotiations, Waters eventually developed a friendship with a medical-marijuana activist, Ryan Landers, and grew more familiar with some of the clinics around town. After time, Waters started to view dispensaries as legitimate businesses.

“Little by little, I started to lose my prejudice that everybody out there is a criminal,” said Waters.

Remember Sacramento’s medical-pot ordinance? It was this ordinance that eventually led to city’s taxation of the product. It was this ordinance that brought about the tax that brings in nearly $2 million in revenue every year. Waters was a major force behind that ordinance.

After failing to make it to the runoff election against two well-funded challengers, pot lobbyist Max Del Real brought him on as a paid consultant. Since then, the two of them have been traveling throughout the state trying to export what they call Sacramento’s “model ordinance.”

Waters still claims to be against the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

The two men reports that it was the testimony of Waters’ that ended up breaking the tie on the Chico City Council. It was Waters’ that influenced the approval of two medical-marijuana dispensaries in that area.

Waters didn’t stop there. He also testified to the Planning Commission in Stockton on behalf of a similar ordinance there.

Del Real thinks Waters has even more to offer the industry. He’s hoping that he can get Waters to help persuade the more conservative Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to adopt an ordinance similar to Sacramento’s. Previously, the Sacramento board was considering adopting an urgency ordinance that would ban the sale of “edibles” and only allow dispensaries in areas zoned for industrial use, or areas that are often not well-served by public transit.

Many advocates view Waters as an effective tool for the industry, saying that if he can change his mind on the issue of medical marijuana then maybe he can get others to change their minds as well.

“Robbie Waters is standing up saying medical cannabis is good for the community,” Del Real said. “This is the same guy who four years ago was calling the feds.”

The Los Angeles medical marijuana lawyers at the CANNABIS LAW GROUP are offering legal assistance to medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives throughout the Los Angeles area. Call 949-375-4734 for a confidential consultation to discuss your rights.

Additional Resources:

Come to the dank side: Robbie Waters has new job as medical-pot consultant, by Cosmo Garvin, News Review

More Blog Entries:

U.S. Officials Propose Bill to Legalize Medical Marijuana Nationwide, Marijuana Lawyer Blog, June 30, 2011

Montel Williams to Open Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Sacramento, California, Marijuana Lawyer Blog, June 22, 2011

Battle Continues Between Government Officials and Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Los Angeles, Marijuana Lawyer Blog, June 18, 2011