It is another blessed day for medical marijuana patients and their caregivers in Michigan, as the enemy of righteousness are exposed and face justice for their actions against liberty.
Former GOP state House Speaker Rick Johnson, lobbyists Brian Pierce and Vincent Brown, and prospective medical cannabis entrepreneur John Dalaly have been hit with federal charges over a bribery scandal relating to the Michigan medical marijuana industry. These lawmakers and lobbyists have pleaded guilty of exchanging money for favors that gave them illicit power over the medical cannabis, hurting the patients and the caregivers for their own profits.
Rick Johnson admitted he acted “corruptly” when he agreed to take $110,000 to influence the process on behalf of the interests giving him the payouts. I have been on the forefront of exposing this corruption, going back to 2014-15 when the medical marijuana industry was being looted by these gangster special interests and their political whores in Lansing.
“Public corruption is a poison to any democracy. … That poison is especially toxic here,” said U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten. “The marijuana industry has been likened to a modern-day gold rush, a new frontier where participants can stake their claim and just maybe return big rewards.”
“Unfortunately, a small percentage (of public officials) abuse the public trust,” Totten added. “Public corruption is a top criminal priority for the FBI. Public corruption erodes confidence and undermines the strength of our democracy.”
Check out my Oct. 2015 press release exposing the “big money takeover of the medical marijuana industry” that was underway.
In that article, I wrote that “proposed rules would allow special interests to bleed the industry dry – threatening the safety of Michigan cancer sufferers and other sick patients benefiting from the proven medical properties of the substance.”
Who was behind these proposed rules? None other than former state representative Klint Kesto. Kesto was ultimately humiliated and run from office, another dingleberry that dangled for awhile but eventually was removed from the ass cheek of our dirty system and flushed out of politics for good. Who was Kesto’s chief of staff? None other than Brian Pierce, the disgraced lawyer who is one of the major players at the center of this cannabis pay-to-play probe.
Pierce left Kesto’s office to form the Michigan Responsibility Council. Who was the spokesman for that organization? None other than the Dark Money Daddy Steve Linder, who was immortalized as Dr. Evil on the side of mobile billboards parked in front of the Lansing state capitol. Linder has since been exposed as arguably the seediest and most unethical lobbyist in Lansing history. The Michigan Caregivers Association, EverGreen Management, and other affiliated organizations have been undeniably proven to be on the right side of history.
We have been in the trenches fighting to connect these dots and expose the bad actors for many years. We have been shining sunlight on these bastards who thought they could strut into the marijuana industry and take over. These lowlifes promoted prohibition for decades, throwing cannabis users and growers into cages, and then came running when they realized they could make a buck. These sons of bitches thought they could make a fool of those of us in the industry who faced risk and cost to grow cannabis into a powerhouse. They thought wrong.
Our tactics have repeatedly been vindicated in the cannabis community of Michigan. Our reputation and credibility are second to none. Yes, we have ruffled feathers. Yes, we have been combative. But it has all been very necessary. Because the fight has never been about the plant. It has never been about cannabis. It’s always been about money. It’s been about control. It’s been about using government power to cannibalize and devastate another industry. We made it about these players, we made their asses famous, and now several of them are looking at major jail sentences.
The names of the groups have changed but the battle has remained the same. Back then, we were fighting front groups like the Michigan Cannabis Development Association and the Michigan Responsibility Council. They were enacted to monopolize the cannabis industry. They failed during their efforts in 2015. When these same interests reformed under the name “Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association,” they failed and we beat them once again as that entity is now completely defunct.
Now, it appears that the entire system is coming crashing down.
It is great to see the FBI doing their jobs, as we always support law enforcement when they are defending the rights of the people. But they must go the extra mile. It is more than these handful of cretins that deserve to go down in a ball of flames. There are many other individuals who deserve to meet the same fate. Check out our press releases to see exactly who these people are.
There are credible allegations against Terrence Mansour, who is the bitch of Platinum Vapes, engaging in bribery to help his cannabis operations and hurt his competitors in the city of Detroit. There is hooch pimp, Tom “King of Sodom” Celani who is also connected to Pierce and his illicit front to control the cannabis industry. There is former Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof who appointed Rick Johnson as chairman of the Michigan medical marijuana licensing board before three of Meekhof’s medical marijuana concerns received licenses from Johnson in an apparent quid pro quo.
You can’t forget the gangsterism in Inkster where former mayor Byron Nolen and his cohorts were involved in an extortion plot against yours truly that was caught on audio recording. The FBI should also consider going to the top of the food chain, looking at Ron Boji, who has greased over this system of corruption and attempted to enact a monopoly over the medical marijuana system for many years. Scumbag attorney Chris Aiello is another who deserves to do a perp walk for his contributions to these scandals. And when will Linder end up behind bars? That would send a message that our lawmakers in Lansing are no longer for sale. Attorney General Dana Nessel has known about these actions for quite sometime. Why hesitate? There should be no more protecting this system of institutional corruption.
There are many who deserve to be brought to justice. But what is needed more than anything is legislation that opens up caregivers product to the broader marketplace. If only there was competition and the small growers were allowed to compete, there is no way the gangsters could come in an enact their monopoly. The only way they can beat the caregivers is when the government restricts the caregivers. That is because the caregivers provide the best product. Open the marketplace to the caregivers, and the marijuana industry is immediately fixed in this state. It will be great for the consumers, the patients, the small growers, the economy, and the people. This is what our lawmakers need to do while prosecutors and federal agents crack down on public corruption.
