Who Was The Pot Prince of Bel-Air?
Fun Fact: The Passage of California’s Prop 215 Led to MORE Arrests, Not Less—Including None Other Than Rare Juvenile Cancer Survivor Todd McCormick—This Is His Story!
Another day, another fact: This is the story of The Pot Prince of Bel-Air.
Proposition 215 was the nation’s first piece of medical cannabis legislation passed in California in 1996…
But one of the most notorious things about this new law was its confusing language—which actually led to MORE cannabis arrests, not less, after its passage. 🤦🏽♀️
The bill didn’t technically legalize the right to buy or possess cannabis, but it did give medical patients a defense of “medical necessity” in the event they were arrested and charged.
Dennis Perron, the pioneer for Prop. 215 fought tooth and nail for patients’ protection from law enforcement.
Still, unfortunately, the campaign’s funders changed the language of the bill, setting in stone a crash course between medical patients, the federal government, and California law enforcement.
California law enforcement decided if they couldn’t beat you at the ballot box, they’d beat you in unison with the federal government.
So the crackdowns on medical patients and their providers actually increased after the passage of Prop. 215.
One of the casualties of this crackdown was none other than Todd McCormick, aka “The Pot Prince of Bel-Air.”
McCormick suffered from a rare childhood cancer and had long used the herb for his chronic pain.
In a Bel-Air mansion, McCormick bred plants with the intention of creating new strains and doing research for a book he agreed to write with the best-selling author and publisher, Peter McWilliams, on horticulture and cultivation.
With the federal government now funding these busts, 50 armed LA County Sheriff’s Deputies busted Todd McCormick’s indoor farm in Bel Air.
In every nook and cranny in this five-story house were over 4,000 plants in various stages of development.
When he was arrested, his bail was set at $100,000 and was posted by advocate and activist, Woody Harleson.
Because McCormick was facing federal charges, Prop. 215 couldn’t be used as a defense, and he ultimately served five years in prison.
This was one of the many examples of the record number of cannabis-related arrests in 1997 following the passage of Prop. 215.
And it’s an example of a story that the media typically was not covering!
Bless the blunt
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