A younger Brett Stahl using county transit at the HempCity protest in front of the San Marcos jail in 1992.

When I met Richard Lee, I felt like a wide-eyed child even though only 4 years separated us. He’d just opened Legal Marijuana: The Hemp Store in Houston with Richard Tomcala. This was at a time when folks still suffered greatly for being openly pro-marijuana. It was a pivotal moment in my own activism; due to him, I opened Sativa Station and Indica Emporium in San Marcos. The name was changed to Hemptown Rock after an ownership shuffle later, but it thrived for years and years in a time when cannabis was still considered a hard drug by the folks in charge.

At every protest, no matter the risk, Richard appeared in his wheelchair, dispensing encouragement and the best weed I’d ever smoked at the time. He is fearless. Thanks to the recent Endora Film Fest, I was able to see my friend again, and a great reunion it was. Granted it was just on film, but this man’s soul glows no matter the media. The film, a documentary called “American Pot Story: Oaksterdam” (directed by Ravit Markus and Dan Katzir) only showcases it more with its excellent pace and fly-on-the-wall perspective.

Oaksterdam is a neighborhood that started as a dispensary for medical cannabis in Oakland, California. Richard turned it into Oaksterdam University, known as “the world’s first cannabis college,” where students can get degrees in cannabis growing, business, and other subjects relevant to the cannabis industry. The growth of the national total legalization movement started there. 

Richard moved to Oakland as a user and grower of medical marijuana and leapt into the fray full tilt, no fear. Other than early cannabis activists Dennis Peron and Jack Herer, I can think of no greater force than Richard in getting this country to where we are today regarding cannabis.

Don’t get me wrong – we’re not done yet, but it’s a lot less dark today than it was when Richard put his life and money on the line in Oakland. Richard is a people person and gets the best out of every soul he touches. It shows on screen as the people he activated take the lead roles. A single mom with money troubles can become a nationwide political force under his tutelage; just ask the current Oaksterdam chancellor, Dale Sky Jones … or better yet watch “Oaksterdam” yourself and meet her!

The San Marcos 7 were my door into the hemp movement after years of Earth First! and anti-war activities alone in East Texas at college. I met them less than a year after they lit San Marcos on fire for hemp, and I plunged fully into civil disobedience immediately with them.

This was a time when the movement was divided into medical, recreational, and environmental camps. What was different about Richard was his full awareness of the business and political side of what we were doing. He never failed to drive up and be present when things got rough here. I’ve seen this man dominate a cop from his wheelchair after they raided a gathering for Jack Herer at a now-closed bar next to Valentinos called the Downtowner. Not one person fled as the cops occupied the room for over an hour. When the cops turned on the house lights, the reggae band didn’t miss a lick and rolled into every cop song they knew. Only one arrest occurred, and it was a public intoxication on a bar employee – Webb Brannen – taking out the trash so the cops could leave with their pride intact.

Now that the statute of limitations has passed, I can admit all the weed in the room made it out the door as the women and children were evacuated. Cops didn’t want to look in the swaddling clothes of so many nursing mothers in flowing garments. When Richard was around, things usually worked out well with the cops.

In 1992 the presidents of 5 Latin American countries and the foreign minister of a sixth met in San Antonio with President George H.W. Bush to forge a treaty in the war on drugs. Luckily a Planet K employee in San Antonio saw an announcement in a newspaper about the meeting a year prior, and the fledgling Texas Hemp Campaign secured a venue within feet of the conference. Lawsuits ensued, but we still had the venue when the drug conference started. Activists from the entire country flocked to the La Villita assembly hall for days of counterprotest.

Richard Lee was amazing and built the network that would allow Oaksterdam to exist at this event. I saw him next to Ron Paul, facing down cops on horseback in a cloud of tear gas as they tried to run us off the grounds before Bush arrived. Their courage fed us all and we would not be moved. The sick frown on George Bush’s face as he passed our “Hemp Beats Halcion” banner was worth the abuse. Several weeks before, President Bush had vomited on the Japanese Prime Minister and passed out. His use of Halcion to sleep was blamed in a White House press release.

When Richard left our circle for California, I admit I felt betrayed. This was a folly of my youth. What he created with Oaksterdam University is nothing short of miraculous, considering the times. This documentary captures it in a beautiful and engaging way that radiates hope for a future we haven’t reached yet.

The best part about this screening at the Endora Film Festival was the involvement of the next wave of cannabis activists. This new crop of activists were the driving force for decriminalizing cannabis in two cities, Lockhart and Bastrop, just two days after this screening. I guarantee you that Richard Lee is beaming with pride wherever he is today knowing that a new generation has taken his torch and run with it.

The entire goal of Richard’s activism is to provide relief for the sick and to free those behind bars for a plant our planet provides freely. The actions of all that passed these propositions are a beautiful testament to the state where Richard Lee started his journey to Oaksterdam.

At the end of the ‘80s, San Marcos was a dangerous place to smoke pot. The San Marcos and university police declared open warfare on us. The police literally murdered people – like Rusty Windle in San Marcos – and others spent years upon years in prison for a plant. 

If you are lucky enough to see this wonderful documentary, take time to dwell on the locals that helped form the man that would change the country.

The San Marcos 7 (actually 9, but the cops quit arresting at 7), the residents of the Hemp City Protest Movement and all arrested in front of the jail during it, the Send a Message Legal Defense Fund organizers and supporting artists, all the mothers and wives holding it all down in a war, the fallen friends like Rusty Windle (gunned down by SMPD officer Chase Stapp), and the many growers in Hays County that kept us all in high spirits while risking their very lives.

Brett Stahl currently lives in Maxwell, Texas.

BY BRETT STAHL