Craig X Still Fighting the Good Fight
June 17th, 2009 by RickLike many key players in the marijuana legalization movement, outspoken, Craig X. Rubin, Pastor of the Temple 420 Church, has a target on his back.
Rubin was arrested three years ago for running a medical marijuana dispensary through the church, Temple 420, and sentenced to five years in prison. He hasn’t served any time, with his case on appeal and moving through the courts and possibly headed to the highest court in the nation, the Supreme Court. According to Rubin, the city of Los Angeles has been spending millions in trying to bring him down.
This past weekend, Rubin attended the world’s largest marijuana convention, THC Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center, an event that was funded by Rubin’s family. Rubin has long since claimed that the owner of Apothecary Travel, Bret Bouge and one of the winners of the Cannabis Cup have been working with law enforcement in an effort to entrap him and have him sent to jail.
For the two days of the event, everything was normal, Rubin preached and was there for his supporters and fans of his aspiring acting career. Bouge made an appearance and began harrassing Rubin’s wife, “Mrs. X”.
Rubin commented:
From the stage I saw Bouge acting in a hostile manner with his face less than three inches from my wife’s. I wanted to jump off stage and deal with it, but made a commitment to Oaksterdam to be positive while on their stage. [...] If I have a problem or get in any trouble I go to jail for five years because I am still on probation, so I believe Bouge was there to create a problem, but we just walked away from him.
Lead singer of Los Marijuanos, Rafael “Pony Boy” Ochoa stated:
Todd McCormick, one of the event organizers, was kicking Bouge out of the event until he offered to buy a booth for $1,500 just hours before the event was over.
According to Rubin, Bouge didn’t open his booth nor did he appear to be there to promote his company. Rubin believes that Bouge was only there to cause a scene that might lead to his arrest — right before a hearing scheduled for this month that will look into the seizure of his life savings.
Unfortunately, Judge Leslie Ann Swain will be assigned to the case, the same judge that signed Rubin’s arrest warrant and refused to recognize Rubin being a Pastor. In fact, at Rubin’s trial, the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights could not be mentioned as not to “confuse the jury” — coincidentally the same thing that happened in the Charles Lynch trial.
The irony behind this case is the fact that Rubin has since opened up another medical marijuana dispensary, The Beverly Hills Green Cross, another church that distributes medical marijuana. On May 20th, Rubin showed the judge the minute order that gave him permission to do again exactly what he was convicted for and what caused the seizure of his family’s life savings.
Rubin’s next court date is June 25th. There, his attorney, plans to solicit the court to have the money returned that was seized during Rubin’s first arrest. It seems as if they have plenty of ammunition now to clear Rubin’s name, more so than they did three years ago. The fact that Rubin has opened up another medical marijuana dispensary and has yet to serve any time from being convicted of operating a medical marijuana dispensary three years ago, will only add fuel to the fire.
420 Activist Running for LA’s Top Job
October 31st, 2008 by PerryThat’s right, LA’s top job. No, not head valet at the Playboy Mansion, but Mayor of Los Angeles. Antonio Villaraigosa’s recent scandals while in office, including an affair with a reporter from Spanish-language network Telemundo, expect to make this an especially contentious contest in March, when voters head to the ballots.
Enter MMJ’s dark-horse contender: Craig X
The Temple 420 founder, CraigX Rubin has a platform to build desalination plants, more local growing (of mainstream agriculture, not what you’re thinking) and synchronizing traffic lights. I’m not sure how seriously the general public is taking Craig’s political ambitions, as he’s only raised $1,100 in a month of fund raising.
The video above is an 8 minute introduction to Craig, what he’s about and his lifelong goal of legalization.
