UCLA alumnus champions right to free speech

UCLA alumnus champions right to free speech

Pro-hemp shop owner challenges drug laws, ‘illegal’ words and
the Constitutional right

By Allyssa Lee

As an undergraduate student at UCLA, Craig Rubin was not one to
shy away from expressing his right to free speech.

"I checked out a microphone every Friday and stood at the podium
at Meyerhoff Park," Rubin recalled. "It was about 20 of us from the
free speech movement. We’d just talk about anything and everything
that was on our minds."

Since his graduation in 1993 with a bachelor of arts in history,
Rubin has not stopped pushing the boundaries of the Constitutional
right.

Now the owner of 2000 B C, a Melrose-based hemp-product store,
Rubin notices the oppression of free speech every day. 2000 B C,
named for "the Stoned Age," sells various industrial hemp-made
products including paper, soap, lip balm and clothing. The store
also sells "bongs," a water pipe device that, according to Rubin,
filters out carcinogenics, captures the heavy tar and allows a
pleasant smoking experience.

"According to the L.A. police, you’re not supposed to use the
word ‘bong’ ­ it’s illegal. They prefer the word ‘water
pipe,’" Rubin said. "I painted ‘bong’ on my (storefront)
window.

"(But) there’s no such thing as an illegal word," Rubin
insisted. "There are words that are offensive to people, but
there’s no words that are illegal."

Rubin’s promotion of free speech was recently contested. On Oct.
20, 1994, he was charged and arrested for the possession of
narcotics paraphernalia. His store merchandise was confiscated for
four months.

"The detectives seized my merchandise and I was charged with
health and safety code violations," Rubin said. "(The detectives
said) you can’t sell a bong."

But Rubin countered that it is only illegal to sell a bong to
anyone under 18.

Rubin said he considers the charge irrelevant because it assumes
the selling of pipes infers a possession of marijuana.

"We’re very vocal for legalization (of marijuana), but we don’t
sell any marijuana out of the store," Rubin remarked.

The district attorney rejected the case two times because of a
lack of sufficient information.

Eric Shevin, Rubin’s attorney and a member of the Los Angeles
office of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws said
the case was significant for industrial hemp shop owners.

"It was a landmark," Shevin said. "No hemp shop in history has
ever contested this case and gotten all its merchandise back. It’s
paramount. Detectives are beginning to see that it is useless to
pursue these issues."

Rubin shared a similar sentiment.

"With everything, there’s good and bad," Rubin stated. "Had it
gone to the trial, we could have set a precedence (for other smoke
accessory store owners). None of them carry hemp right now, and
most of the shop owners are pro-hemp."

Growing up in a family of marijuana smokers, Rubin said he was
unaware of the plant’s illegality.

"It’s so funny that it’s illegal, because everyone around me did
it," Rubin said. "I thought it was a normal part of the California
culture."

Upon entering UCLA, Rubin’s initial plans were to enter law
school and eventually, to work for Philip Morris, a large cigarette
manufacturer and "talk him into growing hemp."

An arrest in San Francisco marked Rubin’s role as a free speech
activist, he said.

"(The police) took me into jail for a phony needle charge and
called me a long haired white nigger," Rubin said. "But when I got
back to the UCLA campus to tell the (Daily) Bruin, they said their
policy (didn’t write about) white kids getting abused, only black
kids.

"I was pissed so I checked out a mike and talked about it,"
Rubin continued. "I told my experience and people started to
listen, and then others started (voicing their opinions). (The
Bruin) made it seem that the rally was just a pot and marijuana
rally."

Since then, Rubin said he has chosen to direct his free speech
activism toward marijuana-related causes. He is actively working
for Californians for Compassionate Use, a political campaign set up
by the Cannabis Buyer’s Club of San Francisco, lobbying to make
marijuana legal for medicinal uses.

"The Cannabis Buyer’s Club provides marijuana to terminally ill
patients," Rubin said. "Marijuana controls nausea and stimulates
appetite and causes them to eat."

Rubin discovered the medical effects of marijuana while caring
for his terminally ill grandmother. He was introduced to the
Cannabis Buyer’s Club by a blind patient.

"I see that it’s something I can believe in, and I wanted to do
something positive for a change," Rubin said.