Cannabis Pioneer & Champion Paul Stanford

"This is a 33 minute video from June 2016 of the first office meeting

at our clinic headquarters in Portland, after the takeover. 

My wife videoed it with her phone."

“They haven’t paid me a penny,

but they’ve taken everything I’ve owned in my whole life.”

Paul Stanford

Paul Stanford is in danger of loosing his medical marijuana clinics after decades of work helping over a quarter million patients USA due to a hostile corporate takeover. One of the reasons many of us can go to the corner store to buy our pot is the almost half century of work by hemp pioneer and cannabis champion Paul Stanford. 

Paul and his wife Theresa have helped patients legally get the medical marijuana they need to heal and the information on how to best use it for their health issues. This evolutionary work in the face of insane prohibition laws has made Paul a target for the greed in weed that’s taking over, unless we stop it now.

The Stanfords and their crew have done such excellent jobs helping patients that big business came two years ago to take everything from their clinics to Paul's name. They're doing it through a series of court maneuvers. Paul explained in an email to his patients:

“…we are locked in an ongoing court legal battle for our medical clinic, Empower, from a hostile corporate takeover by an Israeli-Canadian energy company, Adira Energy, which is partially-owned by billionaire speculator, George Soros. Since June 2016, we have been in a David versus Goliath legal drama and outspent on attorneys by more than 10 to one.

The Israeli-Canadians took control of the medical marijuana clinic at a 15 minute hearing that had not been scheduled. I was told to report to the would go into court just the day before, an unscheduled or ex parte hearing. My lawyers appeared, but they advised me to not come because they did not know what the Israeli-Canadian raiders would file or do. The trial is currently scheduled for March 11, 2019 in Multnomah County Court, Portland, Oregon, case number 16CV18448. Turns out that they’ve outspent me 10 to 1 on legal fees.”

It is imperative that at least the cannabis dispensaries and recreational shops donate to Paul's legal fund so they can continue to help people heal. This corporate takeover makes patients records public, private information for sale, with not even a fraction of a penny of it going to the Stanfords or, more importantly, THEIR PATIENTS.

Another multi-decade cannabis / hemp activist, Kris Krane, who is also a journalist at Forbes Magazine, wrote a powerful article earlier this year The Cannabis Industry Needs To Support Advocacy. Here's Why

"This industry didn’t expand because of a memo issued by a deputy attorney general, or because some governments simply decided they wanted to benefit from the tax revenue that legal cannabis could bring their states. It happened because of the decades of work by marijuana reform activists and policy organizations, without whose efforts today’s businesses could not exist.

Today’s cannabis businesses, whether they realize it or not, are part of a long-standing movement to end cannabis prohibition, a movement that I am proud to have played a small role in advancing earlier in my career. With the industry under renewed attack from drug warriors in Washington, D.C., it is imperative that today’s cannabis business leaders, many who have only known the “good times” under the protection of the Cole Memo, heed the lessons taught by the early pioneers of the industry and recognize their essential role in the broader reform movement. Their very existence as businesses depends on it."

How is it that with a lifetime of doing his best and beyond to support the legalization process, Paul Stanford, founder of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, THCF Medical Clinic and Empower Medical Clinics is fighting for his patients privacy which can be sold for $100 each, his business and everything he has? 

Fortunately he has Theresa as his wife so we know they will make it through, yet, they sure could do with some help, especially from the industry that they helped build. Paul's email to his patients continues:

“It is an incredible, modern David and Goliath story. and below are links to 3 articles from the Huffington Post, Salem News and Ganjapreneur that detail this complex international business deal which includes decades of research and patients medical records. I was informed and have to tell my patients that the possible new owners would sell patients' private medical records for tens of millions of dollars. There is a 4th article below on how they can sell private medical records. The previous clinic location are being run by Adira Energy who has taken control in an unusual financial move called a "reverse merger."

The first appeared in the Salem News, written by Bonnie King in August 2016:

““The activist formerly known as Paul Stanford"

Paul Stanford was fired June 10th. BLINDSIDED, he would say. He received a certified letter from S.M.A.A.R.T., the corporation he owns a majority of, telling him he was out.

For reasons wrought with legalese and plenty of supposition, the S.M.A.A.R.T. board of directors opted to remove him, without ever even calling a single shareholder or board of directors meeting.

On June 9th, the lawyers representing Adira, a Canadian/Israeli petroleum and natural gas company, asked the Multnomah County Court in Portland for a TRO (temporary restraining order) against Paul Stanford to “stop imminent harm” and because they weren’t able to “take the company public in August.” That meant no access to his office, or his bank accounts.

The possible loss of future financial gain for these Canadians was apparently enough for the judge to agree, as she made her ruling in less than 20 minutes. LESS THAN 20 MINUTES.

“The Judge caused harm,”Stanford insists. “Harm against an honest business. The impact is far reaching.”’

The next one was written by Angela Bacca published by The Huffington Post

“While the Canadian cannabis business is booming, LPs have turnedtheir focus towards establishing dominant market shares in the United States aswell. Where Canada has a total population of nearly 35 million, in California alone,which legalized marijuana in 2016, there are nearly 40 million people and a massivealready-established market. A company commanding hold on both the American and Canadianmarkets could generate billions.”

I edited Bacca's article to expand and clarify a few crucial points, with hyperlinks to sources. Ganjapreneur reported:

Longtime Activist New Fighting For Livelihood In Ongoing Hostile Takeover

Ganjapreneur by TG Branfelt:

"The lawsuit stems from Stanford’s desire to do two things: raise funds for a ballot initiative to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2014 in Oregon and take his medical clinics company, Presto Quality Care — which operated dispensaries in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Michigan, and California — public. Stanford said he was approached by Canadian venture capitalists about investing in his company, and in May 2014, he agreed he would work with them to launch Presto on the U.S. over-the-counter market if they agreed to give him $400,000 for the ballot initiative."

The Guardian explains how each person's private medical records are worth over $100 each. Our privacy policy said that these records would never be sold. Now, via a million dollar preliminary court injunction, unscrupulous dishonest corporate raiders have been given your private medical data, entrusted to us by you.

"In a new report from the Century Foundation...“The patient is not really a component of this because their name and connection to the prescription have been stripped off.” But other forms of data, such as information from fitness devices and search engines, are completely unregulated and have identities and addresses attached. A third kind of data called “predictive analytics” cross-references the other two and makes predictions about behavior with what Tanner calls “a surprising degree of accuracy”."

I have difficulty conceiving why Paul has to even ask for help to raise legal fees to keep his clinics and his patients medical information private. So far, he's spent over $170,000 fighting a hostile corporate takeover. The raiders have spent over 10 times more on their extensive legal team. If you are in any position to help, please contribute to his GoFundMe campaign.

Of course, knowing Paul and Theresa, they are already rebuilding. Paul reports:

"We have set up a new clinic on Sandy Blvd. in Portland, just off of NE 28th Ave, to compete with our old business, as we fight in court to regain control of Empower Healthcare.

Please call our office if you need to renew for your OMMP card.

If you are not in Oregon, we can refer you to another physician.

Our number is 503-235-4606 and our new address is 2712 NE Sandy Blvd. Portland, OR 97232.

This is our new website:  http://paulstanfordmedicalclinics.com/ "

"If marijuana business leaders recognize their role in the reform movement, and support those organizations whose work has made this industry possible, we will be able to ensure not only the survival of this emerging industry, but we will set the conditions needed to allow it to grow and thrive into the future."

"Kris Krane is co-founder of 4Front, a leading investment and management firm in the cannabis industry. Follow 4Front on Twitter or subscribe to its newsletter."

As the cannabis / hemp industries follow the wisdom of cannabis champion Kris Krane we will succeed in implementing the hemp solution. Hemp / cannabis can solve so many of our problems. The peace pipe may even have an impact on our gun violence and suicide rates (yes, that’s why it’s called the peace pipe).

It's time for Cannabis Common Sense!

If you are in any position to help, please contribute to
Paul's GoFundMe campaign