Local Lawyer "Comes Out" as Pot Smoker

Local attorney Norm Kent serves on the Board of Directors of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. So it wouldn't take a giant stretch of the imagination to picture him puffing on what my grandma used to call "the wacky weed." Saturday, however, Kent made it...

By Deirdra Funcheon

March 9, 2009

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Local attorney Norm Kent serves on the Board of Directors of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. So it wouldn't take a giant stretch of the imagination to picture him puffing on what my grandma used to call "the wacky weed." Saturday, however, Kent made it official in a dramatic blog post: "Today, I am going to come out of the closet as a bi-coastal pot consumer."

In an entry titled, "Meet Me: I Am Patient Number 38020601," Kent explains how he, as a cancer survivor, qualifies for medicinal marijuana use in California. At his second home near San Francisco, he's a member of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and is also "entitled to grow up to six plants of my own in my little apartment on the bay."

Pointing out how absurd it is for the government to outlaw pot while allowing the free flow of alcohol, Kent writes, "if I am relaxing at an airport bar in either San Francisco or Fort Lauderdale, I can order and consume Crown Royal and Coke. What I can't get on both coasts is justice."

A call to his office was not immediately returned. But you can expect to see him shortly in the comments field of this post.

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