Legal pot? Not yet, says cannabis salesman

The clock is nearing 1 p.m., and the date is April 19, 2011. Outside of a 7-Eleven store in Granada Hills, two men who are on a break from work decide it was time for a smoke. One man pulls out a pack, takes out a cigarette out and lights it up. After a puff, he passes it to the other man.

Generally, people don’t split a cigarette. Unless that cigarette is filled with the recently-legalized drug, marijuana, which the men purchased inside the 7-Eleven just minutes ago.

This could take place if California voters pass a measure in November to legalize possession and sale of marijuana in adults.

As proposed, the state would charge a 10-percent state tax per gram of marijuana sold.

“It’s a great initiative, but it needs a lot of work,” said John Postal, a sales associate at a medical cannabis dispensary in Silverlake. “Not everything is done.”

Postal has spent the last 18 months selling medical marijuana. As the days go by, he finds himself enjoying his job less and less.

“There is always a fear of being raided and going to jail,” said Postal, 24.

An Eagle Rock resident, Postal is one of thousands of medical cannabis employees in California who will likely be out of a job if the drug becomes legal.

“Our clinic would be forced to shut down, lessen our expenses or let everyone in the door,” said Postal.

Many medical marijuana employees are working illegally, said Postal. They are rarely being taxed and get paid in cash.

“I have no health insurance,” said Postal. “Nobody checks if I get my breaks—there’s no Better Business Bureau regulation. I work over eight hours every day and do not get paid overtime. It’s the unfortunate reality of working at a marijuana clinic in this day and age,” said Postal.

Postal, although in support of medical marijuana, is opposed to legalization.

“Until it is addressed federally, I don’t think California is ready for it,” Postal said. “Work places would lose federal funding and California would lose federal funding. That is why the movement might fail.”

“It’s too early to tell how the federal government would respond, ” said Tom LaBonge, Los Angeles City Council member in an e-mail interview.  ”It’s still to be determined. For me, it’s not about a tax but about whether it’s right or wrong,” said LaBonge.

If it were completely up to Postal, he would keep it medical. In a perfect world, he would also quit his job and work with animals, possible as a veterinary technician.

“I’d want to leave because it is still medical marijuana—I see people six months from death who have all forms of cancer, boils—people who need the drug,” said Postal. “It’s not a party drug, it’s not meant to be brought and shared at parties—that’s not medical,” said Postal. “It is extremely difficult to get a doctor’s license revoked.

Medical marijuana is so tainted now with drug dealers and kids who abuse the medical aspect of it—but don’t tell me its medical marijuana,” said Postal. “That’s the hard part and it’s not my job.”