Dan Rush Oakland Cannabis Union Pioneer Gives 1st Interview After Parole, Talks What Happened To Him

My friend Oakland’s Dan Rush (who runs Daniel J. Rush & Associates Government Affairs and Consulting) has had quite the ride.

David Downs, writing for the The East Bay Express had this take in “Leading labor organizer in the cannabis industry Dan Rush, says he is not guilty of federal charges.”:

Dan Rush, the long-time face of union efforts to organize America’s cannabis industry, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges of corruption, attempted extortion, and money laundering. Rush, an Oakland resident, faces up to twenty years in prison and fines of up to $500,000. A federal grand jury in Oakland indicted Rush on September 17 with charges of taking illegal payments as a union employee, honest services fraud, and other crimes. That indictment came after a bombshell affidavit in the case became unsealed in August. Rush was arrested on August 11 and posted bond for $500,000. The affidavit, and indictment contain a litany of charges. [jump] “Rush and a coconspirator formulated a scheme to obtain debt forgiveness in exchange for favorable treatment by the union,” authorities stated in public documents. “The indictment also charges Rush with taking kickbacks from an attorney to whom he had referred medical marijuana dispensaries as clients. Rush, the indictment alleges, had a duty to provide honest services to the UFCW; that duty including refraining from self-dealing when interacting with the marijuana dispensaries whose workers it was his job to organize.”

Dan Rush was cannabis director for the United Food and Commercial Workers, and a major face of the legal pot movement in California and America. (While this vlogger does not smoke pot, I do defend the rights of others who want to.). Some refer to Dan as “Superman”, others had less kind thing to say in print. But all of that is behind him, and he wants to talk.

Join us.

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