WHO IS GREEN AID?
Green Aid was born in 2002 out of the passion and commitment of its founding Board of Directors and other key leadership from inside the medical marijuana movement, both in Northern California and beyond. The Board of Directors of GREEN AID: MEDICAL MARIJUANA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND, INC. invites comments and participation from the public as the work of GREEN AID unfolds. Please contact them via e-mail: Board@Green-Aid.com.

The Board of Directors

Jeff W. Jones, President
Mr. Jones is widely regarded as an articulate and outspoken leader among Bay Area medical marijuana activists who has effectively partnered with the City of Oakland in his role as Founder and Executive Director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative (OCBC). Oakland's longest running, nonprofit medical dispensary, OCBC both advocates for patients' rights on local, regional, state and national fronts, as needed. In 1996, he assisted in the qualification and passage of Prop 215, and worked with the Oakland City Council to pass numerous resolutions in support of the OCBC's permanent presence in Downtown Oakland. Thereafter, he created the Oakland Medical Cannabis Working Group which drafted the City of Oakland's Official Guidelines for medical cannabis possession and cultivation. The Council then appointed Mr. Jones an "Officer of the City of Oakland" in order to shield his dispensary from threats by by the DEA. Nevertheless, the federal government raided OCBC resulting in a highly publicized Supreme Court decision of July, 2001. Currently, OCBC is engaged in appeals before the Ninth Circuit.

James Anthony, Chair of the Board
Mr. Anthony is a former Deputy City Attorney for the City of Oakland who now runs a private law practice specializing in in California medical cannabis dispensary land use law. He has been involved with drug policy reform for decades, and now assists MCDs in getting their land use permits—successfully so far in Kern County, San Francisco, and Oakland. He has also defended MCDs from local government lawsuits that sought to shut them down for “nuisance” or zoning violations. Mr Anthony is a graduate of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School of Law at the University of California at Davis.

Mike Whitty, PhD
A longtime drug policy reform activist, Dr. Whitty is a professor of Management and Labor Relations in the College of Business Administration at the University of Detroit, Mercy, where he has taught since 1967. His academic work deals with social issues in business, global business values and spirituality in the workplace. He has published in the Labor Law Journal, The Competitiveness Review, Multinational Business Review and The Journal of Change Management.

Mary Pat Jacobs
Ms. Jacobs is the Founder, Director, and President of the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana (SAMM). She is both a patient and political activist. Notably, SAMM negotiated the most progressive cultivation policy that has been adopted by a California county for use by medical marijuana patients. SAMM has also been very effective in local electoral politics providing key resources and templates for organizing to the region and beyond.

Carol Ruth Silver
Carol Ruth Silver is a promient San Francisco attorney, a former member of the City and County of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, and an involved figure in many pro bono activities that impact the lives of the disenfranchised in San Francisco and beyond. Recently, her commitment to social causes brought her on an humanitarian mission to Afghanistan. Notably, for many years she has fought for the legitimation of medical marijuana and for safe access for credible patients. During the 1996 campaign for Proposition 215, she offered her greatest contribution to the movement by calling and then chairing a day-long leadership conference with regard to unraveling the debate over two competing medical marijuana initiatives that were headed for the state ballot, destined to reak havoc on the issue with California voters. Because of her success that day, the votes were not divided, and 215 was adopted as the sole initiative for the Sate of California. In her role as Secretary and Treasurer for GREEN AID, Ms. Ruth worked to secure IRS tax-exemption for GREEN AID's, its 501c3 status, and status as a public benefit corporation in the Sate of California.