Rise of a 'ganjapreneur'

[n2doc]

Angela Woodall
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 09/05/2010 03:28:35 AM PDT

Tempers flared as the evening of July 22 wore on, turning an Oakland City Council meeting into a marathon debate over the future of medical marijuana in one of the country's most pot-friendly cities.

For months the media had chronicled the unfolding of a modern-day Gold Rush -- quickly dubbed the "Green Rush." Now, the path to El Dorado rested in a bid to permit pot growing on an industrial scale. Opposition to the plan by dispensary operators erupted publicly after quiet lobbying failed.

Newcomers were blamed for upsetting the comfortable landscape crafted by seasoned advocates who stood to lose control and profits. One of the newcomers included Dhar Mann, a 26-year-old who runs a corral of businesses that include weGrow -- the nation's first hydroponic superstore, a real estate management company and an exotic car rental agency. He owns a BMW M5 that drives "faster than I care to." He is the director of his parent's business, Friendly Cab Co., the largest taxi operator in Oakland.

"Not all of us can use daddy's money," quipped James Anthony, the attorney and public face of the Harborside Health Center dispensary, during the July meeting. Anthony didn't say Mann's name, but it was clear who he was talking about.

Mann hadn't helped matters by announcing his intention to become the Levi Strauss of the marijuana industry, stripping away the carefully constructed and managed medicinal cannabis image used to ease pot into the mainstream.

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