The Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance, OCLA, is a political action committee based in Oakland, California. Our mission includes work toward taxing and regulating cannabis sales among adults. Among our projects was Oakland's Measure Z, which made private adult cannabis (marijuana) offenses the lowest police priority, and direct the local government to support changes in public policy regarding marijuana with the aim of regulating, licensing and taxing its sales to adults as soon as possible under California law.
The board was initiated in 2003 by Richard Lee and Joe DeVries, who recruited a board of local activists with demonstrated abilities. The initial goal was to devise and implement a local voter initiative for Oakland to adopt the policy of tolerance so as to use normal zoning regulations and agencies to allow responsible cannabis business practices to operate in a manner that avoids public nuisance. Having seen the passage of Measure Z, that mission has been expanded to include pressing for full implementation of the ordinance and
Current board members are listed alphabetically below:
Chris Conrad
Director, Business Alliance for Commerce in Hemp
Amy Doktor
Bulldog Coffeeshop
Dale Gieringer
Director, California NORML
Richard Lee
Bulldog Coffeeshop and Oaksterdam Gift Shop
Mikki Norris
Director, Cannabis Consumers Campaign
Former board members include:
Judy Appel
Legal director, Drug Policy Alliance
Joe DeVries
Community Advocate
Political consultants:
To get involved or donate, please contact the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance. FPPC ID# 1259121