Eddy Lepp, an iconic figure and hero throughout the cannabis community, died recently after a long battle with cancer. Lepp was a cannabis activist and grower from California who served in Vietnam, founded a church, had one of the largest grow operations in the U.S. and served time in federal prison. Back in the 90’s the police told Eddy he didn’t have to go to jail. All he had to do was tear up his magnificent garden whose plants were helping over 1000 people with various medical conditions and maybe rat out a few friends and colleagues. Eddy wasn’t interested.
Eddy Lepp is a legend in the cannabis community for a lot of reasons but primarily because of the fact that he paid such a high price for the changes that led to the success so many benefit from today.
“Eddy Lepp is a true marijuana martyr,” noted Dale Gieringer of the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “He never once tried to hide what he was doing. His garden was an act of civil disobedience.”
Eddie Lepp’s the kind of person you could write not one, but several books about. He’s a legendary cannabis and human rights activist but that’s just one of the hats he’s worn. He served in Vietnam, was an ordained minister and a legendary political activist. But more than anything, Eddy was a fighter.
In 1997 Lepp was the first person arrested, tried, and acquitted under Prop 215, the California law he worked hard to get passed. Lepp grew more than 50 varieties of high-grade cannabis on his 20 acre farm – “Eddy’s Medicinal Gardens.” Lepp not only allowed others to grow their own plants on his property, he gave away most of his own harvest to people who needed medical cannabis but couldn’t afford it.
After working so hard and long to get Prop. 215 passed in California, federal law enforcement officials decided to make an example of Eddy – a heavy-handed attempt at striking fear into the hearts of those with similar convictions. And because cannabis is legal in many states, but still illegal under federal law, drug enforcement agents can ignore the will of voters and engage in selective and political prosecution as a kind of legal harassment. And that’s what they did to Eddy – they raided his property, arrested him and sent him to prison. They seized his home, his vehicles and destroyed almost all of the plants in his garden. Worse than that, while he was in prison, Eddy missed nearly a decade of his life with family and friends. When reporters asked Lepp’s lawyer how he felt about all the new companies poised to make billions from doing what Lepp was arrested for Michael Hinckley said, “They’ll be growing more plants than Eddy ever did. And they’ll be making a profit, instead of doing it for religious and medical reasons.”
There’s a great scene in the Martin Scorsese movie The Last Temptation of Christ where Pontius Pilot (played by David Bowie) tells Jesus Christ (played by Willem Defoe) that the reason he is being put to death is simply becaus eJesus wanted to change things and the Romans preferred the status quo. Pontius offered Jesus a way out – all he had to do was shut up, law low and pipe down. Jesus wasn’t interested. The American abolitionist John Brown is another historical figure known for never giving an inch. Brown believed he was an instrument of God sent to destroy the institution of slavery by any means necessary. Wealthy slave owners disagreed and encouraged Brown to rethink his position. Brown wasn’t interested either. He was put to death for “treason” by the State of Virginia in 1859.
Lepp has a lot in common with John Brown and Jesus of Nazareth – although he probably would have laughed out loud at the very idea. When most of us hear the word “bravery” our minds turn to fictional heroes from the silver screen or members of the military that have been awarded for their service. Bravery takes many forms and if history has taught us anything, one of the lessons is that those who possess the courage of their convictions are very few and far between.
Eddie Lepp was not the kind of person who backed down – ever. It doesn’t matter if he was fighting cancer or the DEA – he just stood there in the middle of the ring, trading blows with an opponent twice his size until one of them went down. And that’s what you call a warrior.
READ MORE about Eddy Lepp, a true cannabis crusader on the High Times website: