Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Florida pot-stock promoter backs Brewer for D.A.

Law-enforcement PACs also dole dollars for Dumanis challenger

Bonnie Dumanis and Robert Brewer
Bonnie Dumanis and Robert Brewer

Over the years, San Diego has known its share of newly rich political sugar daddies, spending their up-and-coming wealth on their chosen candidates of the hour. Disgraced banker C. Arnholt Smith, drug-money-laundering Jack-in-the-Box mega millionaire Dick Silberman, and fallen lawyer Bill Lerach all ended up doing time.

Others, including La Jolla Democratic billionaire and Qualcomm cofounder Irwin Jacobs and his ex-CEO son Paul, have managed to stay on the legitimate side of the street.

Now, it appears, it is the turn of the marijuana moguls to grab a piece of the political spotlight.

As previously reported here, members of San Diego's medical pot lobby have been backing attorney Robert Brewer's bid to unseat GOP district attorney Bonnie Dumanis. The support was in the form of $10,000 given on April 25 by a political action committee calling itself the Alliance for Responsible Medicinal Access PAC to a pro-Brewer independent expenditure committee known as the Public Safety Advocates PAC.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The medical marijuana backers have been joined in their support for Brewer by the San Diego Deputy Sheriffs Association PAC, which gave $5000, and the San Diego Police Officers Association PAC, which came up with a total of $10,000 for the Dumanis challenger's cause. Other cop labor groups and a Beverly Hills accountant kicked in as well.

But a mystery as thick as pungent pot smoke has lingered on: where did the medical marijuana PAC get its cash?

George Diaz

Now some new facts have emerged. According to a May 22 disclosure report filed with the San Diego city clerk's office, $10,000 of the total of $21,835 raised by the PAC from the beginning of this year through May 17 was provided by a firm called General Hemp, LLC of Sarasota, Florida. Another Sunshine State donor was listed as George Diaz, whose occupation was given as chief of neurology at Miami's Mt. Sinai Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Stuart Titus

On March 10, Forbes reported that the man behind General Hemp is Stuart Titus, who has become a major player in the swirl of investment intrigue accompanying the dawn of legalized pot in America.

In the magazine's April 24 issue, Forbes reporter Nathan Vardi followed up with a feature story about the white-hot wheeling and dealing that the magazine says has made Bart Mackay, a Las Vegas lawyer, "the first pot stock billionaire."

Mackay reportedly created a company called CannaVest "by using companies he owned to buy control of a penny stock company in the foreclosure business." According to the piece, "Mackay’s share purchases were financed by a Florida physiotherapist named Stuart Titus," who "also backs a hemp multilevel marketing company."

The deal has paid off big for Titus, the magazine says.

"This year he’s been turning his paper profits into actual cash, taking CannaVest shares he had bought for a nickel each and selling them for as much as $150 a share, and pocketing $7 million, an SEC filing shows.

"'I have to say that, you know, this has turned out quite nicely,' Titus tells Forbes in an interview."

Notes the story, "real estate, marketing and oil outfits have miraculously morphed into medical marijuana and hemp companies, either through reverse mergers or simply changing their declared line of business.

“And just about every single one is thinly traded on the over-the-counter bulletin board, or Pink Sheets, where promoters can push them with the enthusiasm of a campus dealer."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Bonnie Dumanis and Robert Brewer
Bonnie Dumanis and Robert Brewer

Over the years, San Diego has known its share of newly rich political sugar daddies, spending their up-and-coming wealth on their chosen candidates of the hour. Disgraced banker C. Arnholt Smith, drug-money-laundering Jack-in-the-Box mega millionaire Dick Silberman, and fallen lawyer Bill Lerach all ended up doing time.

Others, including La Jolla Democratic billionaire and Qualcomm cofounder Irwin Jacobs and his ex-CEO son Paul, have managed to stay on the legitimate side of the street.

Now, it appears, it is the turn of the marijuana moguls to grab a piece of the political spotlight.

As previously reported here, members of San Diego's medical pot lobby have been backing attorney Robert Brewer's bid to unseat GOP district attorney Bonnie Dumanis. The support was in the form of $10,000 given on April 25 by a political action committee calling itself the Alliance for Responsible Medicinal Access PAC to a pro-Brewer independent expenditure committee known as the Public Safety Advocates PAC.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The medical marijuana backers have been joined in their support for Brewer by the San Diego Deputy Sheriffs Association PAC, which gave $5000, and the San Diego Police Officers Association PAC, which came up with a total of $10,000 for the Dumanis challenger's cause. Other cop labor groups and a Beverly Hills accountant kicked in as well.

But a mystery as thick as pungent pot smoke has lingered on: where did the medical marijuana PAC get its cash?

George Diaz

Now some new facts have emerged. According to a May 22 disclosure report filed with the San Diego city clerk's office, $10,000 of the total of $21,835 raised by the PAC from the beginning of this year through May 17 was provided by a firm called General Hemp, LLC of Sarasota, Florida. Another Sunshine State donor was listed as George Diaz, whose occupation was given as chief of neurology at Miami's Mt. Sinai Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Stuart Titus

On March 10, Forbes reported that the man behind General Hemp is Stuart Titus, who has become a major player in the swirl of investment intrigue accompanying the dawn of legalized pot in America.

In the magazine's April 24 issue, Forbes reporter Nathan Vardi followed up with a feature story about the white-hot wheeling and dealing that the magazine says has made Bart Mackay, a Las Vegas lawyer, "the first pot stock billionaire."

Mackay reportedly created a company called CannaVest "by using companies he owned to buy control of a penny stock company in the foreclosure business." According to the piece, "Mackay’s share purchases were financed by a Florida physiotherapist named Stuart Titus," who "also backs a hemp multilevel marketing company."

The deal has paid off big for Titus, the magazine says.

"This year he’s been turning his paper profits into actual cash, taking CannaVest shares he had bought for a nickel each and selling them for as much as $150 a share, and pocketing $7 million, an SEC filing shows.

"'I have to say that, you know, this has turned out quite nicely,' Titus tells Forbes in an interview."

Notes the story, "real estate, marketing and oil outfits have miraculously morphed into medical marijuana and hemp companies, either through reverse mergers or simply changing their declared line of business.

“And just about every single one is thinly traded on the over-the-counter bulletin board, or Pink Sheets, where promoters can push them with the enthusiasm of a campus dealer."

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.