Both the California chefs and potters unions declared support for Proposition 19, the statewide referendum to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in California. Famous TV Chef Emeril Lagasse, a senior member of the chefs union, commented, “Pot is the most important tool for a chef. Without it, we’re nothing.” Lagasse continued, “You light the pot up from underneath and then BOOM! You’re cooking—that’s the only way to do it.”
Chef Richard Krajnyk also clarified, “There’s a lot of misinformation out there. Some people refer to cooking with the pot as baking, which is preposterous. Unless you put a pot in the oven, it’s not baking.”
The chefs union was not the only group lobbying in favor of Proposition 19. The potters union has also been putting its support behind the proposition. Artist Blake Crowe lamented, “What would an artist like myself be without pot? I can’t even start the creative process without it. In fact, I’d say that in this business, there can be no creative process without pot.”
On the other side of the debate, gardeners have come out in strong opposition to Proposition 19. “These chefs and potters might get all high and mighty about the benefits of the pot, but they forget that the proposition is inclusive of weed too,” remarked Rachel Garbowski, head botanist for the Menlo Park Senior Citizens Center. “How do the chefs expect us to plant healthy crops with weed flowing freely through our communities?”
Through all this controversy, emotions ran high. A slightly angrier potter who wished to remain anonymous told a Flipside correspondent, “My job is literally on the line; these people, these vicious people against Prop. 19, they ought to get stoned.”
