The President of JOBL would have me believe that they had no idea about this.  They are throwing the poor division manager under the bus, saying that a gentlemen who does not even know me, decided on his own accord to investigate my history and use it as an excuse to not let me coach instead of simply telling me someone else had filled the position.  Incredible.  I spoke with this person for over 20 minutes to where he clearly stated that it was the boards decision to not allow me to coach because of my past drug arrest.  They would like me to believe that this was all a product of this innocent guy (who is nice) and that there was no direction from them in any manner.  It is a ridiculous fish story at best and offensive to my intelligence.  Keep calling.

Patti, Ken and the JOBL Board,

I am highly disappointed in your organization for its decision to use my private matters as a justification to not allow me to manage a pee-wee baseball team.  I did a great job of coaching last year and it disheartens me that you would allow a discriminatory matter to cloud your decision making process. Nothing has changed since last year.  My arrest and conviction record is no different from the day I walked off the field last June.  The only difference is that you have been made aware of the situation because if the high-profile nature of my case regarding cannabis medicines.

You have never done background checks or asked for disclosure from any of your coaches, and you are choosing to single me out because of the political nature of my alleged crime.  Maybe you are uninformed about the legality of medical cannabis here in California, but I would definitely consult with your legal staff before discriminating based upon this matter.  I work closely with many local activist groups and believe I will have the multitudes of patients I have served for years contact you to inform you of the fine work I did in the community.  I am attaching and linking some news stories about our case that you may find of interest.

You know, I had decided not to coach this year to avoid this very situation and to experience the scarlet letter feeling that the difference between state and federal laws have brought to my life.  Mark contacted me shortly after evaluations and asked if I would coach. I purposely neglected to return his call.  Many of your current coaches approached me during evaluations and told me you were several coaches short to fill the league. Some parents approached me and asked why I was not coaching, as they heard I was a "great coach." I deflected their inquiries with excuses of work.  Mark then followed up a couple of nights ago, literally begging me to manage a team.  Ke said that Kyle (Patti's son) had encouraged him to call me and get me signed on.  He promised to find me a strong coach to help co-manage and offered to find help where I needed to make it happen.  Reluctantly, I accepted.

I woke up in the morning and informed my son that I was going to be managing his Cardinal team again and he lit up with excitement.  I became excited as well, because I truly loved coaching the boys last year. This morning I received a short and inconsiderate voice mail informing me that the board had decided to ban me from coaching because of my "past."  I called Mark (whom I have never met) back to inquire what the issue was to which he informed me that it was my "arrest record." I was appalled.  No "I am sorry."  No common courtesy or empathy. Simply a firm, "The board is sticking by its decision."  I continued to debate the subject, making sure you were clear about the situation that your organization was embarking upon.  You have become a clear example to the community of the misguided and misinformed nature of society to jump to conclusions without taking simple steps to further investigate what you are talking about.

I ask you simply where is the rule that states I am not allowed to manage?  How can you arbitrarily decide that my situation is worthy of being banned from coaching, when you do absolutely nothing to inquire about the background and nature of the men you let manage these teams? Where is the line drawn?  Can a person who has a background in domestic violence coach? What do you do to make sure that does not happen?  I would think a person who abused his family was far more of a danger than a medical cannabis provider.  DUIs? Speeding ticket?  Where is the line? These are all far more dangerous activities than what I was accused of. Yet your organization does nothing to investigate or ensure parents that the men who manage these teams are not guilty of anything/  You have absolutely no oversight, which is fine. But you cannot pick and choose when you will and will not enforce these rules(?).

I am deeply disappointed with your organization's lack of courtesy for me and my family.  You understand that I do not lie to my son, except for about Santa.  When he asks why daddy will not be coaching his team I will tell him that I am not allowed to because I provided non-smoked forms of cannabis medicines to sick and dying people in California and the political nature of my actions caught me in a legal grey area regarding state and federal law.  It is preposterous. YOU called ME. More than once. And begged me to sign on.  You did not even have the courtesy to apologize for your oversight, instead you leave me a impersonal message from a man I never met, as if I were some sort of child molester.  What gives?  Do you remember you asked if I wanted to serve on the maintenance position on the board at the end of last year?  I am still that guy.  What is different now?

Yo can guarantee that we are going to take this matter to the press and to a protest if necessary.  Did you know that 80% of Americans support medical cannabis (http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/timep.politics.pot.tm/index.html)? WHat percentage of younger americans do you thing that may be, say young enough to have kids in little league? Probably higher than 80 for sure.  How about the AARP poll of adults over 45 (http://www.aarpmagazine.org/health/Articles/a2005-01-18-mag-marijuana.html)? Do you see a pattern?  I can take this to the court of public opinion if you like and we can do a protest and media release on it.  I have already contacted the gentlemen who wrote the Contra Costa Times article to see if he wants to do a follow up on how these injustices and flawed laws ruin people (like myself)'s life. If none the less i will use this opportunity to raise awareness of the injustice and discrimination that the lies and bigotry of
situations like this has on our society.  This is no longer just about baseball.

I strongly encourage you to rethink your principles on this matter and silence the bitter few who choose to use my unfortunate situation as a moral high-ground. You do realize that my coach was Rob Pesmark was a police officer, right?  You know he came to my house for a party and his kids and my kid had great fun on a water-slide.  He sat on my couch and watched baseball with me.  He didn't treat me like I was a criminal. I was not shy of him because he was a member of thelaw enforcement community. I welcomed him and praised him and his wife's service to our community.  I even wrote a congressman a letter on Denise Pesmark's behalf as I was outraged that she was losing her position. I have a letter of recommendation from one of the mother's on my team from last year stating clearly what a good coach I was to her son.  I gave them my best week in and week out, for what? To be treated like this by you and your organization.  Unacceptable.

I am not a criminal and it is offensive that you would treat me that way.  I am a good person with good intentions and I do not deserve this.  Below are some valuable and informative links about my situation.  Thanks for your time.

Kind Regards,

Mickey Martin
Team Manager
JOBL Pee-Wee Cardinals
510-377-1990
peeweecards@yahoo.com

An article on my sentencing so you can see clearly what the federal judge had to say about this matter.
http://www.medicalmarijuanaofamerica.com/content/view/234/111/

SF Chronicle Article on me:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/05/BAGNSJMG6.DTL

Contra Costa Times article:
http://www.freetainted.com/weblog/2008/08/08/contra-costa-times-article-from-raids

Original Press Conference Denouncing Federal Tactics
http://cbs5.com/local/El.Sobrante.federal.2.460404.html

My blog is:
www.freetainted.com if you want to read about my experiences throughout this ordeal.  Maybe if you took the time to speak to someone this could have clearly been avoided.


Thank you for your support of JOBL and our very special 2009 Cardinal Baseball Team. We should all have some fun, some laughs, and some good times while learning and developing our skills.  Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at any time. Go Cardinals!


It's hard to win a pennant, but it's harder losing one.  ~Chuck Tanner

The scarlet letter of my medical marijuana conviction has caught up with me and I am being discriminated by my son's little league, the Junior Optimist Baseball League, in Concord, CA.  I managed my son's team last year and prided myself on helping these young men learn the game of baseball and to function as a part of a team.  It was very rewarding and something my son really enjoyed.  My party rental company sponsored the league, and I was even asked to join the board at the end of last season.

In an unforeseen change of events I have been asked by the Board of Directors not to coach my son's team, "due to my having a drug conviction." The head of the Pee-Wee Division called me twice begging me to coach this year, as they were short on people. I resisted, as I did not want this situation to come up, but they called again and offered to even have someone help me manage and told me the President of the League's son (also a coach) had specifically told him to call and enlist my help.  I agreed that I would help and today I received notice that they were banning me from coaching.  I was crushed.  I had specifically shied away from coaching this year for this reason, but they literally begged me to do it.  So now I have told my son I would be coaching his team and everything and I have to tell him that his Daddy is not allowed to coach his team because he made medicine for sick people.

Please call the league President and express that there is a large community of medical cannabis patients and providers who do not deserve to be singled out and discriminated against for their belief in cannabis therapies. The contacts are as below:

Patti Behmlander- JOBL President (925) 672-2452

Ken Jones- Boy's Baseball Leader- (925) 937-3547

League Offices- (925) 827-1088

Let your voice be heard.  YOU could be the next to be discriminated against if we do not all stand up against these injustices.  I am contacting local press and considering a discrimination suit, as they do not perform background checks on ANY coaches and they are singling me out because my case was high profile and on the local news. It is disappointing to have to feel like a criminal.  Had they bothered to listen to my story this may have not been necessary, or even apologized for misleading me,  but instead the decided to treat me like a child molester and I am once again depressed over my situation. Make a quick call and let them know that it is not okay to discriminate against CA.  If they did not want medical cannabis patients and providers in their league they should move to Texas or something. This is an outrage.