His wife and children moved to Costa
Rica and his eldest son was sent to a preparatory school in Brazil. Many of the
extended family moved to the California Central Valley city of Stockton. Many
became involved in drugs and alcohol and several cousins and an uncle were
killed over drug debts or alcohol fueled vendettas.

Shortly after Díaz emerged from prison, much older and almost broken, marijuana
was legalized for medicinal use in several western states. Gene Díaz had a back
injury from his tree planting days that resulted in a herniated disc in his
spine, and he was one of the first in the area to receive a state permit
allowing him to possess and grow marijuana. (continues next page)
Díaz had long instilled in his children a disdain for alcohol and hard drugs,
particularly methamphetamine. Hischildren and anyone working for him were
absolutely forbidden from using alcohol to excess, and must abstain during the
workday.The use or sales of hard drugs
was viewed as grounds for immediate excommunication.

Ironically,
Gene himself had developed a nasty black tar heroin addiction, he developed as
he self-medicated to relieve his back injury. He and his wife's parents from
Durango were old school heroin dealers in Chicago, and they had pioneered many
smuggling methods still in use to this day.

With the state legalization of medical marijuana, the Díaz family was no longer
relegated to the rugged mountains for growing their product, and now they could
take advantage of the fertile farmland and ample water supply that the valleys
were endowed with. While the state placed no limit on the number of patients a
marijuana cooperative could grow for, it