cannabis issue dozens of times on local and national radio, appeared on national TV more than a dozen times, and has testified before Congress on two occasions. Sexual misconduct allegations (2009) In August 2009, seven MPP staffers quit over an alleged incident of sexual misconduct by Kampia involving a female subordinate after an office happy hour. According to former employees, department heads at the organization unanimously asked Kampia to move into a different position than executive director over the incident. Following his statement that he was "hypersexualized," Kampia was "encouraged" by the MPP board of directors to take a three-month leave of absence and his return is subject to "convincing the board he has dealt with his issues." This reportedly resulted in a cancellation of the MPP's annual fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion, with MPP's acting director indicating that "the PR ramifications of holding the event right now are probably obvious." Kampia likened the incident to the Monica Lewinsky scandal, saying he could remain in charge just as Bill Clinton did. In February 2018, "NCIA's Board of Directors voted to remove Rob Kampia in accordance with our bylaws after an ethics committee review surfaced a pattern of behavior unbecoming of a board member." Kampia labeled his ouster as a "coup" in an attempt to save face and spin some sort of public sympathy. This occurred soon after prominent NCIA board member Kayvan Khalatbari had resigned, in part, because the organization hadn't moved to reject Kampia sooner. Arizona controversy In March 2015, Rob Kampia threatened Gina Berman, an emergency room doctor and operator of The Giving Tree Wellness Center, a licensed medical marijuana dispensary in Phoenix. A leaked email stated that he would spend $10,000 to pay people for 1,000 hours of time to distribute literature outside of her front door that would not portray her favorably. This was triggered by philosophical differences regarding the 2016 legalization campaign between Kampia's organization and marijuana dispensary operators in Arizona. Berman issued a public response stating that if Kampia pursues the threat, "it is very likely that both MPP as an organization and you as an individual will be liable for tortuously interfering with business expectancies." Decriminalize Sex Work Kampia co-founded DSW in 2018 with lawyer Melissa Broudo, social worker Crystal DeBoise, and activist and comedian Kaytlin Bailey. Initial funding was provided by Scott and Cyan Banister. In 2019, DSW filed a ballot initiative