Dale has been the state director of California NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) since 1987. He wrote his PhD dissertation at Stanford on Consumer Choice and FDA Drug Regulation.

He was one of the original co-authors of California's medical marijuana initiative, Prop. 215, in 1996, and has co-sponsored and lobbied for other drug reform measures. He has published original research on medical marijuana, the history of marijuana and drug prohibition, the economic benefits of legalization, marijuana and driving safety, cannabis vaporization, CBD, and drug urinalysis.

He is a founding member of the Drug Policy Forum of California.