Pot legalization headed for (California) Nov. ballot

[kpete]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Pot legalization headed for Nov. ballot

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Wednesday, March 24, 2010


(03-24) 12:37 PDT Sacramento --

The California Secretary of State is expected today to certify a measure that would ask voters this November whether marijuana should be legalized and regulated for adult recreational use.

The ballot measure would mark the second time in nearly 40 years that people in the Golden State would decide the issue of legalization, though the legal framework and cultural attitudes surrounding marijuana have changed significantly the past four decades.

If Californians were to pass the measure, it would be the first in the nation to do so as similar efforts in other states all have failed. California would also have the most comprehensive laws on legal marijuana in the entire world, marijuana reform advocates say. Opponents are confident they will easily defeat the measure.

Backers needed to collect at least 433,971 valid signatures of registered voters. They submitted nearly 700,000 signatures.




Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/24/BADI1CHAMR.DTL&tsp=1

[kestrel91316]

1. I know how I'm gonna vote. Heck, even the RWers will support it if

it will help balance the budget.

[paulsby]

19. national review, the conservative flagship has been pro mj legalization

for DECADES.

this is a nonpartisan issue, and hopefully will be a winner

[abelenkpe]

2. Opponents think they can defeat the measure?

They're high. I can see this passing easily. The state needs revenue and it's 2010, not 1950.

[Scairp]

45. I don't think they can either

I cannot wait. Too many people smoke. If they will all go out and vote it will pass.

[polichick]

3. Wow - it's about time! Good news. nt

[Soylent Brice]

4. *fingers crossed*

[Hell Hath No Fury]

5. I can't stand the stuff --

but I am going to vote "yes" because of destruction of the drug war and the financial benefits to my State.

[polichick]

9. Also important to stop the hypocrisy of having alcohol legal and marijuana not...

...and ruining people's lives by prosecuting them.

[MellowDem]

10. Or cigarettes...

especially cigarettes.

[icee]

30. I agree. I smoked it in when I was young, and I believe doing so

changed the course of my life for the worse. Then I didn't smoke it again for 30 years until I got a prescription for it. I bought a bag at a medical dispensary for about $400.00. I smoked about five joints, then didn't smoke any more. Still have the bag in my file cabinet. I regret ever having smoked the stuff; however, I'm still going to vote for it because too much money is being spent in law enforcement regarding the stuff. I actually wouldn't be surprised if total smoking doesn't change at all if the law passes.

[demigoddess]

6. legalize and tax them and stop having wars and we can balance all of the budgets

It is not that we don't have enough money or that we don't pay enough taxes, it is that we throw the money around on wars and supporting the rich. like John McCain who won't do his job and a few others like him.

[pundaint]

14. Hillary was blaming US demand for Mexico's drug wars yesterday. I blame US laws.

Who would buy that Mexican crap if a product of the USA were available? The Government should also consider the value of a stoned citizenry, if they wish to continue running things as they do.

[maxsolomon]

16. more likely we'll use the tax revenue to fund more wars

and eliminate the estate tax or something.

it is america, after all.

[tinrobot]

7. Just as long as you can't smoke it in restaurants, I'll vote for it.

Smoke all you want, just keep the pot fumes away from me, please.

[iscooterliberally]

8. I wish that would happen in my state.

I just got my house tossed about two weeks ago because my kid bought some weed from another kid that got busted and ratted him out. After that experience I would rather legalize every drug that there is. There's also this to think about:

http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/drug-war-victim/

[FirstLight]

11. omg that is a horrible site

so sad and awful what the drug wars have done, just the culture of fear and antagonization and crime and just regular people in the wrong place at the wrong time...
:cry:
thanks for showing me that, though.

[iscooterliberally]

33. I agree it is horrible,

but it did open my eyes to the fact that I was very fortunate in my case. The police only pistol whipped my son in my front yard while the neighbors watched in total disbelief. They could have just shot him and killed him, and then went in and shot my dogs too. I feel more terrorized by our own local police than anything I see on TV about Osama Bin Laden. One of the stories on that website happened about a mile away from my house about 5 years ago. The SWAT team kicked the door in and shot some kid 10 times because they knew he had a concealed weapons permit.

[pundaint]

12. Now Californians: No wake and bake on election day, got to remember to vote.

[4lbs]

13. I will vote YES! We need to weed out the opponents!

:D

[IDFbunny]

44. At least one of them has smoked

then recanted. Can you guess?

[tooeyeten]

15. financial savings

Does everyone realize the financial savings if this passes? The law enforcement dollars have been wasted for years on this nonsense.

[Chemisse]

17. I don't smoke very often any more

But I have been waiting 30 years to be ABLE to smoke, if I should so desire, without fear of prosecution.

If California passes this, the pot prohibition will tumble like dominoes (I hope!).

[customerserviceguy]

20. Dominoes?

Oh, yeah, gotta call up for pizza... Thanks for reminding me, dude!

[Cartoonist]

18. Fed law still trumps

I will vote for passage, but am under no illusion it will mean legal pot. Obama's DEA is still persecuting medicinal pot.

[Flaneur]

31. The Obama Justice Department is NOT going after medical marijuana.

In states where it is legal. There may be a couple of exceptions, but the situation is much improved over the Bush era.

Yes, federal law trumps, but we could see the administration doing what it did with medical marijuana.

Also, the DEA doesn't have enough agents to effectively enforce federal marijuana laws, especially if it's thinking about busting every pot smoker in California.

[arbusto_baboso]

34. True. BUT.....

If this ever comes to a federal court, the feds will assert that the law violates their right to "regulate interstate commerce" and the courts will strike down the law. Count on it.

[JonLP24]

43. Yes they are

http://cbs5.com/local/medical.marijuana.raid.2.968019.html

Last I checked medical cannabis is legal in California. It's far from the only example as I follow this issue VERY closely. I don't fault the President for this because fed law trumps state laws so the DEA assholes are just doing their job.

The above link was saved from a thread in my bookmarks. It's from last year but still under President Obama's watch.

More recently...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_0_0_t&ct3=MAA4AEgAUABqAnVz&usg=AFQjCNHkDJCuEfjwshZ6JKOO1vAkA5-84w&cid=17593730053489&ei=f96rS6jAAo3GlQS1vqNV&rt=SEARCH&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mercurynews.com%2Fnews%2Fci_14751663

[Romulox]

37. Yes and no...most drug prosecutions take place at the local level.

So the Federales would be free to conduct arrests for simple possession and small scale distribution. But the State is under no compulsion to enforce Federal drug statutes...

[Duer 157099]

21. Guess what? Pot growers in Humboldt are *opposed* to this!

Which just goes to show that no matter the issue, there will always be disagreement, even from those places where you would least expect it.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20100324/NEWS/100329779/1350?Title=Legal-pot-Outlaw-growers-are-opposed

If California legalizes marijuana, they say, it will drive down the price of their crop and damage not just their livelihoods but the entire economy along the state's rugged northern coast.

"The legalization of marijuana will be the single most devastating economic event in the long boom-and-bust history of Northern California," said Anna Hamilton, 62, a Humboldt County radio host and musician who said her involvement with marijuana has mostly been limited to smoking it for the past 40 years.

Local residents are so worried that pot farmers came together with officials in Humboldt County for a standing-room-only meeting Tuesday night where civic leaders, activists and growers brainstormed ideas for dealing with the threat. Among the ideas: turning the vast pot gardens of Humboldt County into a destination for marijuana aficionados, with tours and tastings — a sort of Napa Valley of pot.

[DisgustedTX]

25. Opposed? You've got to be kidding me.

Oh for Christ's sake! Opposed to a measure that would let them grow something LEGALLY that they should be arrested for growing now? Idiots.

Short-sighted thinking at it's worst. No one has mentioned the tourism benefit yet. If CA were to legalize, the huge amount of tourist $ they receive now would be supplemented by untold amounts by casual visitors to the state.

[Duer 157099]

28. I know, it's short-sighted of them. Self interest, mainly

I can see how, if you're a drug dealer for example, you might be opposed to legalization since there goes your huge profits. Essentially this is the same. What they're not seeing is how it will benefit the state as a whole.

The article does discuss the tourism angle.

And the thing about super potent pot, which I suppose is what Humboldt is known for, is that when it's illegal, people prefer small potent doses because it's less risky. But if it's legal to grow your own, I suppose people will settle for less potent plants because it won't matter if that have larger quantities, legally speaking. They can safely smoke a whole joint instead of having to get the same high from just one hit.

As a Californian who hasn't smoked pot in decades, I really hope this passes.

[mike_c]

35. that's not entirely true...

...and I say that as a Humboldt resident with er, um... strong connections to that community. This county's economy is largely built on marijuana-- it is the backbone of our economy. The same is true for several other California counties, including Mendocino County, if I'm not mistaken.

At any rate, there is concern that legalization will allow a few corporate, large scale operations to supplant all of the small growers making their livings and keeping our local economy afloat. As we often hear here, all it would take is a few farmers in Nebraska with 10,000 acres or more to put under cultivation, or even a few good sized parcels in the central valley, to wipe out most of the smaller growers here. That is a real economic concern in this community.

Very few people that I'm aware of want to see the prohibition maintained-- they just want to see a market for quality product produced by small scale growers maintained. The current ballot initiative would probably do that, because it makes recreational possession of up to one oz. legal for adults, but does not do much (or anything as far as I'm aware) to discourage the current production models. I expect the overwhelming majority of Humboldt County to vote in favor.

[Romulox]

36. It seems hypocritical to try and have it both ways--those high prices are possible only because of

prohibition.

You couldn't get two or three hundred dollars an O if the police weren't regularly taking down the competition. Fact.

[mike_c]

39. I don't think that's the issue for many...

...as much as the matter of supply and demand. Frankly, most folks want the price to go down, including many of the growers I know or work with. Most folks also know that legalization will completely change the culture surrounding marijuana cultivation, and will likely result in major changes in the number and scale of producers. There will be winners and there will be losers.

What many fear is the situation in which most local producers lose: corporate, large scale cultivation that runs the small growers out of business, and the near certainty that such an operation would happen somewhere else, undermining demand for Humboldt growers' product more-or-less entirely.

Frankly, most folks can simply grow their own very successfully with just a little investment of money and time. That's one thing that makes price even less of an issue-- in many respects, it's an artificial economy already, maintained at least partly by the prohibition itself. Not entirely, of course. Some folks will always prefer to buy rather than grow, and like home brewing, you might be able to grow some damn nice bud, but when you want variety or something special it's nice to have a beer store nearby.

But what everyone worries about is that farm or two that brings big ag to marijuana cultivation. A few of those could simply saturate the market. The boutique growers will always have some market-- today's pot culture demands variety and specialization-- but the last thing we want to see is Budweiser bud pouring out of huge corporate farms.

[Romulox]

42. Price isn't an issue? It's *the* issue.

Legalization won't stop anybody who wants to produce artisan grade marijuana, hash, or edibles from doing so--it will prevent them from making outrageous black market prices in the process, though.

"Frankly, most folks can simply grow their own very successfully with just a little investment of money and time."

Not entirely true. It's trivial to grow pot outdoors. It's not as trivial to grow it in a crawl space or an attic under HID lighting.

"it's an artificial economy already, maintained at least partly by the prohibition itself. "

Right--an artificial economy based on the power of police coercion.

[boppers]

47. Indoor growing *is* trivial, maximizing production is not.

Growing indoors is a matter of light, water, and soil. It's simple.

What is complex is setting up a system to grow in such a way as to maximize yield... that requires fairly high-wattage lights, timers, irrigation systems, humidity control, high quality growth medium, etc.

[John Kerry VonErich]

38. yes and no

Since this is state level legistlation, I highly doubt street value would go down. But if legistated federally, it would kill the biz as the corporations would take over.

[boppers]

46. Mafia opposed to legalization of alcohol...

I'm not surprised. Humboldt's one weird-ass place, where pot is normal, but a woman can't get naked for money unless she's selling an RV.... (locals will get the joke, everybody else can have WTF moment, as I did when I first heard the story).

[Uncle Joe]

22. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.:thumbsup:

[Kievan Rus]

23. Legalize, regulate and tax it

[lunatica]

24. Here's one little fella who will vote for it

[marshall]

26. Wheeeeee!

The taxes on legalized pot ought to really help the state economy.

[JonLP24]

27. It is a step in the right direction

However I'm not sure how it will be implemented. It'll still be illegal under federal law and they still arrest patients and suppliers of medical cannabis.

[alp227]

29. Thank you to all who signed the petition! I'll be voting Yes to legalize!

Let's stop this worthless War on Drugs that has been an epic failure from the beginning. I thought the government would've learned from Prohibition. The consequences are oh-so-obvious even resulting in the death of some US Embassy officials recently. But corrections officers need their jobs and thus more prisoners!

Soon we might see Snoop Dogg endorsing this proposition.

[defendandprotect]

32. Imagine how much money we could save on this fake Drug War--!!!

[callous taoboy]

40. If this passes I, for one, will take my first vacation to Cali. Think of the revenues

Cali will generate in tourism.

[Kablooie]

52. Oh noes! California will be overrun with long haired hippies!

[bamacrat]

41. Any idea on its chances of passing?

And if it did pass wouldn't that force the feds to re-evaluate its rule. If they left it up to the states to decide, each state could vote on it. Like alcohol if it is voted down its not for sale but you should not be punished for possession. If it were up to the states to decide then I can think of at least five states that would legalize, and once other states saw all the money they were making it would go nationwide.

[hollowdweller]

48. It will sweep across the US

If this passes. And with the economy it will spread.

I could change the consciousness of the whole nation, even the non smokers just by a psychic contact high.

The face of america would be much difft if it was a shit eating grin and a chuckle.

[Xenotime]

49. Yea!

[Dream Girl]

50. this might help Brown in November...

Just sayin'

[Kablooie]

51. Ooh. This could get interesting. I'm going to go for it even though I don't use pot.

I don't smoke myself and never have but from everything I've read it's not a dangerous drug any more than cigarettes or alcohol. So there is no reason for it to be illegal and it's crazy to have prisons filled up with pot dealers.