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| Voters May Say: Relax, It's Only Pot |
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Posted by CN Staff on October 31, 2006 at 07:34:01 PT By James Ricci, Times Staff Writer Source: Los Angeles Times 
California -- Voters in three California cities will decide Tuesday whether to require their police departments to make the private use of marijuana by adults the lowest law enforcement priority.The ballot initiatives in Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Santa Monica are direct descendants of Oakland's Proposition Z, which passed overwhelmingly in 2004, and of a similar measure approved by voters in Seattle a year earlier. Like organizers of the earlier initiatives, backers of the three new measures received financial and technical assistance from the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to the legalization and regulation of marijuana nationwide. Project spokesman Bruce Mirken said his organization was approached by local activists in each of the present cases. "We're always talking to activists around the country, and if people are interested in trying to replicate what was accomplished, we definitely want to help," he said. "Everybody knew we helped the Seattle and Oakland people. Certainly, folks are working together and comparing notes and talking to each other. Obviously, nobody wants to have to reinvent the wheel." With funds provided by Cleveland insurance magnate Peter Lewis, the organization gave $122,000 to support Measure P in Santa Barbara; $65,000 for Measure K in Santa Cruz; and $155,000 for Measure Y in Santa Monica. The project granted an additional $28,000 directly to the Santa Monica effort. Partisans of all three measures have been working with the same Bay Area political consulting firm, the Next Generation, which also advised the Oakland campaign. The websites maintained by advocates in the three cities share an identical template. As offspring of the same parents, the measures share a family resemblance. All would, in essence, instruct police not to trouble adults using or possessing marijuana in private homes, and not participate in federal or state law enforcement projects directed at marijuana users. They also would establish commissions to oversee the implementation of the measures and require police officers to make reports to the commissions on incidents in which marijuana arrests were made. Snipped: Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/yyclve Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Related Articles & Web Site: Marijuana Policy Project Police Should Focus on Other Things Besides Pot Measure K Attempt at De Facto Legalization Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #7 posted by Had Enough on October 31, 2006 at 10:25:29 PT |
| Cool. I’ve written in Mickey, Daffy, and Donald too, when appropriate. When I see the results that the newspaper & TV report, I never see my votes for these fine characters being mentioned, but ‘I KNEW” there was at least one vote for Mickey & Co. :) [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 31, 2006 at 10:21:11 PT |
| You sure know how to make me laugh. I am hopeful for our state this time. I want a blue, blue, blue Ohio. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by BGreen on October 31, 2006 at 10:09:03 PT |
| I voted absentee yesterday and it was absolutely disgraceful. There was only ONE local race where the republicans weren't running UNOPPOSED and that was county commissioner! That is the perfect metaphor for the kind of idiots that I share air with around here. Mrs. Green and I wrote in the name of a cartoon character in eight races, including prosecuting attorney, instead of voting for these republican fools. We've already got Daffy, Dumbo and Dopey in office, why not replace those Mickey Mouse characters with the real Mickey Mouse? LOL The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 31, 2006 at 09:24:02 PT |
| I sure agree with you. I have no use whatsoever for any Republicans. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by Max Flowers on October 31, 2006 at 09:18:10 PT |
| Yet these realities still haven't registered with Republicans in Washington. Uh, that's a bit naive. It's not that they haven't registered with Republicans in Washington, it's that those Republicans in Washington DON'T CARE what the people think. In fact, I would say it's registered very well, and that makes them (Republicans) fight all the harder to oppose it. Let's make sure we're clear about it: "Republicans in Washington" couldn't give a rat's ass what their constituents really want... they will deny, ignore, obfuscate, lie some more, fake, act, whatever they have to do to placate the people while they pursue whatever their back-room agenda really is. On this issue, it's protecting the pharm/fuel/textile/cotton/law enforcement/prison and other big industries that will see a big decline in their bottom lines once the mighty cannabis and those who love it are freed. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by paul armentano on October 31, 2006 at 08:25:42 PT |
| "When Californians approved one of the first medical marijuana laws, in 1996, drug warriors were so convinced it would lead to a catastrophic spike in illegal use by teenagers that they sponsored a study to document the damage. But there was no catastrophe: after the law, marijuana use by teenagers actually declined in California. In the decade since, as the Marijuana Policy Project documented in a recent study, popular support for legalized medical marijuana has increased in California and in virtually every other state with a similar law. Last year it was favored by 78 percent of respondents in a Gallup poll. Yet these realities still haven't registered with Republicans in Washington. This year the White House drug czar, John Walters, and his minions have been out campaigning in Nevada, Colorado and South Dakota, which have marijuana initiatives on the ballot. The drug warriors are still sounding the discredited alarms about youths turning into potheads. Their fervor's not surprising -- they may even believe their own hype. What's surprising is the political stupidity of the meddling. Westerners, no matter what they think of marijuana, don't appreciate sermons from federal officials on how to vote. In 2002, when the White House campaigned against another marijuana ballot initiative in Nevada, the state's attorney general said it was "disturbing" to see the federal interference in a state election." [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by paul armentano on October 31, 2006 at 07:58:42 PT |
| Last Thursday's NORML podcast interviews the proponents of all three California initiatives here: http://www.normlaudiostash.com/id230.htm Initiative Watch Nicki LaRosa Santa Monica - Measure Y Lara Cassell Santa Barbara- Measure P Kate Horner Santa Cruz- Measure K [ Post Comment ] |
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