cannabisnews.com: Blitz of Pot-Legalization Ads Grows Voter Support
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Blitz of Pot-Legalization Ads Grows Voter Support
Posted by CN Staff on November 02, 2012 at 06:16:12 PT
By Jonathan Martin, Seattle Times Staff Reporter
Source: Seattle Times
Washington State -- A $2.8 million TV advertising blitz in October by the campaign to legalize marijuana appears to have given Initiative 502 a critical boost just as ballots are being cast. There are no marijuana leaves — or even admitted marijuana users — in the ads, reflecting I-502's strategy to attack the ban on marijuana while not endorsing its use.The TV spots are made more potent by a lack of opposition ads raising questions about the consequences and costs should Washington become one of the first states to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol.
The Washington Poll, conducted by University of Washington political scientists and released Thursday, found support for I-502 solidifying since its Oct. 18 poll.Support among likely voters rose from 47 to 55 percent and opposition dropped from 40 to 38 percent, with the number of undecided voters shrinking. Another poll, commissioned by KING 5, reported nearly identical results: 55 to 37 in favor, with 7 percent undecided.The UW's Matt Barreto said he was surprised by the swing in support, which he attributes to the "very strong and effective" ad campaign. "I thought this might tighten up more, because it's such a radical change," he said.Since the August primary, I-502 has aired three TV ads across the state featuring former federal law-enforcement officials and a Seattle mother reading from a similar script. It emphasizes "tight regulatory control" for a legalized marijuana market and potential tax revenue. The state has estimated revenue at up to $1.9 billion over five years.The ads were funded in part by more than $2 million in donations from Peter B. Lewis, the Ohio-based chairman of Progressive Insurance and a legalization advocate. Overall, I-502 has raised more than $6 million.The only organized opposition, a group of medical-marijuana activists, has raised $6,800. The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and substance-abuse-treatment providers are also opposed, but have not raised money.Other groups, including business leaders and the state teachers union, have not come out against legalization, as they have in Colorado, where a similar marijuana measure is on the Nov. 6 ballot.That has allowed I-502 to "define the conversation," said Western Washington University political-science Professor Todd Donovan, which he finds "amazing.""It's a very nonideological, problem-solving message that fits within Washington's tradition of reform," said Donovan.The UW's Washington Poll — a 25-minute survey of 722 voters conducted over the past two weeks — finds a huge gender gap. Nearly two-thirds of men polled said they favor I-502, while fewer than 50 percent of women do.That explains the most recent I-502 ad, featuring a mother on a porch next to pumpkins. "Young people have easy access since, of course, drug dealers don't check IDs," she says.Kevin Sabet, a former Obama administration drug-control official, said the ads "sugarcoat the reality" about a core issue for women: youth access to marijuana.I-502 bans sales to minors at proposed state-license marijuana stores, but Sabet predicts "Joe Camel will turn into Maryjane Camel" in an effort to lure young users. I-502 won't end the black market, he said."The reality is that we'll have a black market that exclusively targets young people because there are age limits in this law," said Sabet.Source: Seattle Times (WA)Author: Jonathan Martin, Seattle Times Staff ReporterPublished: November 2, 2012Copyright: 2012 The Seattle Times CompanyContact: opinion seatimes.comWebsite: http://www.seattletimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/pyjjljDdCannabisNews  -- Cannabis  Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #7 posted by BGreen on November 04, 2012 at 07:12:03 PT
Sativex PROVES Cannabis IS Medicine!
Sativex is a whole-plant extract that has proven efficacy as medicine. The only difference between Sativex and a cannabis plant with the equivalent cannabinoid profile is the method of delivery.The fact is that Sativex falls far short in meeting the medical needs of patients because different conditions require different cannabinoid profiles. That's why patients get so much more relief by finding the strain or strains that are effective in providing relief. If the patients are limited to one or two cannabinoid profiles then the chances are quite low that they will find the relief they are looking for.There is absolutely NO WAY this government can continue to declare the cannabis plant to have no medical benefits when it allows the equivalent of an herbal cannabis extract masquerading as a "drug" to be marketed as "safe and effective."Sativex is a money maker from GW Pharmaceuticals. Cannabis is a life saver from GODS Herbal Gardens.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #6 posted by afterburner on November 04, 2012 at 00:11:08 PT
Why Prohibition Must Go
Why Election Day Marks the Beginning of the End of Marijuana Prohibition. 
Paul Armentano, AlterNet. 
November 2, 2012.
With just days to go before Election Day, voters are poised to make history. READ MORE»
http://act.alternet.org/go/27218?t=2&akid=9642.313040.vV8jeB
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Comment #5 posted by Had Enough on November 02, 2012 at 17:20:48 PT
Safe haven for the people…!!!…???…
This is an excerpt from kapitinemo’s link“”In a recent interview with the Times-Standard, Lanier said he focused his comments on the need for more education about large scale illegal cultivation. Lanier said he began his remarks by explaining why marijuana is not a medicine and urging officials to educate themselves and citizens about Sativex, a cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical alternative to marijuana. 
Lanier said his other major goal was to make sure local officials knew they could not implement policies or ordinances that in any way facilitated, or were complacent regarding the medical marijuana industry. ””“”We hit that home pretty hard because what we don't want is a safe haven for people,” Lanier said.””************Can’t have a safe haven for the people…
I think a little truth slipped unknowingly through his lips and bared his true soul…and that of his buddies’ and his other accomplices…
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on November 02, 2012 at 15:46:32 PT:
Just because they aren't shooting yet doesn't mean
they won't be.Keep in mind the Trojan Horse called Sativex is about to be approved. You can bet all the necessary promotional info for doctors is already set for distribution...and that means that they really do believe that they can bull this one over. Because to believe that, they must also know for certain that no other forms of cannabis will be legally permitted.And they have sent their propagandists out in force to beat the bushes: http://tinyurl.com/b8cm28eNote how Sativex, which hasn't even been approved yet, is being touted.The fix is in. It is absolutely vital that the Administration be checkmated by the initiatives being passed before this happens. Any legal challenge to the Feds' demand of Sativex and its' clones being the only acceptable cannabis medicine would, perforce, drag up cannabis prohibition's sordid racist and ethnically bigoted past...something Uncle doesn't want to happen. So, a race is on. The will of the people must be made manifestly clear to the conniving bureaucrats and their corp-rat 'patrons' that we won't stand for only their (exorbitantly) expensive dreck being the only cannabis that's legal.Fred the Fed is always 'sending a message'...but never listening. Passing those initiatives will send OUR message to him that we've had enough. And he'd better bloody listen, for the next step is a Constitutional Convention. And then all bets are off.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on November 02, 2012 at 09:47:48 PT
I-502 is bad for business as usual.
I believe The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and substance-abuse-treatment providers are making a very bad business decision in not raising money to fight this issue. They stand to lose more money in the long run.The black market lobby is also snoozing for they stand a chance to get put out of business if they don't speak out and raise money to fight this threat to their bottom line.-0-In reality, from what I've read, with all the police types who have come out in favor of I-502, -for the "Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs" to spend much time or money against it would be obviously self-serving. I-502 already claimed that high road.
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Comment #2 posted by BGreen on November 02, 2012 at 06:49:05 PT
Kids Already Get Cannabis From Each Other!
Only idiots and liars believe differently. Kids don't get caught buying from street dealers or police stings. It's older people like myself that don't have immediate access like the high school kids. It was that way when I was in school and not a damn thing has changed. The only thing that will change with cannabis legalization is the ungodly amount of adults rotting in jail cells in this country.The children are just used as tools to emotionally obfuscate reality. The adults that use the children are just tools.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 02, 2012 at 06:17:48 PT
The Children
No one wants children to do any substance. This is not about children but adults. 
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