cannabisnews.com: Voters May Say: Relax, It's Only Pot





Voters May Say: Relax, It's Only Pot
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/yyclveSource: Los Angeles Times (CA)Author:   James Ricci, Times Staff WriterPublished: October 31, 2006 Copyright: 2006 Los Angeles TimesContact: letters latimes.comWebsite: http://www.latimes.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Police Should Focus on Other Things Besides Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22334.shtmlMeasure K Attempt at De Facto Legalizationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22332.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by Had Enough on October 31, 2006 at 10:25:29 PT
Re: #5 BGreen
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. :)
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 31, 2006 at 10:21:11 PT
BGreen
You sure know how to make me laugh. I am hopeful for our state this time. I want a blue, blue, blue Ohio. 
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Comment #5 posted by BGreen on October 31, 2006 at 10:09:03 PT
I cast my ballot yesterday, FoM
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? LOLThe Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 31, 2006 at 09:24:02 PT
Max Flowers
I sure agree with you. I have no use whatsoever for any Republicans. 
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Comment #3 posted by Max Flowers on October 31, 2006 at 09:18:10 PT
Correction (#2)
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.
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Comment #2 posted by paul armentano on October 31, 2006 at 08:25:42 PT
[Excerpt] John Tierney in today's NYT
"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."
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Comment #1 posted by paul armentano on October 31, 2006 at 07:58:42 PT
Interviews w/ leaders of the CA initiatives
Last Thursday's NORML podcast interviews the proponents of all three California initiatives here:http://www.normlaudiostash.com/id230.htmInitiative WatchNicki LaRosa
Santa Monica -
Measure YLara Cassell
Santa Barbara-
Measure PKate Horner
Santa Cruz-
Measure K
http://www.normlaudiostash.com/id230.htm
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