cannabisnews.com: Power Crisis Here to Stay for Foreseeable Future 





Power Crisis Here to Stay for Foreseeable Future 
Posted by FoM on February 25, 2001 at 20:56:10 PT
By Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat
Source: Press Democrat
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer warned Friday night that the state's power crisis will exist "as far ahead as you can see." He said rolling blackouts and Stage 3 power alerts reflect a general failure to plan for continuing population growth in the state.Addressing a roomful of Sonoma County Democrats, Lockyer called for leadership and sacrifice, urging his audience to model themselves after "the greatest generation," those who survived the Depression, fought World War II and returned to rebuild the nation.
"I think that's when we'll find the will to do what we're going to have to do," he said.Growth "will be the defining issue of California politics as we look ahead," Lockyer said.Lockyer's remarks capped the Sonoma County Democratic Party's annual crab feed fund-raiser at the Santa Rosa Veteran's Memorial Building, which was expected to draw about 600 party faithful.Although many of them remain unhappy with the outcome of the presidential election, they laughed at Lockyer's asides about Florida, whose electoral votes put Republican George W. Bush in the White House.Quoting a bumper sticker, he said: "Don't blame me. I voted for both of them."But the first-term attorney general, who earned his law degree while serving in the state Senate, drew the biggest reaction for his remarks supporting Proposition 215, the 1996 initiative that legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes.Lockyer filed a legal brief in the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week, defending an Oakland cannabis buyers club that sells marijuana to people with notes from their doctors.An appeals court carved an exception in federal law to allow people with "medical necessity" to use marijuana but its ruling is being challenged in the Supreme Court by the U.S. Justice Department.Lockyer said he contacted attorneys general in eight other states that have passed medical marijuana laws but none joined him in supporting the "medical necessity" exception.Lockyer also created a task force to study the measure and has pressed for legislation to implement it.One bill generated by his task force established a Center for Medical Cannabis Research at the University of California, which on Thursday announced $841,000 in grants for four medical research studies.But he criticized Gov. Gray Davis, a fellow Democrat, for opposing a companion bill that would have authorized the state to issue identification cards to people authorized to use marijuana for medical purposes."I just have to say governor you're wrong," he said.The identity card bill cleared the state Senate last year but stalled in the Assembly because of opposition from Davis. It has been introduced again this year.You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or e-mail mcallahan pressdemocrat.comSource: Press Democrat, The (CA) Author: Mary CallahanPublished: February 24, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Press Democrat Address: Letters Editor, P. O. Box 569, Santa Rosa CA 95402 Fax: (707) 521-5305 Contact: letters pressdemo.com Website: http://www.pressdemo.com/ Forum: http://www.pressdemo.com/opinion/talk/ Feedback: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/letform.htmlRelated Articles:State Backs UCSD Look Into Pot as Medicinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8783.shtmlLockyer Pushes To Protect Medical Marijuana Law http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8746.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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