Pubdate: Thu, 21 Oct 2010
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Page: AA5
Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Times
Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: John Hoeffel
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Kerlikowske

Drug Czar Criticizes Prop. 19 As Not 'helpful' To California

U.S. Official Says Pot Legalization Is Not the Right Response to the
Drug War's Failure.

The nation's drug czar traveled to California to highlight his
contention that legalizing marijuana is not the answer to a drug war
he acknowledged has not succeeded. Instead, Gil Kerlikowske stressed
what he called a middle way: increased prevention and treatment.

Kerlikowske's stated reason for the drop-in visit Wednesday was an
invitation from the Pasadena Recovery Center to participate in a
round-table with drug treatment specialists that lasted less than
half an hour. Before the event, he spoke to the media about his
opposition to Proposition 19.

"The facts are that this proposition would not be helpful to the
people of California," he said, insisting that it would not solve the
state's budget crisis or reduce Mexican drug violence. He also
dismissed the argument made by proponents that children would have
less access to marijuana if it were regulated, noting that children
can still find alcohol and cigarettes.

"Why do we think that we can suddenly do it with marijuana, which can
be grown in a backyard?" he asked. "I think it's such a false promise."

The Obama administration has cranked up its efforts to defeat the
measure. Last week, U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder said he would
"vigorously enforce" federal narcotics laws, even if voters approved
the measure Nov. 2, and "is considering all available legal and
policy options."

Stephen Gutwillig, state director for the Drug Policy Alliance, said
he was not surprised the drug czar found his way to California. "They
have to fly people in from D.C. with the news flash that the federal
government opposes marijuana," he said. "I'm shocked, shocked."

Kerlikowske also released an analysis showing that 47% of
Californians receiving treatment for marijuana abuse are younger than
18, compared with 28% in the rest of the nation, and that 65% began
using marijuana at 14 or younger, compared with 55% for the rest of
the nation. It's the second time in a week that his office has
highlighted data from previously released reports about drug use
among young people, a critical issue for mothers, who are thought to
be the swing vote.

Gutwillig said the analysis underscores the failure of the drug war.
"Everyone agrees young people should not be smoking pot, and these
statistics the drug czar cites are all the more proof of the failures
of the existing prohibitionist regime. It doesn't work," he said.
"We've driven this enormous market underground and driven young
people into the arms of drug dealers."

The measure would allow Californians who are 21 and older to grow and
possess marijuana. It would also allow cities and counties to approve
marijuana cultivation, sales and taxes.

Kerlikowske, acknowledging that Californians seem to be looking for
other ways to deal with drugs than enforcement, said he has focused
more federal resources on prevention and treatment.

"I know clearly the frustration," he said. "The answer isn't legalization."
____________________________________________________

Pubdate: Wed, 20 Oct 2010
Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)
Copyright: 2010 Times-Standard
Contact: http://www.times-standard.com/writeus
Website: http://www.times-standard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1051
Author: Donna Tam, The Times-Standard
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)

HUMBOLDT COUNTY SUPERVISORS DECIDE TO SUPPORT PROP. 19

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to support
Proposition 19, despite some members' hesitation over the measure to
legalize marijuana.

Although 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace had originally
recommended the board take a "no position," 4th District Supervisor
Bonnie Neely said she supported Proposition 19 and she thinks the
board should as well because of marijuana's ties to Humboldt's
economy and public safety.

Neely said while it's true that Proposition 19 does not have all its
regulations ironed out, not many propositions do. She said it would
be an opportunity for officials to bring people from various groups
together to figure out regulation.

"This is our economic future to some extent and we shouldn't ignore
that," Neely said. "We should embrace it and regulate it at the local level."

Lovelace had said even after his extensive research, he could not
come up with a suggested position because of the county's history
with the marijuana industry.

"Despite having spent more time on this initiative then others, I
ultimately felt like there's just not enough there," he said.

Lovelace also brought up legislation from Assemblyman Tom Ammiano,
D-San Francisco, that would create regulations and build on
Proposition 19, if it is passed.

The board ended up voting 4-1 to support it, with 1st District
Supervisor Jimmy Smith abstaining.

Smith said he still had Advertisement hesitations about placing the
burden of regulations on local jurisdictions.

"Maybe this will be a step, but my reluctance to do this is based on
infrastructure -- we don't have the resources to do that," he said.

Syreeta Lux, chair of the Humboldt Medical Marijuana Advisory Panel
(HuMMAP) urged the board to support the proposition during public comment.

"I really appreciate this discussion. I think it represents where
every voter stands on Prop. 19 right now -- not knowing what will
happen and what it will do for us," she said, adding that it would
help the local economy move forward.

"We're sorry that it will fall into your laps, but we want to help
you with that," Lux said.

The board also had a discussion about Lovelace's recommendations
regarding the other ballot measures, propositions 20, 22, 23, 24, 25
and 26, despite one member of the public's concern.

Fifth District Supervisor Jill Duffy said while she appreciated the
discussion on the ballot measures, she thinks it should have happened
earlier considering the high number of county residents that vote by mail.

The elections office estimates that about 46 percent of the county
electorate will vote by mail in November.

McKinleyville resident David Elsebush said he did not think it was
appropriate for Lovelace to be promoting his opinion of the ballots,
and asked for the item to be pulled from the agenda.

County Counsel Wendy Chaitin said California law allows the board to
support or oppose a ballot measure, as long as the board does not use
county funds to campaign for a measure.

[sidebar]

ON THE WEB:

www.ag.ca.gov/initiatives/

www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/ballot_source/Propositions.asp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pubdate: Wed, 20 Oct 2010
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Page: A20
Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Times
Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)

THE FEDS SAY NO WAY

California Can Pass Prop. 19 and Legalize Marijuana, but the U.S.
Government Won't Go Along.

If California voters were still under the illusion that Proposition
19 would legalize marijuana, U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.
sought to disabuse them of the notion last week. "We will vigorously
enforce the [federal Controlled Substances Act] against those
individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute
marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted
under state law," Holder wrote in a letter to nine former heads of
the Drug Enforcement Administration who had lobbied the Obama
administration to forcefully oppose California's overreaching ballot
initiative.

Proposition 19 would allow people 21 and older to possess up to an
ounce of marijuana and would authorize cultivation of cannabis plants
on up to 25 square feet of land. But only under state law; under
federal law, smoking a joint would still be a crime. It isn't news
that federal officials oppose Proposition 19 - President Obama
himself has said he's against legalizing marijuana - but supporters
of the Nov. 2 ballot measure appear to have hoped the administration
would be as tolerant toward recreational users as it has been toward
medicinal marijuana users. That's not going to happen.

If the proposition is approved, the result would be a legal morass.
DEA raids would nab Californians who think they're complying with the
law, only to face federal penalties. Fear of such raids would deter
legitimate distributors from getting into the business, worsening the
gray-market lawlessness that already pervades California's medical
marijuana industry. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has vowed to
continue arresting people who grow marijuana, but such arrests would
be certain to result in litigation. Courts also could be clogged with
lawsuits over the measure's impact on the workplace if it becomes
illegal for employers to conduct drug tests or to discipline workers
who get stoned on the job.

We can understand the frustration that led to the drafting of
Proposition 19. It is absurd that the federal government lists
marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning that it has no medical uses
and is considered as dangerous as heroin or LSD, when it may have
therapeutic benefits and is less addictive and harmful than alcohol
or tobacco. Yet, as we've said in our ballot endorsements,
Proposition 19 is not the answer. Besides the legal problems, it
would create regulatory chaos as each of California's 478 cities and
58 counties comes up with its own rules on growing, possessing,
distributing and taxing the drug.

Marijuana users in California already face negligible penalties; last
month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill downgrading
possession of less than an ounce from a misdemeanor to an infraction.
There's no need for a battle with Washington that the state is unlikely to win.
________________________________

Pubdate: Wed, 20 Oct 2010
Source: USA Today (US)
Page: 8A
Webpage:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20101020/editorial20_st.art.htm
Copyright: 2010 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?261 (Cannabis - United States)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?258 (Holder, Eric)

IF CALIFORNIA GOES TO POT, REST OF U.S. GETS DRAGGED IN

Supporters of legalizing marijuana make interesting arguments about
respecting adults' personal liberty, choking off a major source of
drug cartel profits, and saving law enforcement resources for higher
priorities.

Interesting, but not enough, in our view, to offset the even more
compelling reasons why voters in trend-setting California would be
wise to reject legalization when they go to the polls Nov. 2.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a law making possession of
up to an ounce of marijuana equal to a traffic ticket, but if
Proposition 19 passed - and polls suggest it has a decent chance -
California would go even further. It would be legal for adults to
possess, smoke and grow pot for recreational purposes.

What's the harm? More than you might suspect.

One key problem is that California, or any other state, can't fully
"legalize" marijuana. It would still be an illegal substance under
federal law, and Attorney General Eric Holder said last week that
he'd make it a priority to arrest and prosecute violators. Not
individual users, most likely, but people who tried to grow or sell
it in large quantities.

Nor would the impact of legalization be confined to the Golden State.
A RAND Corp. study suggests that legalizing California crops would
slash the cost of pot from some $300-$400 an ounce to as little as a
tenth of that, potentially flooding the rest of the nation with cheap
supplies and driving up use.

Even some Californians sympathetic to the idea of legalization worry
that Prop 19 is a flawed vehicle. It would empower the state's
hundreds of city and county governments to set their own regulations
for growing, selling, using and taxing marijuana. That, as most of
the state's leading newspapers have pointed out in editorials
opposing the ballot measure, is a recipe for regulatory chaos.

More worrisome than tangled bureaucracy, though, are concerns about
what legalizing another intoxicant besides alcohol could do to public
safety and health.

Anti-pot crusaders dating to the days of Reefer Madness wrecked their
credibility by insisting marijuana was as pernicious as heroin and
other far more dangerous drugs. It's not, but it's not harmless,
either. Growers have managed to make stronger strains over the years,
and some are powerful enough to induce a blissful sort of catatonia,
at least temporarily.

You wouldn't want someone in that state or even a milder one coming
toward you on the road, and while it would still be illegal to drive
under the influence, that would almost certainly happen more often
under legalization. Marijuana smokers are three times more likely
than sober drivers to crash.

Our deepest concern is what would happen to children. Supporters of
legalization underestimate how easy it would be for kids to sneak pot
at home if their parents began using it more frequently and openly,
and the legalizers fail to reckon with the danger of sending children
the message that pot is no big deal. Marijuana is less addictive than
harder drugs, but the addiction rate jumps as high as 17% for kids
who begin using at an early age, and early use can sharply set back a
child's mental development.

There continues to be a legitimate role for medicinal marijuana,
which can ease pain and suffering in some seriously ill people and is
legal in California and 13 other states. In California, though,
getting a doctor's permission to buy legal pot is so easy that it has
become a back door for broad legalization, which risks creating a
backlash against the drug's compassionate use.

Eventually, there might be a national movement toward legalizing
marijuana, but the key word is "national." Legalization is a decision
that should be made by the entire country, not just one state, and
only after carefully weighing all the very real downside
___________________________________

Pubdate: Wed, 20 Oct 2010
Source: USA Today (US)
Page: 8A
Webpage:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20101020/editorial20_st1.art.htm
Copyright: 2010 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/index.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Authors: Joseph McNamara and Stephen Downing
Note: Joseph McNamara is a former San Jose chief of police; Stephen
Downing is a former Los Angeles deputy chief of police.
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Prohibition

'PROHIBITION IS A DISASTER'

Proposition 19 presents California voters with a simple choice:
Continue a policy that has failed completely, causes massive harm and
can never work - or say yes to a common-sense approach that destroys
a $14 billion black market run by violent thugs and replaces it with
a legal, controlled market, all while eliminating enforcement costs
and bringing in new tax revenue.

As former big-city police officials, we're saying yes to the rational
approach that regulates marijuana like alcohol and cigarettes.

After decades of marijuana prohibition, with millions of arrests and
billions of dollars spent, the results are in. Prohibition is a disaster.

Anyone in California who wants marijuana can get marijuana. Massive
law enforcement efforts have only made cartels rich, and black market
violence hurts innocent people and their children caught in the
crossfire between criminals. Teenagers get marijuana more easily than
beer, because drug dealers don't ask for proof of age.

Because marijuana (other than legal medical marijuana) is illegal, it
can't be taxed. Neighborhoods want police to fulfill their primary
duty of protecting life and property, but officers are distracted by
futile marijuana enforcement. Opponents of Prop 19, however, ask
people to vote for more of what has not worked in the past and cannot
work in the future.

Opponents of Prop 19 can't deny that marijuana prohibition is a
disaster, so they try to discredit legalization by claiming that it
would allow people to drive under the influence, that it is invalid
since federal law will still be in force, and that it would increase use.

In our view, these are all untrue. For example, the U.S. already has
the highest rate of marijuana use in the world, despite having some
of the harshest penalties. Our rate is twice that of The Netherlands,
where retail marijuana sales have been allowed for decades.

Opponents by now should realize that voters won't buy their
fear-based claims much longer. The polls show Prop 19 ahead, with a
real shot at passing. A broad coalition endorses Prop 19, including
the state's largest labor union, the state NAACP, Latino leaders and
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - a 35,000-member group made up
of police, prosecutors, judges, prison officials and others.

The latter are the people asked to enforce prohibition. They're
saying it won't work, and so will (we hope) a majority of California's voters.
___________________________________________

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