The pot initiative's going to win

03.29.10 - 12:56 pm | Tim Redmond |

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It seems pretty clear to me that, with polls showing widespread support and money pouring in for the campaign, the initiative to legalize pot in California is going to pass. So why are all of the candidates for governor, even Jerry Brown (who may have smoked a joint or two in his time) coming out so strongly against it?

Jerry knows that legal pot isn't going to create new law-enforcement problems; quite the contrary. It's going to save huge amounts of money that the state and local governments now waste enforcing a silly law that nobody respects, will cut down on the jail population and discourage the environmentally damaging (and sometimes violent) gangs of rogue growers who plant on public land.

And he ought to know that this kind of a stand isn't going to help him get elected. Once you take the hard-core Republicans who would never vote for Brown anyway out of the equation and look at the universe of potential Brown voters, legalizing pot probably gets more than 60 percent approval.

If you asked me back in 1978 whether I could imagine a day when Jerry Brown would oppose a marijuana legalization measure that was polling at 60 percent, I would have said: Whoa, man, no way. But then, I inhaled.

Comments

Why Jerry Brown won't be Governor

Scott Brown did not win the MA Senate election--Martha Coakley lost it. She lost it because of one primary issue and that issue was not health
care reform. It was marijuana reform.

In the 2008 election a whopping 65 percent of the Massachusetts voters voted to decriminalize marijuana. Coakley strongly opposed it. Even
after the election Coakley urged cities and towns to enact anti-marijuana legislation.

She in essence mocked the 65 percent of the voters who strongly supported marijuana decriminalization.

Politicians need to realize that opposing marijuana reform is now the third rail.

For a more detailed column on this issue I urge the readers to Google: "Evans: In defense of Martha."

Posted by Guest on Mar. 29, 2010 @ 4:18 pm

... but when push comes to

... but when push comes to shove, you will strain your back bending over for him.

Posted by Matt Stewart on Mar. 29, 2010 @ 6:10 pm

Vote Green!

Vote Green!

Posted by Jerry Jarvis on Mar. 29, 2010 @ 6:15 pm

The big green issue

I am not a pot user, and I have to confess I am a little obsessed with issue. (I'm for legalization)

This big green issue is vastly more complex and far reaching than the casual observer could ever dream of. In short government makes more money keeping it illegal through taxes, for example arresting, trying, incarcerating, probation, and rehabilitation of pot users is the easy low hanging fruit of law enforcement. But that is only one vein in the big picture. Pharmaceuticals stand to lose big. Gangs stand to lose big. The paper industry stands to lose big. Homeland security stands to lose big. The DEA stands to lose big. The list goes on and on.
This is why government, cops, and big business will line up to oppose this, not because they really care if someone sparks a joint.

So what side of the thin green line will you chose?

Posted by Guest Big Money on Mar. 30, 2010 @ 8:43 am

Hopefully Californians will

Parents, let’s watch out for the "October Surprise" and let’s stop putting our own kids in jail!

Citzens of California can register to vote at
w w w . sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm
Just complete the online form and mail it to the address on the form.

Posted by Guest Concerned Parent on Apr. 01, 2010 @ 6:49 am

How to Register today so you can VOTE in November

Parents, let’s watch out for the "October Surprise" and let’s stop putting our own kids in jail!

Citzens of California can register to vote at
w w w . sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm
Just complete the online form and mail it to the address on the form.

Posted by Guest Concerned Parent on Apr. 01, 2010 @ 6:50 am

It's not a done deal, so register to vote!

Parents, let’s watch out for the "October Surprise" and let’s stop putting our own kids in jail!

Citzens of California can register to vote at
w w w . sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm
Just complete the online form and mail it to the address on the form.

Posted by Guest Concerned Parent on Apr. 01, 2010 @ 6:51 am

Not a done deal. We must WORK for it!

Anyone with a room temperature IQ [Celsius even] can figure it out.

[But given the fact that Shrub was re-elected, there is no safe bet on intelligent logic.]

To keep Cannabis illegal while tobacco and alcohol are dispensed freely would be *MURDEROUSLY STUPID*.

ANY questions?
http://tinyurl.com/Tashkin
http://tinyurl.com/Henningfield-Benowitz
http://www.google.com/search?q=Top+10+Cannabis+Studies+the+Government+Wi...

Posted by Richard P Steeb on Apr. 01, 2010 @ 4:34 pm

Register to Vote, and watch out for the "October Surprise"

Hopefully Californians will be prepared for the "October Surprise" that the prohibitionists will pull out of the hat as November approaches. They will no doubt try some late-breaking scare tactics and continue to ignore the harm caused by putting our young people in prison, the loss of tax revenue, the waste of tax money, the huge cost of enforcement, and all of the other evils of prohibition.
Parents, let’s watch out for the "October Surprise" and let’s stop putting our own kids in jail!
Citzens of California can register to vote at w w w . sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm by completing the online form and mailing it to the address on the form.

Posted by Guest on Apr. 07, 2010 @ 9:03 am