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Prop 19

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Mexico Drug War Update

The apparent killing of an American jet-skier on the border-straddling Lake Falcon continues to draw US media attention, but meanwhile, prohibition-related violence continues to flare across Mexico.
As the polls closed, Oaksterdam waited.
As the polls closed, Oaksterdam waited.

Prop 19: What Went Right, What Went Wrong [FEATURE]

Everybody's got an opinion on why Prop 19 lost. The Chronicle examines what a range of movement leaders and other thinkers think it means -- and what the discussion of why Prop 19 lost itself means.

Poll: Majority of Californians Still Support Legal Marijuana

California voters may have rejected Proposition 19 last week, but a poll released after the election shows that a majority of California voters still believe marijuana should be legal in principle, and that our current laws do more harm than good.

Marijuana Legalization Advocates are Undeterred by the Defeat of Prop. 19

Despite Proposition 19's loss at the polls last week, marijuana legalization advocates in California are already working on their comeback plan for 2012 and are almost giddy about their prospects. They see the election as a trial run that could lead to a campaign with a better message, a tighter measure and more money. Both the winning and losing sides say California's voters rejected this specific initiative, but remain open to legalizing the easily obtainable drug.

Despite Prop. 19 Loss, Marijuana Debate Still Aflame in Mexico

While some Mexicans expressed relief that California’s Proposition 19 was defeated in Tuesday’s election, others felt that the fight in Mexico was just beginning. The proposition, which essentially would have legalized marijuana in California, had a renewed sense of urgency south of the border, where the body count in the government’s crusade against drug trafficking organizations continues to rise.

Time for Latin America to Reconsider Prohibition (Opinion)

Erika De La Garza, program director of the Latin American Initiative at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice, and William Martin, the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at the Baker Institute, opine on the general failures of drug prohibition and what direction Latin America should go.

Just Say Now: Tell Us What You Think

We lost on Tuesday, but we're
determined to celebrate next time.
And we can't do it without you.

 Tell us what you think: how did we do, and where do we go from here to legalize marijuana?

Dear friends,

Prop 19 was defeated at the polls, 54% to 46%. Medical marijuana initiatives in Oregon and South Dakota lost as well, with votes still being counted in Arizona.

It’s fine to say “we’ll do better next time,” but if “next time” is just more of the same, we’re destined to repeat the same mistakes and suffer the same outcome. And when people are putting their hearts and their money and their time toward ending prohibition, that’s just not good enough.

If we learned one thing during this election, it’s that the marijuana reform movement needs to embrace the grassroots, to stop preaching, and to start listening. The top-down strategy of the marijuana reform movement up until now has failed, and must not be repeated.

So we want to hear from you. We want to know how we did in this election, and where you think the marijuana reform movement should go. Can you tell us what you think?

Tell us what you think: how did we do, and what can we do better next time? Click here to let us know.

http://action.firedoglake.com/justsaynowsurvey

We promise to read every word you write, and to report back on what we hear. Because one thing we know for sure: we can’t do this without you.

Your efforts to help Prop 19 and other initiatives were incredible, and unmatched. The Just Say Now campaign was launched less than 90 days before the election, and accomplished some amazing things during that time:

  • You made more than 50,000 calls to California voters, and thousands more to the other states. 
  • With your support, we built new sites for two campaigns, and rescued Prop 19’s site after it crashed on Election Day.
  • We transformed the marijuana debate, and have shown that it’s possible to run real, bottom-up campaign to legalize marijuana.

The successes of the Just Say Now campaign were your successes.

But we can do better. We want to do better. We want to be worthy of working with you to build a movement that finally brings about an end to marijuana prohibition in this country once and for all. And we never want to write another one of those “well, we fought the good fight” letters again.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the time and energy you put into this election. But next time around, we determined to be celebrating the day after.

Take our survey and share your thoughts on this election and the future of the marijuana reform movement. Click here:

http://action.firedoglake.com/justsaynowsurvey

Thank you for everything you did for Prop 19 and other marijuana initiatives, and for taking the time to let us know how we can do better next time.

Best,

Michael
JustSayNow.com

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