Newsbrief:
LA
NORML's
Margolin
Joins
California
Governor
Race,
Vows
to
Be
"Terminator"
of
Marijuana
Prohibition
9/5/03
Long-time Los Angeles attorney and National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (http://www.norml.org) stalwart Bruce Margolin has joined the crowded field in the California gubernatorial recall circus (http://www.margolinforgovernor.com). Margolin's seven-point platform calls for legalizing, regulating and taxing "California's #1 cash crop," pardons for all nonviolent marijuana prisoners in the state, a challenge before the US Supreme Court over the federal government's power to dictate state marijuana laws, as well as proposals to create incentives for environmentally friendly industries, reduce vehicle registration fees, and make California "a haven for the billion-dollar holistic health industry." While Margolin has begun campaigning in the Los Angeles area, he has yet to make a blip in opinion polls. In an August 24 poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante got 35%, with movie actor Arnold Schwarzenegger coming in second with 22%, and three other Republican candidates picking up a combined 25% of the vote. Progressive independent candidate Arriana Huffington, whose newspaper columns have savaged the war on drugs, drew only 3% of those polled, while Green Party candidate Peter Camejo, who also calls for marijuana legalization, garnered 1%. Huffington and Camejo have vowed to work as a team, with the one with the least support promising to step down and throw that support to the other. For a rundown of the various contenders' records and positions on marijuana and broader drug policy issues, check out the survey conducted by California NORML's Dale Gieringer at http://www.canorml.org/news/CalRecallElection.html#survey online. Also of interest is iconoclastic psychonaut, author and now candidate Robert Anton Wilson ("The Illuminatus Trilogy," "Cosmic Trigger" and many more). Though Wilson has little chance of becoming the next governor of California, a visit to his campaign web site (http://www.maybelogic.com/rawgov.html) is worth the mouse-click. Wilson has created the Guns & Dope Party as a campaign vehicle, using the slogan, "Like what you like, enjoy what you enjoy, and don't take any crap from anybody." The Wilson web site also contains some neat-o campaign graphics.
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