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DrugSense FOCUS Alert #402 - Monday, 11 May 2009 Last Wednesday morning the readers of the The Sacramento Bee were treated to the front page article, below. Since then the press articles and editorial page content have been slowly increasing. The items can be accessed at http://www.mapinc.org/people/Schwarzenegger. The news clippings are worthy of letters to the editor. As this is sent the largest California newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, has not mentioned Governor Schwarzenegger' comments. Thus a message to the newspaper may also be appropriate. See http://drugsense.org/url/bc7El3Yo for contact details. ********************************************************************** GOVERNOR ASKS: WHAT IF POT'S LEGAL AND TAXED? As California struggles to find cash, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday it's time to study whether to legalize and tax marijuana for recreational use. The Republican governor did not support legalization - and the federal government still bans marijuana use - but advocates hailed the fact that Schwarzenegger endorsed studying a once-taboo political subject. "Well, I think it's not time for ( legalization ), but I think it's time for a debate," Schwarzenegger said. "I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I'm always for an open debate on it. And I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what effect did it have on those countries?" Schwarzenegger was at a fire safety event in Davis when he answered a question about a recent Field Poll showing 56 percent of registered voters support legalizing and taxing marijuana to raise revenue for cash-strapped California. Voters in 1996 authorized marijuana for medical purposes. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has written legislation to allow the legal sale of marijuana to adults 21 years and older for recreational use. His Assembly Bill 390 would charge cannibis wholesalers initial and annual flat fees, while retailers would pay $50 per ounce to the state. The proposal would ban cannibis near schools and prohibit smoking marijuana in public places. Marijuana legalization would raise an estimated $1.34 billion annually in tax revenue, according to a February estimate by the Board of Equalization. That amount could be offset by a reduction in cigarette or alcohol sales if consumers use marijuana as a substitute. Besides raising additional tax revenue, the state could save money on law enforcement costs, Ammiano believes. But he shelved the bill until next year because it remains controversial in the Capitol, according to his spokesman, Quintin Mecke. "We're certainly in full agreement with the governor," Mecke said. "I think it's a great opportunity. I think he's also being very realistic about understanding sort of the overall context, not only economically but otherwise." Schwarzenegger previously has shown a casual attitude toward marijuana. He was filmed smoking a joint in the 1977 film, "Pumping Iron." And he told the British version of GQ in 2007, "That is not a drug. It's a leaf." Spokesman Aaron McLear downplayed the governor's comment as a joke at the time. Even if California were to legalize marijuana, the state would hit a roadblock with the federal government, which prohibits its use. Ammiano hopes for a shift in federal policy, but President Barack Obama said in March he doesn't think legalization is a good strategy. Any study would find plenty of arguments, judging by responses Tuesday. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, said he's open to a study, but he remains opposed to legalization. He warned that society could bear significant burdens. He downplayed enforcement and incarceration savings because he believes drug courts are already effective in removing low-level offenders from the system. "Studies have shown there is impairment with marijuana use," DeVore said. "People can get paranoid, can lose some of their initiative to work, and we don't live in some idealized libertarian society where every person is responsible completely to himself. We live in a society where the cost of your poor decisions are borne by your fellow taxpayers." But Bruce Merkin of the Marijuana Policy Project said studies show alcohol has worse effects on users than marijuana in terms of addiction and long-term effects. His group believes marijuana should be regulated and taxed just like alcoholic beverages. "There are reams of scientific data that show marijuana is less harmful than alcohol," Merkin said. "Just look at the brain of an alcoholic. In an autopsy, you wouldn't need a microscope to see the damage. Marijuana doesn't do anything like that." Schwarzenegger said he would like to see results from Europe as part of a study. The Austrian parliament last year authorized cultivation of medical marijuana. But Schwarzenegger talked with a police officer in his hometown of Graz and found the liberalization was not fully supported, McLear said. "It could very well be that everyone is happy with that decision and then we could move to that," Schwarzenegger said. "If not, we shouldn't do it. But just because of raising revenues ... we have to be careful not to make mistakes at the same time." ********************************************************************** PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list ( [email protected] ) if you are subscribed. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides ********************************************************************** Prepared by: Richard Lake, Senior Editor www.mapinc.org === . DrugSense provides many services at no charge, but they are not free to produce. Your contributions make DrugSense and its Media Awareness Project (MAP) happen. Please donate today. Our secure Web server at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm accepts credit cards and Paypal. Or, mail your check or money order to: DrugSense 14252 Culver Drive #328 Irvine, CA 92604-0326 (800) 266 5759 . DrugSense is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the expensive, ineffective, and destructive "War on Drugs." Donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.

Here are two ways to get active in Colorado's vibrant reform community: (1) Sensible Colorado's 5th Anniversary Gala Help us celebrate our fifth year of advocacy on behalf of sensible marijuana reform. This FREE event is open to the public and will feature speakers, awards, food and drink. What: Sensible Colorado's 5th Anniversary Gala Where: Atlantis Community Center (201 S. Cherokee Street, Denver CO 80223) When: Saturday, May 23 from 6-9pm. *This event is non-smoking and fully disabled accessible. -AND- (2) Solidarity Event to Protect Safe Access Its back....the Colorado Board of Health is once again considering restricting patient access to medical marijuana. At a hearing in July, the Board will be voting on a rule which would rip patients out of safe caregiver relationships and force them onto the streets in search of medicine. Show your support on July 20th by attending the Hearing and Board vote. What: Solidarity event to protect safe access Place: Tivoli Student Union, Conference Room 250. Auraria Campus, 900 Auraria Parkway, Denver, CO 80204. Time: 8:30am on Monday, July 20, 2009 What else: This is NOT a rally. This is a formal Hearing and we need supporters to dress nice and act in a professional manner. NOTE- Many of you have already submitted written comments to the Board of Health. Thank you. Any new or additional comments need to be submitted by May 15.

The Unvarnished Truth From the Drug Truth Network Cultural Baggage for 05/06/09, 29:00 Tribute to E. Darrel Obrecht, prison minister & drug conference sponsor + Brian O'dea, author of HIGH, Confessions of a Pot Smuggler & Phil Smith, reporter with Stop the Drug War LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2407 Transcript: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2407#comments Century of Lies for 05/10/09, 29:00 Eric Sterling, president of Criminal Justice Policy Foundation discusses mandatory minimums + Professor Jeffrey Miron & former drug czar John Walters on CNN + Abolitionists Moment LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2408 TRANSCRIPT: 051109 PM 4:20 Drug War NEWS, 5/11 to 5/17/09 Link at www.drugtruth.net on the right margin - Sun - Eric Sterling of CJPF.org, 3/3 Sat - Eric Sterling of CJPF.org, 2/3 Fri - Eric Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation regarding failure of mandatory minimums to achieve any stated goals Thu - Terry Nelson of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition regarding the ineptitude of the US led drug war Wed - Professor Jeffrey Miron Vs. John Walters 3/3 Tue - Professor Jeffrey Miron Vs. John Walters 2/3 Mon - Professor Jeffrey Miron on CNN with former drug czar John Walters + Abolitionists Moment Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston, 90.1 FM. You can Listen Live Online at www.kpft.org - Century of Lies, SUN, 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT, 6 PM MT & 5 PM PT: NEXT: TBD - Cultural Baggage WED, 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 CT, 10:30 MT & 9:30 AM PT: NEXT: Maia Szalavitz, author " Help at Any Cost" Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org We have potcasts, transcripts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US, Canada and Australia! We now feature TRANSCRIPTS of most of our programs again! Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, DTN Producer, 713-849-6869, www.drugtruth.net.