New California Poll Has Prop 19 at 52%

Submitted by Phillip Smith on (Issue #642)
Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy

A majority of California voters support Proposition 19, the state's Tax and Regulate Cannabis marijuana legalization initiative, according to a poll released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling. The poll has support at 52%, with 36% opposed and 12% undecided.

[inline:ballot2.jpg align=right caption="November 2nd, 2010"]The ballot measure would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by those 21 or older, as well as allowing any adult to grow up to 25 square feet of it. It would also give counties and municipalities the local option to approve the regulated cultivation, sale, and taxation of marijuana.

The poll was an automated phone sampling of 641 people who voted in the last election. As Nate Silver of the polling analysis web site 538.com has noted, this is the sixth California legalization poll released in recent months. Automated call polls like this one have consistently shown Prop 19 winning, while human operator polls have shown in losing narrowly. Silver suggests that people are less likely to take a possibly controversial position (such as legalizing marijuana) with a human operator, thus introducing a possible downward bias in the human operator polls.

The Public Policy poll found that 62% of Democrats supported the proposition, as did 55% of independents, but only 37% of Republicans. Among ethnic groups, support was highest among African-Americans (68%), followed by whites (53%), and Hispanics (47%). Only among Asians was there more opposition to the measure (43%) than support (29%).

Levels of African-American support for the measure have been all over the map in the recent polls, and so the numbers should be viewed with a grain of caution. Blacks make up only slightly more than 6% of the electorate, and the small number of actual black people being polled means the numbers are not very reliable.

Nearly two out of five (38%) of Californians said they had used marijuana, but even among those who said they had never tried it, 44% still support Prop 19.

"Marijuana continues to be a hot button issue in California," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. "Voters seemed to be convinced that is about more than simply dispensing marijuana, but that such a change could have huge impacts on the state."

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

kickback (not verified)

what folks are missing is that federal law must be uniform. you can"t have the feds enforcing a law in one state and not in another. uniformity they call it. once cali. legalizes the cannabis, its all over, nationwide. the feds have no other choice. cannabis prohibition is not a constitutional amendment. to say that the dea has the funds to enforce cannabis prohibition in cali. is a joke. much less the rest of the country. cannabis legalization is here now. vote.

Sat, 07/31/2010 - 6:01am Permalink
legalize not 19 (not verified)

In reply to by kickback (not verified)

We might want legalization right now BUT if you look at prop 19 its filled with a whole lot of loopholes and downsides for the courts and medical patients. It will basicly make it illegal for someone who is sick and on a fixed income to grow meds. Prop 19 will superseed  prop 215 leaving a lot of patients without meds for the sake of recreational users. Prop 19 also puts the power of growing, selling and regulating in the hands of the government, not the people. I think we are better off now than with prop 19. Just take a look at whats going on in Oakland (the city where 19 was drafted) the city is looking at developing a single large grow site and outlawing all small grows placing power soley in the citys hands. Not good

Mon, 08/02/2010 - 5:21am Permalink
Cali Bill (not verified)

In reply to by legalize not 19 (not verified)

Medical patients will have a great advantage with 19.  All adults can grow up to 25 square feet or possess up to an ounce.  That's not hurting anyone and it is a big step forward overall because it gives so much more flexibility.  More people can be involved in helping patients secure their meds that can't or wouldn't not because they don't have a doctor's recommendation or fear arrest.  Some people are still afraid of arrest because many police are hostile to the idea of medical marijuana.  Making it legal across the board to possess will help everyone deal more normally with medical marijuana. 

There will likely be more growers because most cities and counties will  probably approve marijuana in their locality.  Even if Oakland wants a megafarm, that doesn't mean that every place will become one.  It's like micro-brews with beer.  You can always find them in the store even if Bud and Bud light are the most popular across the nation.  With prop 19, everyone is better off even if there are some imperfections in the measure.  Please cast your vote wisely, helping us all move away from arrests, jails, and prisons. 

Tue, 08/03/2010 - 1:24am Permalink
borden (not verified)

In reply to by Cali Bill (not verified)

In case anyone here doesn't know, I am on Cali Bill's and Prop 19's side on this. We are not going to get perfection the first time around; that is just the reality of our politics and the way politics goes in general. As Prop 215 has abundantly demonstrated, expanding the means of legal access to marijuana has and will continue to shift the political reality by creating a new reality on the ground. There will be steps backward and forward, but this is a good thing.

If you are considering or planning to vote against this initiative because of some of its details that you find offensive, I strongly urge you to reconsider -- think about the hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders who are incarcerated, or who will be in the future if the policies don't change, and ask yourself if making your statement of "principle" is really worth leaving them behind bars or in control of the system in other ways, for years more to come than could be the case.

(That said, it's your vote, and you have the right to make your own choice on it. But that's what I think about this.)

Tue, 08/03/2010 - 12:11pm Permalink
realistic (not verified)

In reply to by legalize not 19 (not verified)

Though we do not have a perfect law in prop 19 we must seize this opportunity.  Its the human cost of prohibition that must be considered most.  The fact is that prohibition has done far more harm than good. It has ruined the lives of countless good people through the stigmatization and economic deprivation that comes with a drug conviction.  Over 800,000 convictions for marijuana in the US per year.  Most of these people will be unlikely to find work at burger king much less find true gainful employment.  The sky will not fall by freeing the people!

Mon, 08/09/2010 - 5:09pm Permalink

totally agree with you "realistic".

i would add too. this is a great chance for California to get one step ahead and become the pioneer of a new huge industry. if you guys do it now, by the time another states and/or countries make it legal. california will already have all the production and distribution infrastructure done to export such a profitable product.

who knows? this could create another big company like "the coca-cola company" this means more jobs

Fri, 10/22/2010 - 8:57pm Permalink
PCPARKS (not verified)

In reply to by legalize not 19 (not verified)

I'm really unable to see your thinking here. I've read the "taxation, legalization act" in detail and have seen nothing to suggest that 19 would have any affect at all on 215 patients. I happen to know a couple of people who currently have 215 scripts and am familiar with the details of what they are allowed under there prescriptions. They are legalized to grow up to twelve plants total. Now regardless of the minimum 25 square foot crops that would be allowed under prop 19, if you have a 215 script you will still be allowed the maximum of 12 plants despite how much more room that would require than is allowed under prop 19. The proposition does not suggest, in any way that if the state officials find a 215 crop (12 plants) that exceeds the legal 25 square foot limit of prop 19 that the patient would be subject to any legal penalties. The only effect that I can see is that any one with a medical need for marijuana won't have to pay the cannabis club prices for it which will be a big help to the fixed income patients you mentioned. It is projected that should prop 19 pass the price of marijuana will drop, maybe as much as 80%. Hurray for $35 ounces. 

Sun, 10/10/2010 - 2:26pm Permalink
borden (not verified)

In reply to by PCPARKS (not verified)

Not only that, but the initiative explicitly specifies that it does not take away any rights patients have under Prop 215 or SB 420. See my Huffington Post piece on this topic -- this really could not be more clear. There really is no excuse anymore for people continuing to claim that Prop 19 will take rights away from medical marijuana patients that they have now. It's possible that Prop 19 will indirectly prompt more debate and consideration over Prop 215 regulations, but jurisdictions will be bound by the guarantees already existing in state's medical marijuana laws.

Given that, it's pretty hard to see how legalizing marijuana growing, personal possession, sharing, and allowing cities and counties to legalize sales whether or not the state does, could end up making marijuana less available to patients.

Sun, 10/10/2010 - 8:45pm Permalink
newageblues (not verified)

That's what they're doing with MMJ, enforcing the federal prohibition against all non MMJ marijuana use everywhere, but (except for what appear to be a small number of rogue DEA operations) making an exemption for MMJ use + distribution when it is in compliance with state laws.

Sat, 07/31/2010 - 8:10am Permalink

I think we should have a hard look at this prop 19, ! ounce? 25sq ft? What about people who need the medication and can't afford to buy it or live too far from a dispencery? I wonder if we are so ready to legalize that we are having our hands tied a little too tight.

Sat, 07/31/2010 - 9:58pm Permalink
kdub (not verified)

In reply to by old fart (not verified)

it would almost help though.  Then those who use for medicinal purposes can grow right there at home, versus having to spend money that they may or may not have.  If Prop 19 rules, then there would be no problem in them growing themselves.

Tue, 11/02/2010 - 3:24am Permalink
BobCrocus (not verified)

One could grow many Kilos of pot in 25 square feet (depending on the lighting). But as soon as you harvest it, you break the first rule, by having more than one ounce. Much more.

Mon, 08/02/2010 - 5:45pm Permalink
toker1 (not verified)

In reply to by BobCrocus (not verified)

 dude what you said is SO TRUE prop 19 would be a law that will make you break the law it has a smoke screen to it

Mon, 09/13/2010 - 3:03pm Permalink
borden (not verified)

In reply to by toker1 (not verified)

See the response made to Crocus below. The one ounce limit is only on how much you can carry around with you. As much you manage to harvest in that garden space can be kept at home or wherever it is you do your growing.

Mon, 09/13/2010 - 3:27pm Permalink
Swift FoxXx (not verified)

In reply to by BobCrocus (not verified)

The rule states that you can "carry" up to 1 ounce. It says nothing about having it in your own home.

Also, you can just pick up to 1 ounce in buds therefor you don't HAVE TO break any law.

Tue, 09/14/2010 - 4:32pm Permalink
PJ McJorma (not verified)

Stop the waste of money on the dug war as it relates to marijuana.  Legalize it, tax it, balance the budgets and reform prophets will soon appear regarding its proper use.

Thu, 08/05/2010 - 11:13pm Permalink
lucy van temse… (not verified)

As a European citizen  and living only 15 min drive from the border with Holland with its - have once been - free druglaws I support strongly the fight of you Americans Pro MJ. You know why ? Simply, what happens in the US determines the drug politics of the EU. And until now, we got only a lot of shit over our heads like the shadows I notice that endanger our previous " libertarian attitude towards MJ and phenetylamines . all that liberty seems to melt. It simply cannot  stand the heat of your 2005 Epedemic Methamphetamine act.

I can see a new America on the horizon, and I do hope to live long enough to share the benefits of its freedom and not to be a victim of its restricions.. So say yes to tha 19 thing brothers and 10 years from now no one but the real patients will smoke MJ because after all, killing pain is all it is effective for, those who think it enlightens the mind are those who have not yet smoked enough of that stuff or blew away the remains of their brain cells using alcohol before discovering MJ. So far, this was my personal thinking - the freedom of speech I can do in the US so to say. And oh yes, after all you guys are the actual rulers of this world - so take your responsibility and vote 19 or whatever that results in more freedom for all of us. Thank you in advance. Lucy van Temse - Belgium

Tue, 08/17/2010 - 12:10am Permalink

Bob, under Prop 19, you can grow and harvest all you want, provided that the live garden area is no more than 25 square feet in size. Now, if you happen to LEAVE your home, you may only carry up to 1 oz. of cannabis with you. By leaving the rest at home, you are in full compliance with the statute.

Sat, 08/21/2010 - 3:27pm Permalink
Time to say yes. (not verified)

It is time to say yes. 

This not just about MJ, but states rights. Voting yes for prop 19 will make all the states stronger when being bullied by the federal government. States need more power to represent their views and feelings on the way they are being governed. 

This is a step in that direction.

Tue, 09/14/2010 - 5:51am Permalink
Sprout (not verified)

lower taxes legalize marijuana

Soon after marijuana is legalized, Thousands of dollars will be saved as there will be no need to arrest someone with it, provide that person with a public defender, feed that person sandwiches in jail.

Maybe than we can go one day without hearing about the states budget troubles, and for goodness sake lay off some of these dead weight cops and state workers.

Marijuana will always be treated like alcohol in the work place, some employers will terminate you if your intoxicated and others will smoke with you, it depends on your line of work.

Marijuana smokers were alienated in the 1960s and they were treated like idiots, that is one of the reasons it got smoked behind closed doors and privately people were afraid to be thought of as a pot head druggie and that will happen again in the future and it will cause a great decrease in the daytime use of pot, just hide and watch.

Everyone needs to stop thinking that the laws in this country control drugs etc, most people in this country are competent and able to decide what is best for themselves and for their lives, look at smoking cigarettes everyone did it in the 1950s it was cool but now that people know its deadly it has a much smaller group of users, and its legal! it just faded away and its not cool anymore.

Pot is for a select group of people and for the most part they seem perfectly normal while intoxicated, its the people that normally dont use it that have adverse affects and than think is bad for everyone, like other legal drugs some work well for some people but not everyone, for instance some people are allergic to penicillin and it could kill them dose that mean it should be made illegal, hell no it helps millions of people.

I am very upset at people that categorize pot with other drugs like Heroin, Meth, etc MARIJUANA WILL GROW AND REQUIRE NO PROCESSING OF ANY KIND JUST PLANT IT WATER IT AND USE IT FOR YOUR NEEDS AND WANTS ITS NATURAL AND ITS ALMOST FREE.

Well thats my opinion.

Fri, 09/17/2010 - 9:25am Permalink
steve the plumber (not verified)

Really there's only one thing to say about prop19,everyone should have the right to smoke

marijuana if they choose,But,just like drinking if you mess up you will have to pay the

consequence's,No more or no less,I'm a 47 year old man who has smoked this

product and quite frankly,I like it better than drinking and I am in much more control

then if I drank a six pack of beer and my liver appreciates me more.A lot of potential

problems will stem from the matureity of the  person using it and not the fact that it's

legal to use or not.Stay at home and just watch tv. and there should not be too many

problems using  marijuana, If people just pick the right times to use it then everything

will work out for everyone.P.S.  Even if  we are not sick it is still good medicine

for everyone and a good preventitive tool to stay healther besides drinking and

smoking cigarette's .   (Everyone) vote yes even if you don't intend to use it now

you might change your mind sometime and you will be able to get it.

Thank's and God bless.

Sat, 09/25/2010 - 5:37am Permalink
Anonymous 2010 (not verified)

why dont we just legalize all drugs so when pot heads need somthing a little stronger it will be legal kill some more brain cells people

Wed, 10/06/2010 - 5:42pm Permalink
Anonymous2 (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous 2010 (not verified)

Marijuana does NOT kill brain cells. Please educate yourself on the "drug" before stating something that is clearly ignorant.

Fri, 10/08/2010 - 8:56pm Permalink
P4UXX (not verified)

In reply to by Anonymous 2010 (not verified)

I cannot believe you just said that, you should learn before you bash. You just made yourself look stupid on the Internet, congratulations you just failed.

 

Weed does not kill brain cells and its 100 % better for you then booze. And its not addictive and you can over does on weed. http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30 enough said.

Fri, 10/22/2010 - 2:54am Permalink
D-Man (not verified)

Look at how MJ fixed Oakland, not only would California have the best strawberry harvest of the world, but also MJ? Reccession? I think not......

Tue, 10/12/2010 - 7:51pm Permalink
State's Rights (not verified)

It's a state's rights issue. Besides which, putting marijuana on the Schedule I list is absurd. This is no longer the "favored intoxicant of Mexican migrant workers and Negro jazz musicians" -- which was the reason Wm. Randolf Hurst used in a propaganda effort to get the stuff crimmnalized  in the first place.

Some issues need to be defended by the Federal Govt. (Integration for example). This is NOT one of those issues.


 

Sat, 10/16/2010 - 5:46pm Permalink
Steve Mendez (not verified)

My cousin and I grew up smoking weed in high school.  One unfortunate day, we were pulled over by police for an unrelated issue.  I managed to hide the weed that I had, but my cousin was not so lucky.  Long story short, my cousin received a misdemeanor conviction for possessing a small amount of marijuana.

 

We both graduated from a 4-year university and I am now a criminal investigator (mostly fraud), while my cousin has found that, most employers are reluctant to hire anyone with a misdemeanor conviction.  It seems that the incident pretty much ruined his life…

 

We still smoke it from time to time, but I would never show up to work stoned.  Just like, I would never show up for work drunk.  It is common sense!  I think that I will continue to smoke it from time to time, whether or not Prop 19 passes.

 

I have attended luncheon seminars with District Attorney Steve Cooley present, but it is his position that if he is elected Attorney General, he will ignore the will of the People even if Prop 19 passes.

 

VOTE YES ON PROP 19 - THE BENEFITS OUTWEIGH THE RISKS!

 

VOTE NO ON STEVE COOLEY FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL… 

Sun, 10/17/2010 - 12:48pm Permalink
FromRoofTop (not verified)

All the comments I read from people supporting Prop 19 sound like the same group of dopers I knew in high school. What a joke. Some people will never grow up. Pot is a drug. It should not be used for "fun" or "recreation". For those who are scurrying to type "What about alcohol!" "What about this!" "What about that!"; we are talking about marijuana here; not all the stupid analogies you can bring up. Legalizing a drug for recreational use is a bad idea. If you don't get it, then you also don't get why so long ago it was named "Dope". 

Wed, 10/20/2010 - 8:52pm Permalink
DummassPotHead (not verified)

In reply to by FromRoofTop (not verified)

RoofTop, it's fairly obvious you have never smoked, touched, or even read any history on cannabis before making your comment. It was originally outlawed by funding from William R. Hearst, the DuPont family and other paper mill owners in the 1930s because HEMP is a wonderful source of paper and other textiles. It had nothing to do with the effects of smoking it. They used it as a scare tactic in their own newspapers to get it outlawed so they could remove hemp as competition, just like Rockefeller used standard oil to contribute to the prohibition of alcohol because ethanol was a direct competitor to gasoline. I would recommend you smoke a joint, then the next day take an oxycotton, wake up in the morning see how you feel and tell me which one should be illegal and considered "dope".

Since the Regan Administration, big pharma decided they could never really make any money off cannabis as a medicine (because anyone can grow it) so they decided to label with the others in the "war on drugs" to keep it out of the conversation, they lobby millions per year in Washington to keep us from growing hemp as a highly renewable agricultural crop for paper, textiles, food, fuel, and more. As a medicine it would replace hundreds of their laboratory drugs. Pharma would stand to lose billions every year by not charging our public for overpriced pills every month rather than letting us grow our own. Cannabis is all-natural, non addictive and much less toxic to a one's body than any pill they can mix in a lab.

"Stupid analogies" aside, were talking about a plant that has been enjoyed by merely every ancient culture across the globe for thousands of years. In recent history there has been 0 documented deaths to cannabis overdose or overuse, after all these years they cannot even link it to ANY types of cancer. Prop that up next to Tobacco, Alcohol, Obesity, and over the counter Drugs. Tell me how many lives we lose every day from these readily available, chemically enhanced substances the FDA says are ok for human consumption.

The term "DOPE" comes from Dopamine which is a chemical found in some drugs, but not cannabis. It was only labeled as such in the 1936 propaganda push for it's outlaw by above mentioned corporations, which if you read or saw any of their verbiage or posters even you would be an appalled by their amount ridicules claims & lies. I think the joke is that there is ignorant people like you who know nothing about cannabis and call us all a bunch of high school dopers. BTW - We should all try and refer to it as cannabis or hemp not Marijuana, that was a term the 30's prop campaign used from Mexican slang to help separate it from it's agricultural roots.

Class dismissed!
 

Thu, 10/21/2010 - 5:27am Permalink
Cuhulin (not verified)

In reply to by FromRoofTop (not verified)

Fundamentally, you have this argument backwards.

 

The question should never be whether legalization is a good idea or a bad one.  It always should be whether something being illegal is good or bad.  The difference is called "Freedom", and it's supposed to be a value in the United States.

 

The fact is that there are no good reasons for marijuana to be illegal.  Therefore, the parts of the Republican party that believe in small government should be all for this.  The parts of the Republican party that believe in low taxes should be all for this.  Only the persons, on the both the left and the right who believe in government controlling the lives of the citizenry to match their own values would have any reason to oppose it.

Wed, 10/27/2010 - 4:19pm Permalink
Yes on Prop 19 (not verified)

In reply to by FromRoofTop (not verified)

This post is coming from someone who obviously hates the so called dopers. Telling you from experience there are more people then you know who smoke "dope" and are upstanding, contributing members of society. Most of them you wouldn't even know smoke "dope" because it is illegal and they probably keep that fact away from you because your so against pot.

I hope you know it was people like you who labled it DOPE. WTF is your arguement.

In all my years of smoking and loving this illegal drug, i've personally seen the damage alcohol (friend died in a car crash), and the damage cigarettes have had (auntie suffered a massive stroke) and have yet to find any negative effect from my use of pot and my friends use of pot.

And sir, Alcohol is a drug, people abuse it all the time. Cigarettes are a drug, millions of people die every year from its use, and it is perfectly alright to use them as an example. How else would you try and convince people like you to legalize it, when the illegal drug does not even compare to the harmful effects of those two perfectly legal drugs.

Just give me one valid reason pot should not be legalized that you could not apply to alcohol or cigarettes.

I mean what is the biggest worry, people will be lazy and productivty will decrease. People will start melting into couches in every corner of the country. Oh god someone might smoke a joint and do there homework. What does that say about the millions of people who already smoke pot, and show up to work every day. We don't not call in sick because we're hungover, unless we go out drinking. We can enjoy a night and the next morning be perfectly sober and ready to go. 

Life is about change, and people seem to hate it. Its time to make a movement. Show that this new generation should be allowed to make changes to laws to better suit the direction society is going. Legalizing pot will be a benifit and not a disadvantage.

I feel so strongly about this because as a free citizen i feel the ignorant people are imposing on my freedom. Why cant we legalize it. Make my freedom know, and if you choose not to smoke good for you. Just because you don't think it should be legalized, that imposes my right to do what i want in a free country.

Why can't you realize there are people out there that strongly disagree with you, who think in the back of there minds your just another ignorant dick we all knew in high school. And  who is a ignorant sick all "grown up".

What is so bad about giving a group of people there right to choose what they want to do. Instead of fighting so hard to restrict the freedoms people. Today pot is everywhere, and enough people smoke it to seriously consider legalizing it. My arguement is, these people are not going away and you have your right to not smoke it, and we should have our right to smoke it. 


 

Tue, 11/02/2010 - 3:21pm Permalink
Jett (not verified)

Vote Yes on Prop 19!!

 

If anyone over 18 wants to smoke a joint in their own home, they should be able to do so.  Lets vote yes on prop 19 and allow each individual person to make up their own mind...

Sun, 10/24/2010 - 12:28am Permalink
Open Mind (not verified)

Prop 19 puts a spotlight on the concept of "Prohibition".  The U.S. government "prohibits" you from using or growing marijuana without their permission.  You must a have a permission slip from them or you will be fined and go to jail.  Sounds like one of those "Sharia laws" bloated with morality and self-righteousness.  A Vote for Prop 19 is a vote for freedom.

Wed, 10/27/2010 - 8:42pm Permalink
Open Mind (not verified)

Prop 19 puts a spotlight on the concept of "Prohibition".  The U.S. government "prohibits" you from using or growing marijuana without their permission.  You must a have a permission slip from them or you will be fined and go to jail.  Sounds like one of those "Sharia laws" bloated with morality and self-righteousness.  A Vote for Prop 19 is a vote for freedom.

Wed, 10/27/2010 - 8:44pm Permalink
Mike Manning (not verified)

It is amazing that there is so much opposition to legalization to marijuana. If you go back in history, or even watch the new series Boardwalk Empire, seems to me that prohibition was almost exactly the same. When prohibition was in effect, crime and alcoholism was at its peak, and when prohibition was abolished, alcoholism and crime went down considerably. When you take the element of fun or the simple fact that it is illegal away, many people will shy away from it because they won't be getting away with anything. One thing for sure a lot of people smoke marijuana, admittingly or not. If alcoholism went down when prohibition was abolished, which is a disease in itself, why wouldn't marijuana use go down, seems like a good measuring stick to me.

Criminal elements loved prohibition of alcohol back in the day, just as the common drug dealer today loves the illegalities of marijuana, and it allows them to earn nontaxable dollars. If the US government had its head screwed on right this would not even be a debate. Propaganda has made it what it is and nothing more. The entire country should legalize it and take advantage of something that would help bail us out of our economic dilemma. If over 1 billion in taxes can be gained in California alone, what would the tax benefit be to the entire country? It would create more jobs when growing it, help farmers realize a new cash crop, create new materials for the textile industry, more clothing factories, less people in jail at a whopping cost of $50,000 dollars per year to house them, and on and on... The only people that I have ever heard of dieing from marijuana exposure were those that were shot by the police or drug dealers.

Moreover, there are over 25,000 uses for marijuana, and getting high is only one of them; hemp in and of itself does not possess the physco-active ingredient or should I say delta 9 molecule that gets you high. It takes one tenth the growing space to produce the same amount of material that cotton takes when growing hemp, and it helps us with sustainability issues such as, less water needed, less land needed, less amounts of pesticides used, etc., not to mention it elevates more oxygen into the air when filling empty land space, and it will grow just about anywhere, it is a weed.

Hemp oil can be converted into a biofuel that has no fossil fuel burn-off that could be used in automobiles creating yet another source of alternative energy without polluting the planet, which is why the oil industry would be against legalization.

Because of the root growth attributed to hemp, it would help with land erosion control. I could go on forever and write a book about the positive attributes. A heck of a lot more than the negative attributes that's for sure.

I firmly believe that marijuana is NOT a gateway drug as advocated by special interest groups, which is absolutely ridiculous. So-called potheads more often than not do not enjoy hard drugs such as cocaine, speed, heroin, etc.; in fact it is just the opposite. You don't see many cocaine, speed or heroin addicts use marijuana; it makes them too self-conscious. On the other hand, marijuana users rarely use hard drugs and drink less; more often than not, it makes them feel guilty for being such an idiot, marijuana makes you think to much and sensitizes your thoughts, doing stupid things don't equate. That is why the alcohol industry is so paranoid about marijuana legalization; they do not want the competition. If marijuana made you drink, then why are the alcohol companies lobbying so hard against it. That makes no sense. Is that a gateway drug? NOT

The pulp industry, synthetic materials industry, etc., are against it for the similar reasons, competition.

It is time to wake up and smell the coffee and legalize one of the most versatile and useful plants known to mankind. It is the new millennium, those that want to use marijuana are already using it, and those that aren't into using it never will. It is a non-addictive herb, not like tobacco, marijuana is harmless compared to tobacco and alcohol, makes you non-violent, in fact they should issue it to prisoners that are violent, and it will change their attitude.

Attitude is the only word I have found in the dictionary that scores 100. If you take the "a" and give it a 1 since it is the first letter in the alphabet, and give the "t's" a 20 since they are the 20th letter in the alphabet, there are 3 "t's" in attitude, give the "i" a 9 since it is the 9th letter in the alphabet, give the "u" a 21 since it is the 21st letter in the alphabet, give the "d" a 4 since it is the 4th letter in the alphabet, and give the "e" a 5, and add them together, they will add up to 100. Attitude is the perfect word and the only one I have found that when added together equals 100; Attitude is the most single important factor to survival in life and for business success. Think about it!

Therefore, isn't time for the people to put their attitude in check, and think about the rest?

I am not advocating getting high, I just think it's time to open our eyes to an opportunity that is right in front of us, take the politics out of it, get off our high horses and decriminalize it, tax it, and help the country rebound from the economic downturn we are currently enduring. Sure it won't bail us out completely, but it would be a great down payment.
 

Sun, 10/31/2010 - 1:42pm Permalink
tax-n-spend (not verified)

Why don't you wear a sign that says "tax me next"? You actually think tax revenue from MJ is going to help anything? Do you remember who runs California?? Any additional revenue will be quickly wasted, spent at 2:1 or 3:1 ratio; the state will be in a bigger deficit hole. Especially with moonbeam as governor. Grow up people.


 

Mon, 11/01/2010 - 5:58pm Permalink
KWEZ (not verified)

i WILL CONTINUE TO SMOKE IT AND iF I GET CAUGHT i WON'T PAY THE FINE i DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE SYSTEM. i BELIEVE IN MYSELF. tHE ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR FINE i WILL SMOKE A JOINT AND TAKE MY GIRL OUT TO EAT MUNCHIES

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 6:42am Permalink

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Source URL: https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2010/jul/29/new_california_poll_has_prop_19