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Law Enforcement Support for California Cannabis Initiative Growing (Press Release)

NEWS ADVISORY: September 10, 2010

CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media//at//leap//dot//cc
                
LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPORT FOR CALIFORNIA CANNABIS INITIATIVE GROWING

Cops and Judges to Endorse Prop 19 at Simultaneous Northern and Southern California Press Conferences Monday, Sept 13 at 10:00 AM PDT

Campaign Also Holding Telephone Press Conference Monday Afternoon at 12:30 PM PDT

(OAKLAND, CA) -- A group of police officers, judges, and prosecutors who support Proposition 19, the California ballot measure to control and tax cannabis (marijuana), will hold simultaneous press conferences Monday, September 13 in front of Oakland City Hall and in West Hollywood Park near Los Angeles at 10 AM PDT to release a letter of endorsement signed by dozens of law enforcers across the state.

"At each step of my law enforcement career - from beat officer up to chief of police in two major American cities - I saw the futility of our marijuana prohibition laws," said Joseph McNamara, former police chief in San Jose and Kansas City, MO, now a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "But our marijuana laws are much worse than ineffective: they waste valuable police resources and also create a lucrative black market that funds cartels and criminal gangs with billions of tax-free dollars."

Former LAPD sergeant and Los Angeles County deputy district attorney William John Cox, added, "This November, Californians finally have a chance to flip the equation and put drug cartels out of business, while restoring public respect for the criminal laws and their enforcement by passing Proposition 19 to control and regulate marijuana."

Also speaking at the press conferences will be current Oakland city attorney John Russo, former LAPD deputy police chief Stephen Downing, former Oakland drug nuisance prosecutor James Anthony, retired Orange County Superior Court judge Jim Gray, former Torrance Police Department beat officer and drug identification expert Kyle Kazan, former Wheatland, CA police officer Nate Bradley, and others.

In the sign-on letter being released at the press conferences, dozens of law enforcers outline their reasons for supporting Proposition 19, detailing how it will:

* Put our police priorities where they belong, by ending the arrests of non-violent cannabis consumers, and enabling police to focus instead on preventing violent crime
* Cut off funding to violent gangs and drug cartels, who generate the majority of their revenue from illegal marijuana sales
* Protect the lives of police officers now at risk in the "drug war" line of fire
* Reduce marijuana access to children by instituting strict age-limits and public safety controls
* Restore mutual respect and good relations between law enforcement and communities bearing the brunt of the current marijuana laws

For journalists who can’t physically attend the press conferences, the Yes on 19 campaign will be holding a conference call featuring several anti-prohibition law enforcers on Monday at 12:30 PM PDT. For dial-in info, please contact Tom Angell at 202-557-4979 or media at leap dot cc.

These law enforcement leaders join the National Black Police Association, the California NAACP, doctors, Latino community leaders, faith leaders, labor, business leaders, elected officials, political parties, and more, in endorsing Proposition 19. For a full list of endorsements, please visit: http://www.yeson19.com/endorsements.

Similar to current alcohol and tobacco laws, Proposition 19 will give state and local governments the ability to control and tax the sale of small amounts of cannabis to adults age 21 and older. As the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), which provides non-partisan fiscal and policy advice, confirms, Prop 19 includes significant safeguards and controls: It maintains strict criminal penalties for driving under the influence of marijuana, increases the penalty for providing marijuana to a minor, expressly prohibits the consumption of marijuana in public, forbids smoking marijuana while minors are present, and bans possession on school grounds.
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/initiatives/pdfs/i821_initiative_09-0024_amdt_1-s.pdf,
http://www.lao.ca.gov/ballot/2010/19_11_2010.pdf (Page 3)

California’s tax collector, the Board of Equalization (BOE), which currently collects alcohol and tobacco taxes, estimates that marijuana taxes could generate $1.4 billion in revenue each year, available to fund law enforcement, healthcare, and other critical needs.
www.boe.ca.gov/legdiv/pdf/ab0390-1dw.pdf

The California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) also says Prop 19 would enable California to put our police priorities where they belong, in that it “could result in savings to the state and local governments by reducing the number of marijuana offenders incarcerated in state prisons and county jails, as well as the number placed under county probation or state parole supervision. These savings could reach several tens of millions of dollars annually. The county jail savings would be offset to the extent that jail beds no longer needed for marijuana offenders were used for other criminals who are now being released early because of a lack of jail space."
http://www.lao.ca.gov/ballot/2010/19_11_2010.pdf (Page 6)

Multiple polls show that a majority of California voters support Proposition 19.
http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/contests/2010-ca-prop-19

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Drug Legalization Could Reduce Government Costs and Raise Tax Revenues

In a forthcoming study for the Cato Institute, Jeffrey A. Miron, senior lecturer on economics at Harvard University and a senior fellow at Cato, and Katherine Waldock, professor of economics at New York University, estimate that legalizing drugs would save the government approximately $41.3 billion annually on expenditures related to the enforcement of prohibition. Just as important, drug legalization would translate into higher tax revenues generated by the sale of these newly-legalized products in the open commercial marketplace. Drug legalization would yield tax revenues of $46.7 billion annually, assuming legal drugs were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco, they said.

Medical Marijuana Patients Find Seeds Hard to Come By: Proposal Would Allow Patients to Buy 16 Seeds Every Three Months

New Mexico’s approach to medical marijuana is one of the most strictly regulated in the country, but patients share problems with those in less regulated states when it comes to lawfully obtaining seeds or plants. Currently, New Mexico patients who are authorized to grow their own medical marijuana don’t have many legal ways to buy seeds or starter plants. Now the state has proposed a fix to the program that could change that.

Criminal Justice Commission National Call-in Day September 15

National Call-in Day to Support Senate Passage of the National Criminal Justice Commission Act

BACKGROUND INFO:
In 2009, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) and 15 bipartisan cosponsors introduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act, legislation that would create a bipartisan Commission to review and identify effective criminal justice policies and make recommendations for reform. The House of Representatives reviewed and favorably passed the bill, and now the bill awaits passage by the United States Senate. We need your help urging the Senate to prioritize and pass this important legislation!

ACTION NEEDED:
On Wednesday, September 15th, individuals nationwide will urge passage of this legislation by calling their Senators to ask them to prioritize and support Senate passage of the house-passed version of the National Criminal Justice Commission Act, H.R. 5143/S. 714.

We hope that you will join us in making these critical calls! To contact your Senators, call the U.S. Capitol Switch Board at 202-224-3121.

MESSAGE TO SENATORS:
•    Prompt consideration of the House-passed National Criminal Justice Commission Act is critical as the Senate winds down its legislative calendar.  I urge you to endorse this legislation and prioritize its passage.
•    Having a transparent and bipartisan Commission review and identify effective criminal justice policies would increase public safety.
•    The increase in incarceration over the past twenty years has stretched the system beyond its limits.  These high costs to taxpayers are unsustainable, especially during these tough economic times.
•    The proposed independent commission would conduct a comprehensive national review of effective criminal justice policies and would issue recommendations for consideration at the state, local and federal level.

If you have any questions about the Wednesday, September 15th National Call-In Day,
please contact Kara Gotsch at [email protected].

Drug Traffickers Cripple Mexican Oil Operation

The meandering network of pipes, wells and tankers belonging to the gigantic state oil company Pemex has long been an easy target of crooks and drug traffickers who siphon off natural gas, gasoline and even crude, robbing the Mexican treasury of hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Now the prohibition-created drug traffickers have taken sabotage to a new level: They've hobbled key operations in parts of the Burgos Basin, home to Mexico's biggest natural-gas fields.

Border Factories Caught in Drug War's Crossfire

The head of an association of border factory owners said the sector is in crisis mode as unrelenting drug prohibition violence in northern Mexico has spooked investors into curtailing operations at some plants and rethinking expansion at others.

Tell Chairman Conyers It's Time for Truth! (Action Alert)

 

Dear friends,

US Rep. Congressmen Sam Farr (D-CA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) have sent a letter to Chairman John Conyers requesting that the Committee on the Judiciary hold a hearing to consider adoption of the "Truth in Trials Act" (H.R. 3939). This legislation would permit someone acting properly under state medical marijuana laws to use that fact as an affirmative defense in federal court proceedings.

Take Action Now: Tell Chairman Conyers that it's time for the Committee on the Judiciary to hold hearings on the "Truth in Trials Act!"

The Committee on the Judiciary has a unique opportunity to consider implementation of the "Truth in Trials Act."  Medical cannabis patients and advocates are leading the call for protections for medical cannabis users and caregivers and they need your help. 

Take Action Now:  Email Chairman Conyers today! Your e-mails does make a difference!  Please forward this action request to your friends, family and networks across the country. 

Together we can change federal law!

Steph Sherer                          Caren Woodson
ASA Executive Director         ASA Director of Govt. Affairs

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North Carolina Sheriffs Want to Know What Drugs You're Taking

The North Carolina State Sheriffs' Association is seeking access to state computer records that identify which residents have prescriptions for painkillers and other controlled substances. Patient advocates say opening up people's medicine cabinets to law enforcement would deal a devastating blow to privacy rights.
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