SaveCalifornia.com [12], one of the "family values" groups that led the fight for Proposition 8, the ballot measure overturning gay marriage in the state (which was just struck down by a federal judge), has joined the fight against Proposition 19, the Tax and Regulate Cannabis [13] marijuana legalization initiative.
Prop 19 would legalize the possession of up to an ounce and cultivation of up to 25 square feet by adults 21 and over anywhere in the state. It would also give counties and municipalities the local option to tax and regulate the sale of marijuana.
According to SaveCalifornia.com, Prop 19 would mean the end times are upon the Golden State. The group has announced a web site, StopProp19.com [14], which should be active by mid-week. In the meantime, it has released a YouTube video [15], which, ironically enough, has already been restricted to adults by YouTube because it "may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community."
For you grownups out there, the video provides a taste of the group's Reefer Madness rhetoric. Marijuana is the "gateway to meth and cocaine," the group claims. Pot is "the number one addiction for 60% of teens in rehab," the "public service announcement" says. Marijuana is "50-70% more cancer-causing than cigarettes," it warns.
Never mind that the gateway theory has been repeatedly debunked [16], that the majority of kids in drug rehab for marijuana are there because a court ordered them, not because they are addicted [17], or that leading researchers cannot find a link [18] between pot-smoking and lung cancer.
"Marijuana could be sold in grocery stores," if the initiative passes, the ad warns, in a hyperventilating preview of opposition arguments. Passage would mean "skyrocketing" teen drug use, increased "drugged driving," and "higher costs for everyone as addictions soar." Passage of Prop 19 means: "Messed up minds, messed up lives, messed up families, California out of control!" as ominous drums sound in the background.
The man behind both the fight against gay marriage, and now, this opposition to Prop 19 is moral entrepreneur Randy Thomasson, who has for the past 15 years fought against "the homosexual agenda." During the battles over Prop 8, the Orange County apostle of traditional family values espoused views so extreme he alienated even his allies in the anti-gay rights movement [19].
It looks like Thomasson's extremism extends to marijuana policy as well. At least this time, he doesn't have the deep-pockets to gin up another media campaign like he did with Prop 8. At least, not yet. Watch the anti-Prop 19 video here:
They're starting to crawl out of the woodwork. A prominent force in the movement to overturn gay marriage in California now has Prop 19 in his sights.
CA
United States
See map: Google Maps [20]