Making a difference one patient at a time
At Alternative Care Clinics we believe in serving our patients in a safe, comfortable and professional environment. Patients can be evaluated by a reliable, qualified and compassionate CA licensed physician to see if medical marijuana is right for them. Our goal is to provide patients with access to alternative therapies and accurate information regarding medical marijuana.
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By Adrienne Lu
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
TRENTON – Patients seeking legal access to medical marijuana might have to wait 90 more days under legislation being drafted in response to a request from the Christie administration.
Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D., Union), a prime sponsor of the medical-marijuana law, said Wednesday he intends to introduce legislation Monday to grant the state an additional 90 days to implement the law, which was supposed to go into effect in July with marijuana distribution to start by October.
Christie had sought a postponement of six to 12 months to ensure that proper regulations and controls could be put in place.
Scutari said he was convinced that the health commissioner has been working on the issue and added: “I want to help them get this together so we can have a successful program without the snafus.”
“I want to be reasonable. I want to give the administration the opportunity to promulgate the rules and enact a bill in a good manner, and I’m hopeful we’ll continue to make progress.”
The governor’s spokesman, Michael Drewniak, said, “We appreciate [Scutari's] support to our request.”
But medical-marijuana proponents argued against a postponement.
“We really don’t think any delay is necessary,” said Ken Wolski, executive director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana in New Jersey. “We have regulations that we could suggest that are ready to go July 1, so we still don’t think that a delay is necessary to implement this law.”
San Diego News
By: Dave Good
Posted on Fri, Jun 11th, 2010
Last month,Joseph Nunes became the first casualty of the district attorney’s crackdown on medical marijuana distributors in San Diego, when he was sentenced to one year in prison and three years probation.
Nunes operated the Green Kross collective on Mission Boulevard. He was arrested in September of last year as part of a DEA-assisted raid by local authorities on hometown medical marijuana collectives and dispensaries. In all, 14 such dispensaries were raided.
Local law enforcement’s crackdown was due in part to a sudden proliferation of marijuana storefronts in neighborhoods countywide (and elsewhere in California) after the Obama administration, in the evidence of growing public pressure to legalize marijuana, announced that they would cease to prosecute medical marijuana collectives and their customers.
But in spite of Obama’s moratorium, pot to this day remains a Class One controlled substance. And since passing a measure to legalize, the state government’s direction has been to leave regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries up to individual jurisdictions. California pot law is a patchwork quilt of confusion.
Still, marijuana is said to be the nation’s number-one cash crop, surpassing corn and other commodities. So, some lawyers are gearing up to guide what, by all accounts, will continue to be a growth industry.
Lee Burdick is a San Diego Port Commissioner, and an attorney at Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, specializing in regulated industries. She sees no reason why the marijuana business as a whole should not become regulated along the same lines as alcohol beverages.
“My approach is, let me help [cooperatives and growers] become a legitimate business that participates in a legitimate industry,” says Burdick,”and help them take control of their own stake, not just of individual compliance, but also in participating in the development of a new industry.”
In 1996, California became the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana cultivation and possession for medical patients with the passage of Prop 215. Afterward, voters in 13 states passed referendums to legalize medical marijuana. But, not everyone was happy about it.
In Billings, Montana, two medical marijuana storefronts were firebombed recently in separate incidents. And crackdowns by law enforcement continue. Tacoma’s North End Club 420 was raided earlier this month, even though Washington legalized medical pot in 1998.
In San Diego, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis formed the Narcotics Task Force which has been in large part responsible for medical marijuana arrests.
“The District Attorney,” says Alex Kreit, chair of the city council’s medical marijuana task force, “has unfortunately taken a very restrictive view of what the state allows for.” Kreit’s outlook for the future is not optimistic. “You will probably see more criminal work on medical marijuana issues in San Diego County than in other parts of the state.”
The larger problem, as Burdick sees it, lies in keeping her clients compliant in what is essentially a very large gray area created by the lack of any firm direction by either state or federal governments.
“At what point,” she asks, “do you exceed what is legally allowed under Prop 215 and become a drug lord?”
Burdick has plans to help guide the business of marijuana cultivation and distribution into a respectable business. “Once Prohibition was overturned, it didn’t become a free for all for alcohol,” she says. “It became a highly regulated industry.”
She sees a day when medical marijuana cooperatives would be treated as legitimate businesses with full voting rights and privileges. But first, she says, “They need to take control of their own fate and to be able to participate in those processes openly and without fear of retribution.”
But that is not a likely scenario in today’s climate, says David Speckman, a San Diego attorney in private practice who represents more than a dozen such medical marijuana collectives.
“As long as possession of marijuana is illegal at the federal level,” he says, “then you’re not going to see the type of organized structure and regulation that you would find with alcoholic beverage control at the state level.”
Federal law trumps state and local laws, says Speckman, and the hard facts are that the possession of marijuana is a crime.
“What [the feds] are saying is that for purposes of medical marijuana, they are going to defer to the states but with a very important caveat: that one may believe that they are in full compliance with state law and still run amiss of the federal law.”
Speckman says his goal is to help his clients to operate as close to legal compliance as they can, but admits that there is a fear factor among them. “There is,” he says. “And there should be.”
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CBSNews
By: Brian Montopoli
That’s right, pot smokers: You have something of an ally in Sarah Palin.
The former Alaska governor appeared on Fox Business Network last night, along with libertarian-leaning Republican Rep. Ron Paul. Paul is a longtime advocate of decriminalizing drugs at a federal level and leaving the issue to the states, something Palin would not endorse.
“If we’re talking about pot, I’m not for the legalization of pot,” Palin said, as Politico first noted. “I think that would just encourage especially our young people to think that it was OK to just go ahead and use it.”
But she went on to say that police should not focus on arresting people who use marijuana recreationally.
“I think we need to prioritize our law enforcement efforts,” Palin said. “And if somebody’s gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody else any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems that we have in society.”
She added that marijuana use “relatively speaking” is a “minimal problem” in the country.
Palin has admitted to smoking when it was legal for personal use in Alaska, saying she “can’t…say that I never inhaled.” The state recriminalized the drug in 2006.
In the Fox Business interview, Paul said the federal government should get out of the war on drugs, calling it a “useless battle.”
“Just nullify all those laws,” he said.
Check out the original article here
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June 8, 2010
SAN DIEGO — San Diego County’s citizen grand jury is calling for better guidelines for medical marijuana dispensaries. The panel wants to see an end to the confusion surrounding the issue.
The citizen panel said medical marijuana dispensaries should be regulated. The report urges municipalities to approve clear rules that decide where and how many storefronts can operate. The report suggests there should be a ban on new medical marijuana storefronts until a city can pass those rules.
Victoria Stubblefield, panel leader, said law enforcement could do a lot to clear the air about medical marijuana.
“The report is recommending that if the district attorney and the sheriff’s department would create guidelines, then it would educate legitimate people, how they can go about doing their business,” Stubblefield said.
Stubblefield says the grand jury took on the issue because qualified medical marijuana patients say they’re not sure what’s legal and what’s not.
See original posting : http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/jun/08/citizen-panel-calls-medical-marijuana-dispensary-r/
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June 6th, 2010 By: Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director
Supreme Court: Suspects must say they want to be silent
June 1, 2010
——————–
The Supreme Court says suspects must explicitly tell police they want to be silent to invoke their Miranda protection during interrogations.
A right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer are the first of the Miranda rights warnings, which police recite to suspects during arrests and interrogations. But the justices said Tuesday suspects must tell police they are going to remain silent to stop an interrogation, just as they must tell police that they want a lawyer.
The ruling comes in a case where a suspect remained mostly silent for a three-hour police interrogation before implicating himself in a murder. He appealed his conviction, saying that he invoked his Miranda right to remain silent by remaining silent.
For more information about the case, read the New York Times reportage.
In the wake of this week’s SCOTUS ruling, NORML recommends all cannabis consumers download and possess NORML’s ‘Freedom Card’ to present to law enforcement during any interaction where police may seek a criminal charge.
Forewarned is forearmed: In the face of a Supreme Court decision that appears to favor the government over citizens, citizens must assert their constitutional rights to maximize legal protections against the government.
Keith Stroup, Esq.
NORML Legal Counsel
legal@norml.org
Partial text of the card
THE NORML FOUNDATION FREEDOM CARD
The U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from interfering with your right to remain silent, to consult with an attorney, and to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement. However, it is up to you to assert these rights. This NORML Foundation Freedom Card will help you do so effectively.If you are confronted by a police officer, remain calm. Be courteous and provide your identification. Politely refuse to answer any further questions. Ask to talk to an attorney. Do not consent to any search of your person, your property, your residence or your vehicle. Tell the officer you would like to give him or her this card, which is a statement of the constitutional rights you wish to invoke. Do not reach for this card until you have obtained the officer’s permission to do so.
If the officer fails to honor your rights, remain calm and polite, ask for the officer’s identifying information and ask him or her to note your objection in the report. Do not attempt to physically resist an unlawful arrest, search or seizure. If necessary, you may point out the violations to a judge at a later time.
THE NORML FOUNDATION
1600 K Street, NW, Suite 501
Washington, DC 20006-2832
www.norml.org / 202-483-5500See original posting: link- http://blog.norml.org/2010/06/06/norml-freedom-card-self-preservation-still-needed-during-marijuana-prohibition/
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Tagged with: Aspirin Drug Comparsions Marijuana
When Bayer introduced aspirin in 1899, cannabis was America’s number one painkiller. Until marijuana prohibition began in 1937, the US Pharmacopoeia listed cannabis as the primary medicine for over 100 diseases. Cannabis was such an effective analgesic that the American Medical Association (AMA) argued against prohibition on behalf of medical progress. Since the herb is extremely potent and essentially non-toxic, the AMA considered it a potential wonder drug.
Instead, the invention of aspirin gave birth to the modern pharmaceutical industry and Americans switched away from cannabis in the name of “progress.” But was it really progress? There can be no doubt that aspirin has a long history as the drug of choice for the self-treatment of migraines, arthritis, and other chronic pain. It is cheap and effective. But is it as safe as cannabis?
History:
- Marijuana has been used for over 5,000 years.
- No one has ever overdosed on marijuana.
- Aspirin has been used for 108 years.
- Approximately 500 people die every year by taking aspirin
The Law:
- Marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug, meaning the US government believes it is extremely dangerous, highly addictive, and of no medical value.
- Aspirin is available for pennies and can be purchased by children at any drug, grocery, or convenience store. Often they are just handed out free by people with no medical education.
Marijuana side effects and dangers:
- The dangers of marijuana include possible respiratory problems caused by the deposition of burnt plant material on the lungs. This danger can be eliminated with alternate forms of consumption such as eating or vaporizing the medicine.
- For two to four hours, marijuana causes short-term memory loss, a slight reduction in reaction time, and a reduction in cognitive ability. (It makes you stupid for a little while.)These conditions DO NOT persist after the herb wears off.
- Hunger
- Paranoia
- Depression
- Laughter
- Introspection
- Creative Impulse
- Euphoria
- Tiredness
- Forgetfulness
Aspirin side effects and dangers:
- When taken with alcohol, aspirin can cause stomach bleeding.
- Reye Syndrome in children: fat begins to develop around the liver and other organs of the child, eventually putting severe pressure on the brain. Death is common within a few days.
- People with hemophilia can die.
- People with hyperthyroidism suffer elevated T4 levels.
- Stomach problems include dyspepsia, heartburn, upset stomach, stomach ulcers with gross bleeding, and internal bleeding leading to anemia.
- Dizziness, ringing in the ears, hearing loss, vertigo, vision disturbances, and headaches.
- Heavy sweating
- Irreversible liver damage
- Inflamation and gradual destruction of the kidneys
- Nausea and vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Lethargy
- Hyperthermia
- Dyspepsia: a gnawing or burning stomach pain accompanied by bloating, heartburn, nausea, vomiting and burping.
- Tachypnea: Abnormally fast breathing
- Respiratory Alkalosis: a condition where the amount of carbon dioxide found in the blood drops to a level below normal range brought on by abnormally fast breathing.
- Cerebral Edema: Water accumulates on the brain. Symptoms include headaches, decreased level of consciousness, loss of eyesight, hallucinations, psychotic behavior, memory loss and coma. If left untreated, it can lead to death.
- Hallucinations, confusion, and seizure.
- Prolonged bleeding after operations or post-trauma for up to 10 days after last aspirin.
- Aspirin can interact with some other drugs, such as diabetes medication. Aspirin changes the way the body handles these drugs and can lead to a drug overdose and death.
If you think that cannabis is actually safer than aspirin, you are not alone. In October 2000, Dr. Leslie Iversen of the Oxford University Department of Pharmacology said the same thing.
In her book, ‘The Science of Marijuana,’ Dr. Iversen presents the scientific evidence that cannabis is, by-and-large, a safe drug. Dr. Iversen found cannabis had “an impressive record” when compared to tobacco, alcohol, or even aspirin.
“Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug,” she said. “Even such apparently innocuous medicines as aspirin and related steroidal anti-inflammatory compunds are not safe.”
So if safety is your concern, cannabis is clearly a much better choice than aspirin. If you eat it or vaporize it, it just might be the safest painkiller the world has ever known.
Dependence: How difficult it is for the user to quit, the relapse rate, the percentage of people who eventually become dependent, the rating users give their own need for the substance and the degree to which the substance will be used in the face of evidence that it causes harm.
Withdrawal: Presence and severity of characteristic withdrawal symptoms.
Tolerance: How much of the substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it, and the level of stable need that is eventually reached.
Reinforcement: A measure of the substance’s ability, in human and animal tests, to get users to take it again and again, and in preference to other substances.
Intoxication: Though not usually counted as a measure of addiction in itself, the level of intoxication is associated with addiction and increases the personal and social damage a substance may do.
This chart originally appeared on DrugWarFacts.org.
Source: On Marijuana
See original posting here Link :http://www.onmarijuana.com/2007/03/24/marijuana-is-safer-than-aspirin/
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November Ballot Picture Shaping Up To Be Historic In The Struggle To End Marijuana Prohibition
November Ballot Picture Shaping Up To Be Historic In The Struggle To End Marijuana Prohibition
June 3rd, 2010 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
The November election is shaping up to be one of the most important in modern history as it pertains to the struggle to end marijuana prohibition.
Voters in several states will have the opportunity this fall to decide on ballot measures to significantly reform their state or municipal marijuana laws. To date, the following initiatives have been certified to appear on the November ballot:
California: In what is arguably the most significant marijuana law reform measure in several decades, California voters will decide on The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. The measure would allow adults 21 years or older to possess, share or transport up to one ounce of cannabis for personal consumption, and to cultivate the plant in an area of not more than twenty-five square feet per private residence. (Read the full text here.) The act would also permit local governments to authorize the retail sale of marijuana or the commercial cultivation of cannabis to adults and to impose taxes on such sales. Personal marijuana cultivation or not-for-profit sales of marijuana would not be taxed under the measure, nor would it alter or amend any aspect of the California Health and Safety code pertaining to the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
According to the most recent statewide poll on the issue, Californians support the measure 49 percent to 41 percent.
South Dakota: South Dakota voters will decide this November on Measure 13, The South Dakota Safe Access Act — which would exempt state criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana or six plants by authorized patients. (Read the full text here.) If enacted, South Dakota would become the fifteenth state since 1996 to legalize the medical use of marijuana.
Oregon: Voters are anticipated to decide this November on a statewide measure to authorize the creation of non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries, which would be legally able to distribute cannabis provided by private growers. (Read the full text here.) Proponents of the measure turned in over 110,000 signatures in favor of the act to the Secretary of State Elections Division in May, and are awaiting certification.
In 2009, Maine voters became the first to approve a ballot measure authorizing medical marijuana dispensaries. Oregon voters initially approved the legalization of medical marijuana in 1998.
Arizona: Election officials on Tuesday affirmed that proponents of a statewide ballot measure to allow for authorized patients to possess and purchase medical cannabis from state-licensed facilities has qualified for the 2010 November ballot. (Read the full text here.) Under the proposed measure, state-registered patients would be permitted to obtain cannabis legally from licensed dispensaries. Authorized patients who do not have a facility in their local area (defined as within 25 miles of their residence) would be permitted under the law to cultivate their own cannabis for medicinal purposes. Other patients would not be allowed to grow their own marijuana.
The ballot measure is sponsored by the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project, an affiliate of the Marijuana Policy Project.
Detroit, Michigan: Detroit citizens are expected vote this November on a municipal measure to prohibit the criminal prosecution of adults who possess minor amounts of marijuana. If enacted, the measure would amend the Detroit City Code to remove criminal penalties for “the use or possession of less then one ounce of marijuana, on private property, by anyone who has attained the age of 21 years.” Voters have previously enacted similar municipal measures in several other cities, including Denver, Colorado.
Washington: Sensible Washington proponents continue to collect signatures in favor of I-1068, which would remove state civil and criminal penalties for persons eighteen years or older who cultivate, possess, transport, sell, or use marijuana. (Read the full text here.) To qualify the act for the November ballot, supporters must turn over 241,000 valid signatures by July 2, 2010.
According to a poll of 1,252 registered voters conducted last week, 52 percent of adults support the measure, and only 35 percent oppose it.
Oregon: Proponents of The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA) must turn in over 110,000 signatures by July 2 to qualify the measure for the November 2010 ballot. OCTA seeks to permit the state-licensed production and sale of marijuana to adults. Oregon NORML is sponsoring the campaign, and is seeking volunteers here.
NORML will continue to keep you updated as additional statewide or municipal ballot proposals qualify to the November ballot.
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Hempfest founder, former Weekly writer, others push to decriminalize marijuana in Washington
By Sam Kettering
Published: Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Updated: Saturday, June 5, 2010
 "Photo: Matthew Brady | The Spectator")
Matthew Brady | The Spectator
Skyler Farmer holds up a sign supporting I-1068, an initiative that would remove state penalties for marijuana. He collected signatures in Westlake this weekend to put the measure on the ballot.
A voter initiative authored by several Seattle activists could effectively legalize marijuana in the state of Washington. However I-1068 must first make it onto the November ballot via more than 200,000 petition signatures.
I-1068 aims to decriminalize the use, possession, distribution, transport and growth of marijuana in Washington for people ages 18 and older by removing the state’s authority to enforce civil or criminal penalties. It would remain illegal for Washington minors to use, possess, distribute, transport and grow the plant.
The initiative was written by public defender Douglass Hiatt, attorney Jeffrey Steinborn, Seattle Hempfest founder Vivian McPeak, medicinal marijuana patient Ric Smith and former Seattle Weekly writer Philip Dawdy.
I-1068’s main sponsor is a group called Sensible Washington, which Dawdy cofounded earlier this year. Sensible Washington focuses on collecting the 241,153 valid signatures necessary to put the initiative on November’s ballot. As of May 26, volunteers have collected more than 100,000 signatures.
According to Dawdy, there are a number of reasons to support I-1068. One of the most important, he says, is that marijuana is not a dangerous drug.
“It’s time for society to stop treating it like something naughty,” he said. “If marijuana was evil and scary, Seattle would have ceased to function a long time ago.”
Although Washington’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union supports the legalization of marijuana, the group opposes I-1068 on the grounds that it lacks a workable regulatory system.
“Marijuana should be placed under controls that not only remove criminal penalties for adult marijuana use but also address the public’s concerns about health and safety,” said the ACLU of Washington in a Feb. 25 statement.
Initial plans for I-1068 began in January when Dawdy and Hiatt were concerned by two other pieces of marijuana legislation, House Bill 1177 and its companion Senate Bill 5615. Both bills would turn the possession of 40 grams or less of marijuana by a legal adult into a civil infraction punishable by a $100 fine.
While Dawdy and Hiatt agreed with the reasoning behind HB 1177 and SB 5615, they didn’t think either bill did enough to protect those in need of medicinal marijuana as well as those who grew, transported and distributed the plant for medical purposes.
“The legislature has neither the votes nor the will to pass this,” Dawdy said. “An initiative is the appropriate way to handle this.”
Under Washington state law, I-1068 can only seek to decriminalize activities related to marijuana consumption. It does not make provisions for the state’s government to tax marijuana, which the ACLU also takes issue with.
In the same Feb. 25 statement, the ACLU of Washington explained many people in Washington seem open to removing criminal penalties for the possession of marijuana, but fewer voters support full legalization of marijuana.
“Those who do support full legalization understand that legalization means treating marijuana similarly to alcohol, taxing and regulating it,” the ACLU said in the statement.
The group also wrote that voters would be less likely to pass a law disallowing the taxation of marijuana. If voters fail to pass I-1068 in November, then it would become more difficult for pro-marijuana legislation to be passed in the future.
Dawdy remains confident that Sensible Washington voters will collect the necessary signatures to put the initiative on the ballot.
Despite the rain, volunteers hit the pavement last weekend at the Northwest Folklife Festival. By 1 p.m. Monday afternoon, they collected roughly 9,000 signatures.
“We’ll get it done,” Dawdy said.
Sam can be reached at skettering@su-spectator.com
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(Reuters Health) – Smoking pot may be linked to worsening schizophrenia, according to a new study.
Researchers say the results also suggest that among those likely to develop the disease, those who use marijuana may get the disease earlier in life than those who don’t.
The findings don’t prove that smoking marijuana causes schizophrenia, and the study only looked at people who already had the disease. But, “smoking marijuana may have hastened whatever process was going to happen anyway,” Daniel Foti, a PhD student at Stony Brook University on New York’s Long Island and the lead author on the study, told Reuters Health.
Patients suffering from schizophrenia – about one percent of the population – often hear or see things that don’t exist, or are convinced others are out to get them. Previous research has shown that people who smoke marijuana may be more likely to develop schizophrenia than people who don’t use drugs.
This study suggests that doctors treating schizophrenia should make marijuana use one focus of their treatment, the authors write.
The researchers followed 229 patients with schizophrenia for ten years after they were first admitted to a psychiatric hospital. They compared the patients’ use of marijuana – both recently and over their lifetimes – with how old they were when their symptoms started and how severe those symptoms currently were. The study was published online May 17 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Close to two-thirds of the patients had smoked marijuana at some time in their lives. Patients who had used marijuana before being hospitalized for schizophrenia had worse symptoms of psychosis than patients who hadn’t at the time they were admitted. They were also admitted at a younger age.
Researchers also found that changes in how much marijuana a patient smoked were linked with how bad that patient’s psychotic symptoms were. The link worked in both directions: patients whose symptoms had recently gotten worse reported smoking more marijuana the next time they were interviewed, and patients who started smoking more then began having worse symptoms.
Patients whose symptoms had recently gotten better generally reported smoking less marijuana at their next interview.
“There is a large and accumulating body of evidence that cannabis use and abuse can trigger the onset of psychosis,” Dr. Dolores Malaspina, a psychiatrist at New York University who was not involved in the research, told Reuters Health in an email. This may be particularly true in teenagers, whose brains are still maturing, she said.
“This study and other research shows that cannabis abuse in the early illness can also have a lasting effect on the course of the psychiatric disorder, even when people become drug-free.”
It’s hard to know what might cause the link between marijuana use and schizophrenia symptoms, Dr. Stephen Eggan, a neuroscientist at the University of Pittsburgh, told Reuters Health. “At this point it’s too early to say exactly what’s happening,” he said.
Still, Foti and his colleagues report that the link could nonetheless help certain people with schizophrenia – that by encouraging them to stop smoking marijuana, doctors might be able to help patients improve their symptoms.
The patients with the most severe symptoms, Foti said, “may be the ones that might highly benefit from intervention with drug use specifically.” If the aim is limiting psychotic symptoms, he said, “it seems that reducing or stopping marijuana use may be one avenue toward that.”
SOURCE: here American Journal of Psychiatry, online May 17, 2010.
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Despite the discussion currently accruing over issues on the upcoming June 8 ballot, the November ballot has recently managed to snag a sizable slice of the media due to its controversial inclusion of a measure legalizing marijuana.
If passed, backers of drug legalization claim it will reduce drug-related crime, save on prison spending, and generate increased tax revenue. If denied – a non-trivial possibility, even in California, given the prevailing political winds – the measure will at least frame a discussion.
According to a recent poll commissioned by the Los Angeles Times, 49% of voters favor legalization, 41% do not, and 10% are undecided. This is, at least at the level of raw data, an encouraging set of statistics for the proponents of the measure, who need only win one out of every five undecided voters in order to pass the measure. That is, assuming that things stay constant, which is not at all a foregone conclusion.
In introducing the poll, the Times notes that, among those who oppose the measure, a “vast majority believe it will worsen social problems.” It seems prudent to take this as an indicator that the opponents have an advantage from the enthusiasm perspective. After all, it’s much easier to get people excited through fear of what could happen, than it is to get people sufficiently agitated to bemoan things as they happen now.
This means a number of things for the backers of the measure, who may need to play double duty insofar as they will have to simultaneously cement their existing plurality while persuading the tiny minority of undecided voters to favor their solution. This is more difficult than the conundrum faced by the bill’s opponents, who have only to persistently go on the attack.
Another area which may put the supporters at a disadvantage is the question of timing. Yes, the measure attracts 49% support now, almost half a year before the election, but this is a season of upset elections, and six months before his election, Scott Brown was polling very poorly indeed.
Moreover, because everyone’s attention is focused on the June ballot, issues on the November ballot have not had a chance to be properly savaged by interest groups or political parties. Finally, the fact that this story has been broken so early means that the opponents now have almost half a year to gear up for the warpath – in politics, a rather frightening prospect, especially for a morally counterintuitive measure like the one in question.
In short, supporters of pot legalization enjoy an advantage on the basis of numbers, and that is not in question. However, they should avoid complacency if they want to see their measure passed.
At the same time, while opponents enjoy a host of tactical advantages, they can really only succeed if they know how to use them. The debate over this measure has not even begun, and it may be a long way off, but Californians should keep their eyes open.
This one’s going to stay in the news.
http://caivn.org/article/2010/06/03/recent-marijuana-legalization-poll-sets-stage-intense-debate
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