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Yes, the pun was intended.
Even though Prop 19 lost at the polls this past November 54%-46%, cannabis/marijuana legalization activists have mobilized themselves to bring another legalization initiative to the 2012 ballot. While the biparitsan advocates of prohibition won the battle this time around, the dialogue about marijuana legalization is not going away. Come 2012, as many as five states (Massachusetts, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and California) are planning to put marijuana legalization initiatives on their ballots.
Right now, there are two proposed legalization initiatives that are seeking to be on the 2012 ballot. The first initiative is the Marijuana Tax and Regulation Act of 2012 authored by the interesting duo of 1998 Libertarian gubrenatorial candidate Steve Kubby and retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray. Where Prop 19 would have allowed for adults 21 and over to possess an ounce of marijuana for personal use , this proposal allows for:
1998 Libertarian gubenatorial candidate Steve Kubby
Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray (ret.)
(b) No regulations, taxes or fees shall be enacted or imposed which are more severe or restrictive than those for comparable and reasonable usage in the commercial wine grape farming and winery industry model, including for farming, planting, cultivating, irrigating, harvesting, processing, brokering, selling, distributing, and establishing of cooperatives or collective associations.”
In addition, this initiative also allows for the manufacture and sale of industrial hemp, which was one of former 70th AD Assemblymember Chuck DeVore’s pet issues. (And one of the few issues I actually agreed with him on):
“The people further direct and order the California state Legislature to enact reasonable regulations and establish reasonable taxes for the establishment of the farming, industry, distribution, and sales of marijuana with a THC level of 0.3 percent or higher, using the grape winery industry as a model, as long as the results support these intentions, purposes and goals; and to provide for the farming, industry, distribution, and sales of industrial hemp, which is hereby defined as marijuana with a THC level of below 0.3 percent…”
You can read their entire preliminary text here:
The Hempfather, Jack Herer (RIP)
You can read the entire draft of CCHHI 2012 here:
http://www.youthfederation.com/cchhi2012.html
As any marijuana user knows (myself included), you can’t get much of an high off of a strain that has less than 0.3% THC. You could try, but you’d be wasting a lot of Zig Zags, breath and time with your efforts. You’d have a better chance of getting drunk drinking O’Doul’s.
From what I have read so far, both initiatives have their good points and their flaws. What killed Prop 19 was that it was vaguely worded and caused a lot of confusion with voters and with people in the medical marijuana community. The small personal plot size and the one ounce personal possession limit were a couple of things I did not like about Prop 19. For me, it’s not so much about tax revenue and jobs (which may help) as it is about personal freedom and not having the government dictate what I can or cannot put into my body. Whether it’s OG Skywalker Kush or a Wendy’s Triple Cheeseburger, what I decide to put in my body, as a legal adult over the age of 21, should not be a criminal offense provided that I do not harm or coerce other people to participate in my chosen behavior.
Since 1971, we have spent billions of dollars trying to enforce the current drug laws while the underground drug cartels continue to recruit children to sell their product to minors and drug use continues to rise. We are fooling ourselves if we believe that we can solve this problem by saying these words: “Just Say No.” Either one of these initiatives is definitely an improvement over Prop 19 and the current failed status quo that members of both major political parties have been peddling. With 2012 being a Presidential election year, the chances of marijuana legalization winning at the polls this time around are a lot better. Keep in mind that Prop 215, the initiative to legalize medical marijuana, was passed in 1996. 1996 was a Presidential election year.
Many political activists on both sides are now seeing defending the status quo as a losing strategy. Especially since there has been a lot of rhetoric about limited government and personal freedom floating around from these firebrand politicians lately.
Marijuana legalization in the US is not a matter of “if” anymore….it’s a matter of when.
(Note: No other political blog in Orange County covers legalization and drug policy issues more than the Orange Juice Blog.)
Great post Guy!
By the way, this was the biggest, most-read story today! You can’t always tell by how many comments there are.
Steve Kubby obviously read it. He linked it on his Facebook page.
The one question I have with the Kubby/Gray initiative is how the advertising of marijuana would be regulated. Having spoken with Judge Gray during the Prop 19 campaign, he said he would have written something in Prop 19 stating “no advertising for marijuana.” A very non-libertarian/non-free market stance from the Judge who is a member of the state Libertarian Party.
I’ll send the Judge an e-mail and ask him.
Well, old Gray is not a perfect Libertarian. Remember when he refused to endorse either true Lib Debbi Tharp or pro-legalization Melissa Fox over his old chum Taliban Don Wagner.
Still, neither am I a total Libertarian and I agree that drugs shouldn’t be advertised. Hell, the public owns the airwaves. I don’t think prescription drugs should be advertised, it causes them to be overused and also drives up their prices.
I sure hope legalization is a matter of when, not if. It’s hard to say America is the freest country in the world when you don’t have control over what does or does not go into your own body.
Gray does what he thinks is right, regardless of party.
No, I believe in that case friendship and loyalty to an old GOP pal trumped his professed ideals.
The same could be said for Republicans and Democrats who told me during the campaign they support legalization but end up voting for candidates that support legislation to increase funding for the office of the Drug Czar and interdiction efforts in Mexico. I asked a Beth Krom supporter this past year why she can say she is a legalization supporter but turn around and vote for people who want to tow the party line on the Drug War (Boxer, Brown, Feinstein, Krom, Campbell). The answer I got from this person was “I have a profile on WeedMaps.com.” I also have a profile on that site but I wasn’t looking for trade secrets for a good harvest or a potent strain. I usually have that same question for Log Cabin Republicans when it comes to supporting candidates who are lukewarm on gay rights issues.
I don’t openly endorse a lot of people who run for political office, either. I have had some pretty good conversations about industrial hemp and civil liberties with Chuck DeVore. He is hell of a lot more approachable than Spanky and we get along pretty well. Even though I’m on friendly terms with him, l didn’t vote for him for Assembly.
All true, all true. Just saying that behavior was disappointing from the Judge. We needed everybody’s effort to keep Wagner out of the assembly.
I wonder if Spanky is willing to contribute more to his own public employee pension to help close the budget gap? I asked him that question after one of the UCI debates. He completely blew off my question by saying that he had to run. As I left the auditorium, I saw him rubbing elbows with his Lincoln Club pals.
I can’t believe I’m saying this. I miss the days where Chuck DeVore would talk your ear off.
Yeah DeVore is nutty but fun. I’m glad he’s no longer in any position of power. Although I hear T-Rack sockpuppet and Spitzer-hater Frank Mickadeit is trying to talk up a DeVore supe run (mega-fail)
What DeVore would be good at is a radio show.
Speaking of radio shows…what are the chances of resurrecting the Orange Juice show? I would love to go back for another appearance since we had a lot of fun with His Holiness/The Lord’s Pot Warrior, “Bishop” Ron Allen.
Get me Aspergillus Alexandra and I’ll show up with some real “good” edibles.
You’d need a couple of BONG hit’s to get through a DeVore radio show!
Or as I said on FFFF recently, his ideas make a lot more sense after a couple of Arrogant Bastards with “tincture.”
But I can imagine him having a great variety of guests, including sane ones. He loves to argue.
A couple of bong hits to get through a one sided conversation with DeVore? Try several. I usually made a beeline for the vaporizer at home after a long and tiring chat with Chuck.
If he ran for Irvine City Council and won, would he vote to approve my plan for a cannabis hemp farm at the Not So Great Park.
Anyway I was saying I agree with the GENERALLY libertarian judge that drugs shouldn’t be advertised. Not only does their consumption not need to be encouraged, but little compromises like that will help the measure to pass.
Agreed, in the same way that tobacco advertisements were taken off of the air, in an industry planned to regulate sale only to citizens of a certain age, there are far too many risks when it comes to children watching television and seeing these commercials. I highly doubt that it would get as bad as the Joe Camel bullshit and appearances with children on television in the marijuana industry, but advertising drugs(especially prescription), tobacco, and alcohol does nothing more than seek to influence public opinions with fancy visuals, and other marketing ploys that are unrelated to the use or dangers of said products.
Before someone chews me out, know that I completely support the legalization of cannabis, for the same reasons as everyone else. and like you’ve said Vern, consumption does not need to be encouraged any more than has been caused by its own existence.
The proposed “Regulate Marijuana Like Wine” initiative has regulations in place that would prohibit the direct advertising of marijuana in print, TV and radio. I believe that the regulations also include Internet advertising as well. The lack of a “no advertising” clause was something that Judge Gray wanted to see on Prop 19.
My Cousin has been taking medical marijuana for the last two years. She has improved a lot with her emotions now that she does not have to worry about pain.
I can tell you from my experience that cannabis has been a more effective treatment in dealing with the pains from old football injuries that Vicodin or other toxic painkillers.
If one of these props makes it on the ballot and actually passes, I hope the next step in regards to drug policy reform is a serious look at reforming drug education in the schools. Despite the fact that I have some anthema for public schools, it makes me ill to see that our government continues to spread lies about cannabis and drug use in general and is using our tax dollars and taxpayer institutions to spread these lies. Contrary to what you may have heard or have been taught, use of any drug does not equal abuse. If it did, everyone who drank a beer at any time in their lives would automatically be considered an alcoholic. There are pharmaceutical benefits from using these drugs. If there weren’t, people would most likely not use them.
Sometimes you have to compromise to get the support and funding needed to put something on the ballot. Plus it needs to be passable based on polling.
Being practical to get most of what you want is a reality that is often hard to accept.
I would ask those who govern us if they thought that law enforcement had any business telling people what they could grow and smoke in the comfort of their own home.
I would want to know if they thought that this was even in the realm of government responsibility. To me it is a question of the degree of intrusiveness given to those who govern us. The Founding Fathers included Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness in the Constitution. Why does government insist on going way beyond what the Constitution assigned to it by deciding what makes us happy or intruding upon our liberties?
They insist on telling Gays who they can marry.
They insist on telling landlords who they have to rent to.
They insist on telling us that we can’t smoke a plant that grows naturally, but they allow the highly profitable sale of liquor and prescription drugs on an enormous level.
They fabricate reasons to invade other countries under the guise of “Bringing Democracy”, but they don’t even have the slightest concept of what Democracy really is.
My sister, my friend’s son, another friend’s brother, and yet another friend of mine all died from prescription drug overdoses over the years, but there has never been any control over all those pills that pour over the pharmacy counters across the country every day. I heard an emergency room doctor say that in 16 years, he had never seen a case of marijuana overdose.
Special interests control this country, not common sense.
How many drunks drive home every night from the bars and clubs across the country? Does anyone even consider stopping this practice? But grow a few marijuana plants and smoke them in your own home, and a SWAT team will come crashing through your door with guns drawn.
Insist on having common sense in government, not those who collect campaign contributions from pharmaceutical companies and the doctors who get kickback from proscribing as many pills as they can. A common practice is for the pharmaceutical companies to reward doctors with free vacations if they proscribe a quota of pills.
As long as they are not stopped, the pharmaceutical companies will continue to kill our friends and relatives and will continue to block the legalization of marijuana which is proven to be an effective alternative medication for many conditions. Marijuana can easily replace dangerous and addictive sleeping pills for many people. It can also replace very dangerous mood altering drugs such as prozac for those who need to relax. Don’t get me started.
As long as Big Pharma maintains its strong influence on health care and drug policies, we will be stuck with the same broken system no matter how many cosmetic reforms we put into place.
Even though Prop 19 fell short in 2010, the legalization movement has momentum on their side with 3-5 states looking to put legalization language on the 2012 ballot. Unfortunately, members of both major political parties who like to spout the mantra of limited government and civil liberties have been very weak on this issue. The reality is that they have been bought and paid for by Glaxo Smith Kline and Monsanto.