Free Republic

As the United States Attorney in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, Robert C. Bonner prosecuted Mexican drug cartel members and conspirators in the ruthless torture and murder of a U.S. drug agent, Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. At the time, he vowed: "The United States government will not let the murder of an agent by a terrorist organization go unavenged." These days, Bonner is refusing let a California ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use go unchallenged. In an interview for an article in last Friday's Sacramento Bee, Bonner argued that Proposition 19 not only defies federal law but also breaches...

Party Considers Legalization Efforts in Swing States Amid Signs California Measure Is Exciting Young, Liberal Voters Democratic strategists are studying a California marijuana-legalization initiative to see if similar ballot measures could energize young, liberal voters in swing states for the 2012 presidential election. Some pollsters and party officials say Democratic candidates in California are benefiting from a surge in enthusiasm among young voters eager to back Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana in certain quantities and permit local governments to regulate and tax it. Party strategists and marijuana-legalization advocates are discussing whether to push for similar ballot questions in 2012...

* Poll shows most Democrats support legalization * Republicans strongly against, independents divided * Prop. 19 would let local governments regulate sales By Peter Henderson SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Hopes that California will become the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana appear to be turning into a pipe dream. Voters plan to oppose a measure on the Nov. 2 ballot to legalize marijuana use by 53 percent to 43 percent, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday that showed a big change of sentiment from June. [ID:nN05207672]

A New Breed of Home Marijuana Grower California -- Joanne Clarke, a legal secretary in her late 50s, leads the way down a pale green hallway in her modest Costa Mesa home, past a small guest room on the right and a blue tiled bathroom on the left. At the end of the hall, she opens a door, pushes aside a thick black curtain and ducks inside. "Isn't this wild?" she says, gesturing to the high-tech marijuana grow room she and her husband recently installed. "This used to be my daughter's bedroom." Wild is one word for it. Bright is...

TO truly consider the merits of Proposition 19, you must check your morals at the door. Because the heart of the Nov. 2 ballot measure is not about whether marijuana is no worse than alcohol or whether the law should allow for small amounts of personal pot. The real question of this initiative is whether California wants to take on the federal government and allow any and every city in the state to make up its own rules about selling, manufacturing and transporting an illegal substance. And the Daily News thinks the answer to the question is an emphatic "no."...

"In almost every respect imaginable, Prohibition was a failure," former New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent concluded at the close of his new book, "Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition." "It encouraged criminality and institutionalized hypocrisy. It deprived the government of revenue, stripped the gears of the political system, and proposed profound limitations on individual rights." America's laws against marijuana have had similar effect. About 40 percent of Americans have tried the weed. In March, the Partnership for a Drug- Free America reported that 38 percent of ninth- through 12th-graders studied in 2009 reported consuming marijuana in...

SurveyUSA: Whitman 47%, Brown 40%; Fiorina 48%, Boxer 46%

Supporters and opponents of a ballot measure to legalize marijuana in California are dueling over the law's possible effects on employers and the workplace. The California Chamber of Commerce claims in a legal analysis released Thursday that Proposition 19 would lead to more workplace accidents by forcing employers to let workers smoke pot on the job. The analysis also contends the law would make California companies ineligible for federal contracts because employers could not guarantee a drug-free workplace. The proposition's supporters dispute the chamber's findings. They point to the determination of the state Legislative Analyst's Office that employers would retain...

If marijuana was legal for adults in California, would more people show up at work high? And how would that change the definition of a "smoke break" during work hours? That's the latest issue facing proponents of Proposition 19, the ballot measure that would make marijuana legal for adults in California. Voters will have a chance in November to decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes for adults over 21 but the political debate over the controversial issue has been heating up for quite some time. The latest argument against the ballot measure is that given the legal freedom...

. . . Now a new survey by a national firm, Public Policy Polling, shows the measure winning -- and comfortably so. Public Policy Polling has Prop 19 up by 52 to 36 percent. . . .

Americans are evenly divided over whether marijuana should be legalized in the United States, but most expect it to happen within the next decade. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Adults nationally shows 43% believe marijuana should be legalized. But 42% think it should remain an illegal drug. Another 15% are not sure. These results show a slight shift toward legalization from February of last year.  However, 65% believe it is at least somewhat likely marijuana will be legalized in the United States in the next 10 years. Just 28% do not expect this to happen. Those numbers...

California's three ACLU affiliates announced today they are backing Prop 19, the statewide initiative to legalize pot for those 21 and older. The measure will be on the ballot in November. "Enforcement of marijuana prohibition consumes a great deal of California's law enforcement and court system resources, and has a disproportionate impact on communities of color," the ACLU said in a press release.

OAKLAND, California — The city of Oakland, California on Tuesday legalized large-scale marijuana cultivation for medical use and will issue up to four permits for "industrial" cultivation starting next year.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - After weathering the fear of federal prosecution and competition from drug cartels, California's medical marijuana growers see a new threat to their tenuous existence: the "Wal-Marting" of weed. "The Oakland City Council on Tuesday will look at licensing four production plants where pot would be grown, packaged and processed into items ranging from baked goods to body oil. Winning applicants would have to pay $211,000 in annual permit fees, carry $2 million worth of liability insurance and be prepared to devote up to 8 percent of gross sales to taxes." ... "Companies running the facilities must...

In their quest to find new members, unions are searching high and low—but especially high. A couple of months ago, some pot (as in marijuana) workers in California unionized with the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW). As Big Government blogger, Bret Jacobson noted then, it sort of makes sense: Now you can Super Size it and smoke a spliff without ever crossing a picket line. But, just to show that unions are down with the times, the UFCW is taking the next step:

If the federal government does not preempt the Golden State's attempt to legalize marijuana, it would make their attack on Arizona's immigration law look like a matter of political whimsy. Proposition 19, also known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, is a California ballot proposition which will be on the November 2, 2010, California statewide ballot. It legalizes various marijuana-related activities, allows local governments to regulate these activities, permits local governments to impose and collect marijuana-related fees and taxes, and authorizes various criminal and civil penalties.

IN 1971 a group of teenagers in San Rafael, north of San Francisco, started meeting after school, at 4:20PM, to get high. The habit spread, and 420 became code for fun time among potheads worldwide. Ever since, California has remained in the vanguard of global cannabis culture. Oaksterdam University in Oakland is today unique in the world as a sort of Aristotelian lyceum for the study of all aspects—horticultural, scientific, historical—of the weed. Legally, California has also been a pioneer, at least within America. In 1996 it was the first state to allow marijuana to be grown and consumed for...

Apart from the Senate and governor races, 50 percent of likely voters support Proposition 19 which would legalize marijuana and have its sales be regulated and taxed, while 40 percent are opposed, with 11 percent undecided.

If the election for governor of California were held today, Republican Meg Whitman would edge out Democrat Jerry Brown 46% to 39%, according to a new CBS 5 KPIX-TV poll of likely voters released Monday. Brown, currently California's Attorney General, leads by a not surprising 2-1 margin in the Bay Area, but trails in the rest of the state, according to the poll data. The poll found Whitman, former CEO of eBay, has leads built up among men and affluent voters. She gets 77% of Republican voters, while Brown gets the support of 64% of Democrats. Independents break by a...

The state NAACP is expressing "unconditional support" for the November ballot measure to legalize marijuana, continuing proponents' framing of it as a civil rights issue. "We are joining a growing number of medical professionals, labor organizations, law enforcement authorities, local municipalities, and approximately 56 percent of the public, in saying that it is time to decriminalize the use of marijuana," state NAACP President Alice Huffman said in a news release Monday. "There is a strong racial component that must be considered when we investigate how the marijuana laws are applied to people of color." The measure, Control and Tax Cannabis...