Feinstein backs effort to defeat marijuana legalization

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California’s senior senator, has lent her support to the campaign to defeat Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization measure on the state’s November ballot.

The prominent Democrat, first elected to the Senate in 1992, signed the ballot argument against the initiative. On Monday, she issued a statement through the opposition campaign calling the measure “a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe.”

Roger Salazar, spokesman for Public Safety First, said the opposition committee sought Feinstein’s support.

“She’s one of the most respected figures in California,” he said. “She has a great history with law enforcement and dealing with this type of issue. We’re looking at a bipartisan effort.”

Proposition 19 would allow adults 21 and older to possess, grow and transport marijuana, and would allow cities and counties to regulate and tax commercial sales. Most of the state’s top elected officials and candidates for statewide office — from both major parties — are against the initiative.

Dale Sky Clare, a spokesman for Tax Cannabis 2010, the committee behind the measure, said it was not surprising that Feinstein and other statewide politicians opposed it.

“I’m just not putting a lot of faith in politicians to lead,” she said. “The voters have always led on this issue.”

-- John Hoeffel

Comments

[David]

the powerful law enforcement lobby, who want's to keep the tax and grant money flowing from our pockets to theirs has bought and paid for her.

If prop 19 does not pass. I propose next year the ballot inititive shoud be to de-fund law enforcement groups. After all, it is them who we are fighting against.

They have fogotten their place. They used to say "we don't make the laws. We just enforce them"

Nonsense. They do make the laws and they change the ones we wright for them that they don't like. They lobby and spend and buy them.

All across the nation we have been telling them we don't want or need these marijuana laws and all across the nations it is the Law Enforcement lobby that is fighting against the people they work for. They lie and misrepresent all in an effort to keep their money.

It is disgusting. All it does is pit the people against the cops. Community realtions between the citizens and police is so bad I'm shocked were not at full scale war with them.

I guess a few more dogs needs to be shot. The 4th amendment needs to be trampled on and more houses need to be raided over rolling papers before people decid to fight back.

Human beings are not supposet to be revenue streams for cops and prisons.

[YES on Prop 19]

With all due respect, Sen. Feinstein is ignorant when it comes to drug policy. Prop. 19 is good for California. Here's why.

A YES vote on Prop 19 will have the following effects. To read the studies demonstrating these outcomes, please visit yes19.org

Reduce violence and crime
Reduce racially biased arrests
Generate $1.2B to $1.4B in taxes
Create 60,000 to 110,000 jobs
Reduce police corruption
Increase respect for police and the law
Free police to focus on property and violent crimes
Reduce prison costs and prison overcrowding
Expand California economy by $16 to $23 billion
Reduce drug cartels’ revenue
Reduce environmental damage from illegal grows
Allow adults to choose a safer alternative to alcohol

[max]

I think prop 19 will make our communities more dangerous, not because pot smokers are violent, but because the criminal networks will turn to more "harmful" ways of making money. It is my belief that if marijuana is legalized, meth/coke/heroine addiction will be on the rise. I also think tea party like republicans will be opposing prop 19 because it will lower rural home values, due to economy and dangerous meth related crime. The criminal networks will not go away, violent crimes are a very real threat, it is already unsafe in California, police deparments are already disappearing due to budget shortages, prop 19 will be a crisis for California.

[alec foster]

she lost my vote

[undrgrndgirl]

and i will be backing the effort to defeat dianne feinstein when she comes up for re-election in 2012...

[undrgrndgirl]

"Here's a clue for those that think legalizing it is a good idea. Any place where drug use (or for that matter prostitution) has been "decriminalized" it has ended up being run by organized crime anyway. And it's a great front for their money laundering.
Posted by: Drew | July 12, 2010 at 11:16 PM"

Drew, would you provide some EVIDENCE for your assertions?

[undrgrndgirl]

i back efforts to defeat dianne feinstein...both on this bill and when she comes up for reelection in 2012...

[E]

Those coming here to post their "against" statements are not giving any facts to support their opinion. On the legalization side, we have years and mountains of evidence to support the case for going through with Prop 19. . .not based on one's unscientific opinion. Here's an opinion; IF YOU DON'T LIKE CANNABIS, DON'T USE IT! See, it is literally that simple. We do not have to spend billions to keep people from using it. We didn't need to spend billions here in Michigan to get people to not smoke cigarettes. With that, they raised taxes forcing many to not be able to afford them. I will credit cannabis with helping me to over-come my 17 year addiction to cigarettes. We all know cigarettes and alcohol are much worse. However, if someone sitting in the high throne of office thinks they're going to dictate a "better" judgement upon me, then they are wrong. They want to cry "what about the children"!? Answer: your kids already have access to cannabis right now! News-Flash! Your kids can get it now! Ask yourself how many beer or Vodka dealers do you think there are in high schools around the country at this moment? I would doubt few, if any. That is because alcohol is regulated. FACT: Drug dealers do not card. Now if you're concerned for the kids, then legalize cannabis and apply the same age restrictions as with alcohol. The failed American drug war is a war on its own citizens and must end today, and not a minute more. I can hear that Led Zeppelin song "Your Time Is Gonna Come". Our time to rise is here. I know which side I'll be standing with.

[Ed]

I wonder if she tripped on this wire by accident or if she simply failed to realize she was being asked to throw herself on a grenade? Rookie move.

[Carlos]

She won't get my vote for sure. all the incumbent who want to take away our rights and our guns and tax us to death should be voted out.

[Don]

The article says of Feinstein: “She’s one of the most respected figures in California”. That's funny! I don't know of anyone that respects her or her archaic uninformed beliefs. I think the will of the people she is supposed to be representing is being made clear in the comments being made here. We need to get rid of her and others like her that prefer to lock people up rather than let them enjoy a smoke! We need leaders that believe in freedom!

[RWh]

Feinstein has just lost my vote.

[gao xia en]

Well, I don't live there, but I'll be sure to oppose anything or anyone she supports at the national level. This is not meant to imply that I have ever supported anything that old crone ever did.

[Joshua]

Riiiiight, legalizing cannabis would endanger our neighborhoods! Oh no! What will we ever do when kids UNDER 21 are not able to get pot from an illegal source! This woman is nothing more than a political child suckling at the power teet of American politics. Politicians have used the fear of the general public on this issue for nearly 100 years, and it's time for it to stop.

Legalizing cannabis would make it so that if a kid wants to get cannabis, they're going to have to go through legal channels. Possess a valid drivers license, and obtain it from a place that would be roughly similar to a liquor store. The guy selling it on a street corner as of today doesn't care about your age, and he's not afraid to sell you hard stuff either.

Do your career a favor, Feinstein, and actually think about the children rather than your political career.

[resimleri]

“I’m just not putting a lot of faith in politicians to lead,

[Chloe]

Taxing marijuana would elevate economy. Look at all of our states that are near bankruptcy! Alcohol should never have been legalized and marijuana definitely should be. Maybe people won't drink so much. You can drive after smoking marijuana, but not while you are intoxicated. You don't have any judgment with alcohol, whereas you are still aware and capable of controlling yourself with marijuana. I don't like my college buddies drinking until they can't walk straight, and just wish people would realize how dangerous it is. Whereas, marijuana is not dangerous at all. I can work, study, and comprehend while using it, and it wears off quickly. Whereas with alcohol, you just can't function with any level of judgment once you go over your limit. We should tax marijuana and decrease our level of crime involved in using it. I don't believe in hard drugs, but marijuana is natural. I purchase legal marijuana online, it's a safe and natural alternative.

[Brian Daniel Cortner]

Sorry, Senator, but you just lost my vote!

[jay]

calling the measure “a jumbled legal nightmare that will make our highways, our workplaces and our communities less safe.”

This is a non-argument, an appeal to fear, which is so typical. Is Feinstein and educated adult? Yes? Then give real reasons lady, to satisfy your constituency instead of appealing to fear. What she wrote there wasn't worth printing and the next paragraph if that drivel is all she has to explain her view, she doesn't deserve re-election. In fact, she deserves removal from office.

"She’s one of the most respected figures in California,” he said.

That doesn't mean that she is right on this issue. This is an inane article about another self-interested public official