Union endorses initiative to legalize marijuana in California

The 200,000-member United Food and Commercial Workers, Western States Council, on Wednesday announced its support for Proposition 19, the initiative to legalize marijuana in California.

“The Western States Council is endorsing Proposition 19 based upon our previous support of the medical cannabis initiative, 1996’s Proposition 215,” George Landers, the council's executive director, said in a statement. “We view Proposition 19 as an enhanced version of the previous proposition, that creates taxable revenue and produces jobs in agriculture, health care, retail and possibly textile. We further believe that the proposition will deprive narcotics traffickers of a significant source of criminal revenue.”

Ron Lind, international president of the union, and Dan Rush of its Local 5 also spoke out in favor of Proposition 19.

“The marriage of the cannabis-hemp industry and UFCW is a natural one,” said Rush. “We are an agriculture, food-processing and retail union, as is this industry.”
 
The council is the political arm of UFCW in several Western states. It comprises the UFCW local unions in the states it covers.

-- John Hoeffel

Comments

[James Jackson]

Legal marijuana will provide not only tax revenue. It will create jobs for licensed growers and transporters and so resolve that facet (now illegal) of the issue. Marijuana will become to California what the Burgundy and Champagne wine-growing regions are to France. Legal marijuana will increase tourism to our state. Crime related to the drug cartels will evaporate.

In other words, legalized, taxed, and regulated will fix all of California's problems.

[Logic and Reason]

Sure the food union is supportive of legalization of marijuana. They make pizzas and Captain Crunch.

[Tirau]

The union's argument for legalization is intelligent, well-reasoned, and positive, unlike those made by opponents, which are vague, fear-mongering, and ignore the facts.

Yes on 19.

[Gary H]

That's right!! ;)

[Dan]

Unlike Feinstein we finally receive some adult reasoning and common sense when it comes to helping society function. The facts are clearly on the side of legalizing hemp. I think these politicians who would rather rule then represent us are really talking about alcohol when they mention "dangers" of hemp. They seem a little out of touch and confused.

Possibly drunk?

[objectiv1]

Isn't it bad enough that everyone has to take drug tests prior to employment because of a few druggies?
What's next?

[Paranah]

Seems the UFCW is backing the proposition on the grounds they will get more union members.
They might be disapointed, the UFW covers farm workers, The UFW may expect the farm laborers growing the pot to join them.

[papa]

Great, It's about time.Every time some one goes to jail for the stuff it cost over 40,000 each year to keep them in jail. 26,000 the number of people killed in mexico in less than 4years over this drug. it cost us to much of our tax money and to many people lives have been ruin.

[Dr.Pikens]

old news

[downtownvibe]

Of course they support the creation of thousands of potential union jobs. This is the same organization that wants to unionize illegal aliens and sue the federal government for verifying Social Security numbers.

If you want respect by law abiding citizens you have to show that you are capable of working within the law.

[Paleta Fresca]

Finally, someone willing to take a sensible stand in public... beyond the high profile ones of Ron Paul, etc.

[Adam]

as long as it's illegal the state pays for it and wast tax money that we don't have OR make it legal tax it, we just made money, save on putting people that use it in jail we just saved money, make jobs for people WOW we just saved money and made money in tax all at once with that one as in if people have a job thay spend money increase tourism to our state we just made money as thay need food a place to sleep more money in the end prop 19 will make more money for the state then it has ever made by any other way prop 19 it just makes a lot of "cents"

[Norman Lepoff, M.D.]

Seven million Americans have been arrested since 1995 on marijuana charges and 41,000 of them are rotting in federal and state prisons. Thousands of other pot users and sellers are confined in local jails. But the public is starting to rebel against “the preposterous war on pot."

The drug war is doing far more harm than marijuana itself ever will, because (1) it diverts hundreds of thousands of police agents from serious crimes to the pursuit of harmless cannabis users; (2) it costs taxpayers at minimum $10 billion a year to catch, prosecute and incarcerate marijuana users and sellers; (3) it enables government to snatch the cars, money, computers and other properties of people caught up in drug raids even if they have had no charges filed against them; and (4) it allows police agents at all levels to trample our Bill of Rights in their eagerness to nab pot consumers.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy says, Americans spend $9 billion a year buying pot from Mexico; $10 billion on pot from Canada, and $39 billion on home-grown pot, now America’s Numero Uno cash crop – “topping the value of corn and wheat combined.”

By one estimate, legalization would produce annual tax revenues of $6.2 billion. In Portugal, which legalized all drugs in 2001, hard drug use has showed a stunning decline while the numbers of people getting detox aid has soared, Time magazine reported on April 26. By contrast, the United States has the highest rates of drug use in the world.

Also, look at all the huge paychecks that will get cut if we end this draconian war against cannabis users: The cops make their collars. The bail bondsmen get their rake off. The prosecutors make their cases. The social workers write up their interviews. The clerks push their papers. The lawyers collect their fees. The judges render their verdicts. The prison guards make their rounds. The vendors sell their baloney sandwiches. The construction firms build their additions. And the shrinks nod their heads. Is is any wonder that the arrest and prosecution industry is against prop 19.

I applaud the endorsement of prop 19 by the UFCW!

[Kevin Taylor]

Drug legalizers suffer from a myopic short sightedness that is stunning.

Just as alcoholics are known to be in denial, so too are marijuana users. They’re blinded to what has happened to them since they began using.

There is little hope of reaching them with the truth, unless early on, a radical intervention is done by all their family and former friends. Confronting them with how they use to be, followed by showing them what they’ve turned into … how self-centered they’ve become, how they have become totally hedonistic … abandoning all their former loved ones … is worth a try.

As the 13 states are finding, the bottom line is, this pseudo-legalization of marijuana, no matter how it begins, comes at the expense of our children and public safety. It will create dependency and treatment issues, and open the door to use of other drugs, impaired health, delinquent behavior, and drugged drivers.

Just imagine then how total legalization will utterly destroy everything that was once good and decent about this withering nation.

[JAMES WILLIAMS]

People will always pop up in this debate and think thay know what is best for every one. If you are for legalized cannabis good for you. Thank you for speaking up. If you think its bad and you think you should decide for everyone else you are not american. Cannabis effects everyone differently. if you know a loser who smokes pot he was a loser before the pot was in there life. The hemp industry is one of the largest money making industrys. dupont lobbied the government to make nylon more business. Hemp has been vital for ropes and fuel for a long time read some history. Hempoline is a form of diesel produced with hemp oil. I have never smoked the stuff but as a farmer I see the value in the plant not the drug.