Proposition 19: Backers of legalizing marijuana say 'the world is watching'

They came not to bury Proposition 19 but to praise it. They left having done a little bit of both.

The final election-day news conference on behalf of legalizing marijuana in California was an odd amalgam of get-out-the-vote effort and wake. There were hopeful exhortations and picket signs, but the polls looked bad, and everyone was clad in somber black.

A yes vote, legalization activists urged from the steps of Oakland City Hall, would create jobs, end racism, make the streets safer and ignite a revolution. “Make no mistake,” said a radiant Dale Sky Jones, executive chancellor of Oaksterdam University, “the world is watching.”

But as speaker after speaker stepped up to the lectern, the comments took an elegiac turn.

“Today is a watershed moment in the decades-long history to end failed marijuana policies in this country,” declared Stephen Gutwillig, California director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Proposition 19 has impacted the national debate on marijuana policy, firmly placing marijuana legalization itself squarely in the mainstream of American politics.”

Oakland City Atty. John Russo, speaking to activists “from the heart,” told the small assembly gathered in the bright autumn sunshine that “even if we are cheated out of a win today, we have changed the debate from licentious hippies versus straight-arrow cops to one that recognizes this issue in all of its complexity.”

Remember, he said, “like other issues where people are working and have worked for justice and common sense, sometimes it takes a longer road than we would like.”

Richard Lee, founder of Oaksterdam University and the major force behind the measure, didn’t even address the crowd -– although he was billed as a main speaker. After the news conference and rally ended, he raced away from reporters and enthusiasts, only to be briefly stymied in his escape by the locked doors of City Hall.

If the measure loses, he was asked, what will be your take-away?

Lee: “Not enough people voted for it.”

Was it a worthwhile effort?

Lee: “Yeah, we changed the debate.”

Is that enough?

Lee: “Uh huh.”

Will you continue working for legalization?

Lee: “Uh huh.”

And if it wins?

Lee: “Let’s move on to the next battle, ultimately changing federal law.”

Will you be at the forefront of that too?

Lee: “We’ll see.”

-- Maria L. La Ganga in Oakland

Photos: California heads to the polls

Photos: The nation heads to the polls

Comments

[luisa gonzalez]

omg im still undecided if i should vote yes or no...i dont do drugs ill never do..is not right that vehicles with passengers are smoking marijuana while driving ...people dont need to smell it...its bad for the air we breath so as regular cigarettes they effect what we breath..

[David Mellado]

pass it so people can stop worrying about it and worry about the real crimes that are happening around us people pay to much attention to marijuana and not the true crimes that are going on

[BobInIrvine]

@Rob,

To ascribe liberal democrats as being lockstep against it (I don't even want to address any other non-substance of your rant), you've blown any credibility of your post.

But name ONE 2010 CALIFORNIA GOP CANDIDATE WHO HAS COME OUT IN SUPPORT OF PROP 19.

Didn't think so.

[Mojo Potatoes]

Amazing. If the message boards on every news website mentioning the subject are any indicator, prop 19 should have passed by a huge margin. The media seems to be weighing heavily on a recent field poll, which is the antithesis of several other more prominent (and accurate) polls, which are quite to the contrary. Previously, the pro-19 vote was estimated at +10-12% in favor. Several previous polls reflected those numbers. Then, yesterday, a "conservative" field poll comes out and essentially says the opposite. This is why every news network is saying "it's looking bad for 19?" Really? Nevermind the several other polls, lets focus on the one biased, conservative poll, and call it a day. BIAS! The results will tell a different story, unless statistics lie, or shady politics rule the day. We shall see.

[Legalize it]

legalize it or not im smoking anyways. The poll is designed to destroy our hope and freedom

[AndTheJellosJigglin]

No on 19! What jobs will it create? Name one thing it does that qualifies as Legalizing? (besides what Arnold already did, and is less than what is already allowed under 215) A very misguided proposition.

[Greyswans]

Prop 19 is too close to call! It needs your YES vote, so get out there Californians, this country depends on you to set the example.

[Dwayne]

I am an ex Deputy Sheriff, and through my personal experience I can honestly say that anyone who votes NO on Prop 19 is truly voting on the same side as drug dealers, cartel members and even weed dispensary owners. They ALL DO NOT want marijuana legalized because they will no longer have a profit. Drug dealers do not ask for an I.D. and legalizing marijuana will put many of them out of business.
People who are going to use marijuana are going to do it whether it's legal or not, and a good number of users already have a medical marijuana card anyway! So why should we continue to make criminals out of people who are otherwise decent citizens?

Want to put a huge hurt on drug cartel and dealers? Want to help California get out of debt? Vote YES on Prop 19!

[Greyswans]

It's still too close to call. Californians, get out there and vote YES on prop 19, your nation depends on you.

[AndTheJellosJigglin]

Have any of you actually read the whole thing???

[Amanda]

I support it being legalized, but under similar laws as alcohol (can't drive under the influence, can't work under the influence, can't be acting like a jerk in public under the influence, and shouldn't be allowed to do it in public). But other than that, why not? You can't overdose on pot as you can alcohol (it's harder to do than killing yourself by over-drinking water) and there are more healthy way to take in pot (vaporizers and even inhalers). Further, taxes on pot would make crazy revenue. Also, jails/prisons are incredibly overcrowded and it costs TONS of money, each month, to keep one prisoner incarcerated. Legalizing it would cut down on a lot of jail/prison costs. Not to mention it'll help knock out drug cartels! I'm no pothead, but as an economics major this would be a great boost to the economy!

[AndTheJellosJigglin]

People in California smoke Cannabis grown in California. So what do "mexican cartels" have to do with us?

[Tim Jensen]

Get out and vote! Let's this this stupid prohibition!!

[Ray]

Pass it!
Then open up the coffee caffes.

[malcolm kyle]

It's Prohibition that has created the dire conditions which have lead to a worsening of most of the problems we now see in society. Prohibition has put us all in harms way and serves only to provide a profitable market for criminals and terrorists.

This "merry-go-round" has been going on for far too long, and has not only fallen off it's axle, but has trans-mutated into a veritable "house of horrors"

1) increased violence, as in inner-city drive-by shootings or even bombs or mass killings in places like Mexico.
2) preventing the medical use of marijuana for the desperately ill or dying.
3) keeping a small group of criminals extremely rich (it's a $400 billion industry)
4) the enormous costs of enforcement ($50 billion last year, including about $12 billion to enforce marijuana laws.
5) the ruined communities and families because a breadwinner is sent to prison (at a cost of around $50 billion annually to house prisoners, plus an estimated $40,000 loss to the community per prisoner.

In addition to the societal cost of prohibition, it has a long history of driving the spread of harder drugs.

Poppies to morphine to heroine
Coca to cocaine to crack
ephedra to ephredrine to speed to methamphetamine
marijuana to skunk
mushrooms to ecstasy to 2CB/designers

At every step the reasons for the rise in popularity of the new form of the drug are one or more of the following:
a) it's easier to smuggle or
b) it's more addictive so consumers will want it hard enough to go to the black market or
c) it's cheaper to produce and yields more profit or
d) like a game of "whack a mole" a shutdown of producers in one area gives rise to business opportunities for another set of producers with a similar product.

Proceeding with this moronathon subsidizes organized crime, terrorists, corrupt politicians and the prejudices of culture warriors. Prohibition's distortion of the immutable laws of supply and demand insures that the only clear winners are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers on confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with the substances that they claim to be able to fight. The big losers in this battle are everybody else, taxpayers included, who have been deluded into believing big government is the appropriate response to non-traditional consensual vices.

[Jon]

Anybody who voted "no" voted against liberty, and should probably look that word up in a dictionary. Self righteous ideologues who think their way is the only way.

I'm eagerly waiting for the results. Cali is just a short drive from me-- Amsterdam isn't :)

[Paige]

Vote Yes! Think about it people? Our country was founded of off tobacco. Now we have a chance to repeat history starting with California, just this time around it will be Marijuana. Cali' needs those taxes.
Please vote people!!
I can't be there to vote, but if I was, I would so vote yes!

[Dylan]

im in connecticut and im watchin legalize it and and i think u can guess where im goin to college :)

[kff]

Come on California. Colorado might beat you to it if it isn't voted in this time. They've already launched a campaign legalize2012.com

The worlds counting on you.
-Greece

[Casey Casseday]

I seriously can't believe the negative press on Prop 19 coming from the LA Times. This ballot initiative would created 10's of thousands of jobs in our great city alone. Newspapers could start making their rags out of hemp again, this is not over... don't believe the hype.

[Vote Yes on Prop 19, Nov. 2nd]

Pass it Today.

Why wait another 2 years or 4 years it's going to happen eventually anyway so might as well do it NOW.

If you haven't voted yet, get your ass out and go to your nearest booth, try and get as many people you know --that would vote yes-- to do the same.

All of us vote get out and vote "YES" to pass it.

P.s. go to the www.yeson19.com website to find the nearest booth.

[jmactacular]

I voted YES on Prop 19 today!

[Somebody]

I voted "yes" and I didn't answer no poll...

There's hope ;)

[Kelly Connors]

My sister works for the guy who wrote the book on this, Medical Marijuana, the story of Dennis Peron, the S.F. Cannabis Buyers Club and the Ensuing Road to Decriminalization. At first, I thought this initiative was brought up by a bunch of hippies. But after reading Malott's, Medical Marijuana book I realized that these are intelligent people wanting this to pass and not a bunch of potheads. In Malott's book he clearly pointed out the pros and cons of this, and I hate to say it, but legalizing marijuana would be the greatest boost to the economy we could ask for. To the tune of billions of dollars that usually goes into the pockets of the drug cartels. People are going to obtain and smoke, whether or not its legal, and face it anyone pretty much can obtain a drs. recommendation. So, why not just allow it? collect the tax money and put it to good use, like schools, and other benefits that are going to make a difference in people's lives. I personally am not a marijuana user, but I really believe it harms no one and has long been wrongfully sterotyped and could give the economy an incrediable boost.

[NoMoreLies]

I voted yes on 19.