Sac Bee, SF Chron Join the Golden State's Shower of Anti-Prop. 19 Editorials
Eight days ago I rounded up the first five of what will be dozens of California daily newspapers to come out against Proposition 19, the country's first real marijuana-legalization ballot initiative with any chance at passing. A few more ostensibly left-leaning editorial boards have weighed in since then. My reader's guide:
Newspaper:
Sacramento Bee
Sophomoric pot joke: "It is so poorly drafted, in
fact, that it almost makes you wonder: What were they
smoking?"
We-don't-like-the-Drug-War-either-but:
"California ought to have a serious debate on whether to legalize
marijuana for personal use. If lawmakers won't confront the issue,
it might even be time for a ballot initiative to change the law.
Proposition 19 is not the right one."
Legal confusion is worse than criminalizing non-violent
personal activity: "A mishmash of rules would inevitably
result, only multiplying the mess created by medical marijuana
dispensaries that have mushroomed across California. The laws
governing marijuana should be uniform across the state, as they are
for alcohol."
WTF: "The measure has no definition of what would
constitute driving under the influence of marijuana"
Bonus random statism: "[I]t would put state law in
direct conflict with federal law. The Obama administration, which
has taken a hands-off attitude on medicinal marijuana, says
legalization is 'a non-starter.' Gil Kerlikowske, the national drug
czar, told California police chiefs in March that 'marijuana use is
harmful,' that legalization would increase abuse and that its
social costs would outweigh any possible tax revenue.
Newspaper:
Ventura County Star
Sophomoric pot joke: Adjectives include "sketchy"
and "crackpot."
We-don't-like-the-Drug-War-either-but:
"There could be actual benefits from taxing and regulating the sale
of cannabis. Supporters of Proposition 19 may want to try again
later with a fully developed plan. In the meantime, voters should
nix Proposition 19. Backers of the measure say it would generate
billions of dollars in tax revenue for state and local governments,
but that prediction is questionable for at least a couple of
reasons."
Legal confusion is worse than criminalizing non-violent
personal activity: "The ballot measure would result in a
patchwork of city-by-city, county-by-county regulations on sales,
transportation, cultivation and consumption — with different tax
rates and rules, making enforcement a nightmare."
Bonus random statism: "[I]t neglects to address
appropriate state taxes and how those revenues would be used"
Newspaper:
San Francisco Chronicle
Sophomoric pot joke: n/a
We-don't-like-the-Drug-War-either-but:
"We agree with the architects of Prop. 19 that the 'war on drugs' -
especially as it applies to marijuana - has been an abject failure.
Laws against personal possession are widely ignored, they are
enforced unevenly and they divert law enforcement and the courts
from more pressing priorities. The result is a flourishing
underground economy that allows marijuana to escape taxation and
regulation while bestowing profits on criminal enterprises. If this
were simply a referendum on the status quo, and the ability of a
21-or-older Californian to possess an ounce or less for personal
use, it might be an easy 'yes' vote. It is not. It is a law that
goes too far in endowing rights for the cultivation, possession and
use of marijuana."
Legal confusion is worse than criminalizing non-violent
personal activity: "Prop. 19 allows the 58 counties and
hundreds of cities to come up with their own taxation and
regulatory schemes. In this critical element of legalization, Prop.
19 is more akin to the chaotic approach taken with medical
marijuana than to the heavily taxed-and-regulated treatment of
alcohol."
WTF: "Pre-employment testing would be banned." (Go
ahead and read
the proposition in full–nothing in there at all, as far as I
can reckon.)
Bonus random statism: "The measure establishes no
state controls over distribution and product standards"
The Chronicle's vote-no editorial is especially sweet given that the paper's much-hated columnist Debra Saunders, derided by many locals for her right-of-San-Francisco views, just came out with a pretty good column explaining why she's voting yes.
So have any California newspapers editorialized in favor of Prop. 19? So far I have found exactly one, and only because it was Tweeted to my attention: The Barstow Desert Dispatch, circulation not so much. Words of wisdom there: "Proposition 19 contributes to an effort to end a failed war that has consumed thousands of lives -- and entire lifetimes....It is time to end the fantasy that the government has the power or capability to end the private use of mind-altering substances. If it has not happened after 40 years it will never, ever happen."
I'll reiterate and update my previous pitch: If Dianne Feinstein, Meg Whitman, Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer, Dan Lungren, Steve Cooley, Lee Baca, 49 California congresspeople, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Dean Singleton's MediaNews empire are against it, the vote-yes commercials write themselves.