San Bernardino Sun, 26 Sep 2010 – There are valid arguments to be made for the legalization of marijuana. Some people claim that it’s less harmful or deadly than alcohol or cigarettes. Some say it’s preposterous to have marijuana offenders take up time and room in California courtrooms, jails and prisons when more serious offenders are released early due to lack of space and resources. Some say the decades-long war on drugs has been an unqualified failure, diverting law enforcement resources from more useful pursuits. Some members of our editorial board, in fact, believe that marijuana should be legalized nationwide and closely regulated, controlled for quality and dosage, and heavily taxed – like alcohol and cigarettes – while other board members believe it should be an illegal substance under all circumstances.

Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep 2010 – VOTE NO ON PROP. 19 A Debate on Legalizing Marijuana May Be Needed, but This Initiative Has Too Many Flaws. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States. Seventy years of criminal prohibition, "Just Say No" sloganeering and a federal drug war that now incarcerates 225,000 people a year have not diminished the availability or use of — or apparently the craving for — cannabis. And helping meet the demand is California, the nation’s top grower. Marijuana production here results in an estimated $14 billion in sales, and its cultivation and distribution are now tightly woven into the state’s economy. It is grown in homes, in backyards and even in national parks, including Yosemite.

The Chico News & Review, 23 Sep 2010 – The Saga Continues As Planning Commission Votes on Marijuana Ordinance Chico’s Planning Commission has made its recommendations on the crafting of a municipal code regulating the cultivation, processing and distribution of medical marijuana, placing the decision back in the hands of the City Council.

San Diego City Beat, 22 Sep 2010 – What Can Be Done to Stop This Awful Condition? This week, we’d like to talk about a serious condition known as "paranoia-induced overkill" (PIO). That’s when, for example, a politician might exploit public fears to score political points with the electorate, like, say, when Jessica’s Law was passed, including an overkill provision: Convicted sex offenders can’t live with 2,000 feet of schools and parks. That restricted where people could live so severely that it’s led to widespread homelessness among sex offenders–homelessness creates instability, which contributes to bad behavior, which endangers the public.

West Coast Leaf, 23 Sep 2010 – If you smoke cannabis or know someone who does and you live in California, this may be the vote you most remember in your life. It is pivotal to the future legal and social status of cannabis consumers everywhere — a mark of where we stand in society, communities, workplaces, and our families. Will we continue to be subject to arrest, incarceration, asset forfeiture, discriminatory drug testing, loss of jobs, benefits and custody rights, the dangers of the illicit market, and the stigma that marijuana prohibition perpetuates? Is this the next positive step towards exercising our rights as equal partners in society with a growing acceptance and tolerance that common sense cannabis policy holds in store? This is our historic opportunity to shift a paradigm that has been operating since at least 1937, when the US outlawed marijuana. Prohibition is a scourge wreaking havoc on our lives, devastating our Constitution, and wasting billions of dollars and resources criminalizing a plant and good people who use it. It clogs our courts and our prisons. It has crippled our hemp industries and devastated family farms and forests alike.

DrugSense

Morgan Hill Times, 21 Sep 2010 – The reasons to support the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana far outnumber the reasons not to. First, the cost of enforcing the laws are exorbitant. According to a CNBC 2010 study, legalizing marijuana would save $13,7 billion in government expenditures on enforcement. And that does not include the costs on our overburdened courts, jails and prisons. The study also estimates the annual cost to incarcerate the 27,900 people imprisoned for marijuana offenses in 2001 at $600 million. This does not include probation and parole costs related to marijuana prohibition convictions.

The Visalia Times-Delta, 20 Sep 2010 – Visalia City Council members earlier tonight voted, 5-0, to extend for a year a moratorium on medical-marijuana dispensaries in the city. The moratorium also prohibits "collective or cooperative cultivation and distribution enterprises." The extension starts Oct. 19 and ends Oct. 18, 2011. Visalia officials have stopped short of completely shutting down medical-marijuana consumption or private "grows," but has outlawed dispensaries themselves within the city limits of Visalia.