The Union, 09 Oct 2010 – As a police officer who tried to enforce California’s failed and costly marijuana laws for almost three decades, I read with interest the debate you published about Proposition 19. I’d like to add my support for legalization and regulation. The author of the no-on-19 piece argued the initiative wouldn’t hurt the violent cartels who control today’s black market. But in reality Prop. 19 provides a means for taking a huge bite out of the lucrative bottom lines of these bloodthirsty thugs who make 65 to 70 percent of their profits from marijuana alone. Remember, we don’t have any wine cartels or gangsters growing grapes in our national parks to undercut today’s legal market for alcohol.

Daily Nexus, 07 Oct 2010 – Dear Editor, If health consequences determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

The Daily Californian, 08 Oct 2010 – In less than a month, Berkeley voters will decide whether to pass two measures that together would represent an unprecedented expansion of the city’s medical marijuana industry, allowing the city to license and tax six cultivation facilities. If passed during the Nov. 2 elections, Measure T would license and tax six 30,000-square-foot growing facilities, allow a fourth dispensary to operate in the city and reconstitute the city’s Medical Cannabis Commission. Measure S would place a 2.5 percent tax on medical cannabis and – if voters pass California state Proposition 19, legalizing marijuana for recreational use in the state – 10 percent on nonmedical cannabis.

North Coast Journal, 07 Oct 2010 – Critics of Prop. 19 Range From Skeptical to Rabid — and Some of Them Come From Inside the Movement In 1911, after years of scandal and high-profile corruption trials, California voters overwhelmingly approved one of the most rigorous ballot initiative laws in the country. The idea was to allow voters to bypass state lawmakers when they were too timid, cowed, or corrupt to act on the voters’ behalf. Almost a century later, the process is still relatively simple and accessible. Any group or individual can write an initiative and submit it with a $200 fee to the state attorney general’s office. After the initiative’s fiscal cost was analyzed, the signature gathering began. If the authors didn’t have access to a large group of well-organized volunteers, signature gatherers could be easily hired at a price. For about $1 million, a professional company would send paid staffers to shopping malls, commercial districts, and public transportation hubs to collect roughly 440,000 signatures of registered voters required to qualify the initiative for the California bal! lot. And if the initiative won 50 percent of the vote on Election Day, it became law.

Times-Standard, 08 Oct 2010 – If you are like me, you are one of thousands of commercial medical marijuana growers in Northern California, and you, like me, are concerned about what Prop. 19, the "tax and control" initiative will do to our economy. You have thrived in a community that supports and even depends on the (variably legal) medical marijuana commerce. If you are like me, when you first heard about the initiative, your first desire was to vote against it. You have exhausted hours discoursing with friends, acquaintances, and probably even strangers about how this will hinder our community and its economy. You, like me, are scared of change and the end of our day in the sun. One thing I’ve noticed, though, when talking about legalization with friends, associates, etc., is that the general consensus seems to be, "Well, I’m just going to wait, play it safe, and see how it all plays out." But with November rolling ever closer, polls are continuously gaining support for Prop. 19, and rumors are buzzing like honeybees. I’m sure you’ve heard the ones about indoor warehouses in Oakland that are supposed to produce 120 pounds per day once their cycles get going. You’ve heard about Phillip-Morris weasels buying up land in the mountains/farm regions of Northern California. The threat of legal loopholes and corporate commercialization will swallow up our small private farms (now considered full-scale, commercial grow-ops), and our way of life will come to an end.

San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 07 Oct 2010 – Dispensaries In Covina, Alhambra Searched Authorities Wednesday served search warrants at 16 locations in four counties – including medical marijuana dispensaries in Covina and Alhambra – and arrested 11 people on suspicion of drug-related charges, authorities said.

The Visalia Times-Delta, 07 Oct 2010 – In December 2009, Tulare County Ordinance Chapter 11 was adopted to create enforceable regulations for those who wish to cultivate medical marijuana. These regulations, when followed, provide a safe environment for both the farmers and those living in the areas neighboring such farms. Thus far, District Attorney Phil Cline has hesitated to enforce this county ordinance and prosecute those who are out of compliance.

Morgan Hill Times, 07 Oct 2010 – Dear Editor, The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use.

North County Times, 08 Oct 2010 – Once again, people will vote on the legalization of marijuana. As most people know, this is about the fourth time in one form or other that this has been on the ballot. … Medical marijuana, in rare cases, if it could really be controlled and not abused, possibly has some merit, but as it is today, this legalization is meaningless. In my 20-plus years of law enforcement, I had a lot of contact with users of illegal substances. People seem able to find another substance to abuse and the result is usually the same: Not only the abuser, but usually someone else is severely affected as a result.

Daily Bruin, 06 Oct 2010 – The act of smoking a marijuana joint is similar to puffing on a cigarette. Both substances have been known and used for hundreds of years, and their potential risks have long been hot topics of debate among lawmakers.