Wall Street Journal, 07 Oct 2010 – When San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum takes the mound in his playoff debut on Thursday, many fans will be celebrating…his 2009 citation for marijuana possession. Since then, T-shirts emblazoned with some variation of "Let Tim Smoke" are big sellers online and outside AT&T Park. Street vendor Jerry Lami says the shirts are only popular when Tim is winning. "When he was 0-5 in August, people said he better stick to playing baseball," he says. Conor Dougherty – — MAP posted-by: Jo-D

Merced Sun-Star, 06 Oct 2010 – Editor: Re: "Want legal pot? Prop. 19 isn’t the way" editorial in Monday’s Sun-Star. Perhaps Proposition 19 is not perfectly written. Almost no propositions are. Should marijuana remain completely unregulated, untaxed and controlled by criminals because Proposition 19 is not perfect? No.

San Diego Union Tribune, 05 Oct 2010 – Tired scare tactics are nothing new in the war on drugs, but District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis’ gross misrepresentation of the scope of Proposition 19 hits a new low ("The promise is not the reality," Dialog, Oct. 3). To be clear, under the new law it will remain illegal to drive while impaired and it will remain illegal to smoke in public just as it is illegal to drive drunk and drink in public. Persons attempting to run commercial growing operations in residential areas will be subject to the same regulations as any other business including at-home "moonshiners." Drug dealers will be replaced by respectable, licensed businesses having an incentive to check IDs and avoid associating with cartels, as is presently the case with liquor stores. The only loser here is our district attorney, who will no longer be able to kick down doors, seize assets and terrorize otherwise-law abiding San Diegans.

Porterville Recorder, 05 Oct 2010 – Editor, Let’s not for a moment forget cultivating cannabis (marijuana) is, "like hanging 100 dollar bills in your front yard" (Council Waits for Prop. 19, Sept. 22), because it is unfairly prohibited. Prohibiting the extremely popular and relatively safe, God-given plant is the only reason for the artificial black market pricing realities, which cause unnecessary risk and danger. When was the last time a 17-year-old died from a gunshot wound received while reportedly stealing from an alcohol producer such as grapes from a winery?

Wall Street Journal, 06 Oct 2010 – Even if Californians vote next month to legalize marijuana, possession of the drug will still be a criminal offense under federal law, which trumps state law almost every time under the U.S. Constitution. But crackdowns on users and small-scale growers could decrease if Californians pass Proposition 19, the ballot measure proposing to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes.

Santa Monica Daily Press, 06 Oct 2010 – If you support keeping marijuana illegal you are supporting terrorism. In 1919, the United States Constitution was amended to outlaw alcohol. The unintended consequence was the rise to power of organized crime. Today we face the same threat from Mexican narco-terrorists that control the trafficking of marijuana in the United States. According to a 2008 Justice Department threat assessment, "Mexican drug trafficking organizations represent the greatest organized crime threat to the United States." But a solution is at hand. The Tax Cannabis 2010 organization has put an initiative on the ballot for this November that will legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana in California. Trying to charge Al Capone for alcohol production, drug smuggling and distribution proved impossible, and in the end they sent him to jail on tax evasion. Like the drug dealers of today, Al Capone bribed elected officials, colluded with bankers and everyone else in the food chain. No matter how much money we spent to fight organized crime, the dealers prevailed and grew stronger. Our local police do not have a chance when the full military power of the United States is in Afghanistan today, and they are not able to stop the heroin production from growing to 93 percent of the world’s crops. Those drugs pay for the terrorists to attack us.

Huffington Post, 06 Oct 2010 – California will vote in a few weeks on Proposition 19, which would (if it passes) effectively legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state. Chances of it passing seem to be growing, if you’ll excuse the metaphor, like a weed. Right now, the poll numbers for Proposition 19 are better than the numbers for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown or Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer against their respective Republican opponents, for instance. Meaning California could become a "test case" state in challenging federal laws on the matter.

The Modesto Bee, 06 Oct 2010 – In November, California voters will get to decide if they want to regulate, control and tax cannabis. At least that is what the sponsors of Proposition 19 would like you to believe. The law enforcement leaders in Stanislaus County see very serious problems associated with this proposition and urge you to reject it as a patently false and misleading initiative.

The Union, 05 Oct 2010 – The inference that Prop 19 would harm job safety because there is no test for marijuana impairment is not correct. The aerospace industry uses computer programs that are used like a video game that measure a person’s reaction time, attentiveness, coordination and many other things affected by impairment.

The Bakersfield Californian, 04 Oct 2010 – In its recent editorial on Proposition 19 ("No on Prop. 19: Pot initiative’s issues too hazy," Sept. 28), The Californian was worried about the fact the taxation of cannabis wasn’t written into the measure. Then, the editorial went on to say that the taxes would be too high to close the black market. So which is it? Does the proposition not implement taxes or does it implement too many taxes? Anyone who has read the proposition knows that it allows cities and counties to set regulations (including tax rates). Since when is local control a bad thing?