Daily Nexus, 04 Oct 2010 – Last Thursday, Governor Schwarzenegger decriminalized marijuana. Somewhere in the chronic haze of my mind, I might have expected this to happen: The Terminator saves the kid from robots trying to take away his civil liberties — or something like that. He was sent with a mission from the future, you know. After Google Earth becomes SkyNet and takes over operational command of the United States military, people are definitely going to want to smoke weed. Now they can without fear of arrest. Thanks, Arnold! I can say I’ve never been more proud of you in your term as Governor of California. Now on to the other $25 billion in the state budget shortfall… Of course, this act changes little within the letter of the law, with the fine for possessing up to an ounce of cannabis capped at $100, but now as a civil rather than criminal offense, there will be no jury trial for defendants. I suppose you will simply pay the fine if caught, and the state will save big on lawyer fees. By virtue of the fact that people now caught possessing weed for their own enjoyment will no longer receive arrest records, I am glad for this change of rules.

North County Times, 04 Oct 2010 – Drug abuse is painful to the user, the user’s family and to our community. Addiction is not a crime. However, criminal activity often taking place under the influence of drugs and alcohol is a crime. Legalizing drugs of addiction will not prevent crime. SANDAG’s Criminal Justice Division’s Substance Abuse Monitoring (SAM) project shows the number of youth detainees testing positive for marijuana increased between 2007 and 2009, from 40 percent to 51 percent, the highest level in 10 years.

Contra Costa Times, 03 Oct 2010 – RUSS JONES has spent nearly half of his 64 years dealing with drugs. Of his 10 years with the San Jose Police Department, six were in the narcotics division. He was part of a Drug Enforcement Agency task force. He did intelligence work in Central America for the U.S. State Department and research in China and the Soviet Union for the Office of International Criminal Justice.

Sacramento Bee, 03 Oct 2010 – Columnist Marcos Breton proposes that a significant portion of the 3.3 million Californians who use marijuana are addicted to pot ("Pot people are in denial about Prop. 19"; Our Region, Sept. 29). He bases this supposition on the following premise: "Answer this question: If you had to stop smoking marijuana forever, could you? My guess is that many couldn’t quit if they tried." To which I’d reply, "So what?"

The Modesto Bee, 04 Oct 2010 – Police, Prosecutors Find Waters Hard to Navigate One thing is clear about marijuana in California these days — enforcing the laws around it is getting more complicated. It used to be fairly straightforward: Marijuana was illegal; using it, growing it, selling it.

The Desert Sun, 03 Oct 2010 – Legalizing marijuana would be a great start in admitting that the "war on drugs" has been a failure. All of those poisons are readily available at high prices everywhere. The same was true during prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the 1920s.

The Signal, 03 Oct 2010 – It’s 1972 all over again. A call to legalize marijuana in California is back, 38 years after it first appeared on the November ballot. But a lot has changed since 1972. Richard M. Nixon won’t be on the same ballot with Proposition 19 this November. Television these days doesn’t much resemble "The Waltons" and "All in the Family."

Red Bluff Daily News, 04 Oct 2010 – Under current state law, the possession, cultivation, or distribution of marijuana generally is illegal in California. Possession of less than one ounce of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine, while selling marijuana is a felony and may result in a prison sentence. In November 1996, voters approved Proposition 215, which legalized the cultivation and possession of marijuana in California for medical purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005, however, that federal authorities could continue to prosecute California patients and providers engaged in the cultivation and use of marijuana for medical purposes.

San Francisco Examiner, 04 Oct 2010 – Sunset dispensary waiting to open due to legal challenges SAN FRANCISCO – A Sunset district resident and a local church are trying to stop a medical cannabis dispensary from opening in their neighborhood.

Chico Enterprise-Record, 02 Oct 2010 – Is it just me or does anyone else remember when politicians were saying that California had the world’s fifth-largest economy. Now, politicians want marijuana to be a recreational "drug" available to anyone over 18. Oh, and then this legal, recreational drug will be taxed to help state and local governments. Maybe I am just dumb, but somehow I would not want a doctor fixing my broken arm after he had a marijuana break. How about the heart surgeon who has a difficult surgery scheduled and needs a marijuana smoke to calm his nerves. How many teachers do you think would use a "smoke" break during a school break?