Sacramento Bee, 26 Sep 2010 – California voters are leaning toward making the Golden State the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana for recreational use. In a new Field Poll of likely voters for the Nov. 2 election, the Proposition 19 marijuana initiative leads by a 49 percent to 42 percent margin.

Times-Standard, 25 Sep 2010 – Small interest generated in medical marijuana selection committee About two dozen people want to open one of the few medical marijuana facilities allowed in Eureka, but such interest has not been generated for a seat on the selection committee.

Sacramento Bee, 25 Sep 2010 – The state Board of Equalization, which last year famously declared that legalizing marijuana could generate $1.4 billion in new tax revenues for California state coffers, has an updated analysis out for Proposition 19, the November ballot measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use. This time, the BOE says it is clueless on what legal weed can bring in.

The Desert Dispatch, 24 Sep 2010 – Regarding the Desert Dispatch’s thoughtful Sept. 16 editorial ("Prop. 19 a chance to help end failed drug war"), the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,408 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. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition.

The Union, 25 Sep 2010 – Keith Royal used his starfish analogy to show how the drug war, even though it’s a losing venture, is somehow making a positive difference. He then used the word illegal six times in one sentence to show us his disgust for growers of marijuana. However, Royal has missed the most important point: Marijuana and alcohol are simply drugs and, if anything, alcohol is the more dangerous of the two. It is the drug laws which separate them.

Ventura County Star, 25 Sep 2010 – Legalizing and taxing marijuana will not only fail to solve California’s budget mess as its supporters would suggest, it will burden our state with additional problems, added costs and unintended consequences. There is no evidence that legalizing and taxing a dangerous drug will make our communities safer. In fact, law-enforcement professionals in California believe the opposite will occur.

Pasadena Weekly, 24 Sep 2010 – Victor Cass’ central argument for keeping marijuana illegal is patently false ("The enemy within," Sept. 9, 2010). Officer Cass claims that drug prohibition, particularly the marijuana ban, protects children. However, the fact is that Cass’ pot war makes kids more vulnerable to marijuana use and use of other genuinely dangerous drugs. Officer Cass tries to ignore the utter failure of law enforcement to prevent marijuana use among high school students while claiming that a policy started on the basis of outrageous lies serves a valid moral purpose. The idea that America’s drug war protects anyone is utterly absurd.

West Coast Leaf, 23 Sep 2010 – 2010 Election Commentary This is the home stretch of the Prop.19 campaign. If California is going to make an historic decision to legalize marijuana for adults, every West Coast Leaf reader needs to help inform people, to vote, and to get others to vote Yes on 19 on Nov 2.

Tahoe Daily Tribune, 24 Sep 2010 – Here’s a fact that even drug policy reform advocates can acknowledge: California’s 2010 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana does, indeed, pose a real threat, as conservative culture warriors insist. But not to public health, as those conservatives claim. According to most physicians, pot is less toxic – and has more medicinal applications – than a legal and more pervasive drug like alcohol. Whereas alcohol causes hundreds of annual overdose deaths, contributes to untold numbers of illnesses and is a major factor in violent crime, marijuana has never resulted in a fatal overdose and has not been systemically linked to major illness or violent crime.

AlterNet, 25 Sep 2010 – "As Parents, We Know That Education Is Often More Effective Than Punishment, and in Some Cases Punishment Is Not Effective at All." My son just started kindergarten. So naturally, I have been thinking a lot about the type of world and community in which I want him and our seven-year-old daughter to live. I am involved in a project to improve school lunches in our district to reinforce the nutrition lessons we teach in our home. I am a founding board member of a community group trying to improve our city’s parks.