Pubdate: Fri, 9 Oct 2009
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2009 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321
Author: Deepa Bharath, The Orange County Register
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+215

ACTIVISTS HOPE TO GET POT LEGALIZED IN 2010

Proponents Say Support for Legalization Is at an All-Time High. 
Opponents Say It Will Only Strengthen Drug Cartels and Increase Crime.

Even as the battle rages over medical marijuana in Orange County, 
activists and advocates in California are busy gathering signatures 
to get as many as three different pot-legalization initiatives on the 
2010 ballot.

If one of these initiatives passes, California would become the first 
state to legalize marijuana and impose a tax on it, a move proponents 
say could help get the state out of an unprecedented budget crisis.

So far, there are three known initiatives that propose legalizing 
marijuana. One is the California Cannabis Hemp and Health Initiative, 
which would make use of all cannabis hemp legal for industrial, 
nutritional, medicinal, religious and recreational purposes.

The other is the California Cannabis Initiative, which would make 
marijuana legal for medicinal and recreational purposes.

And yet another initiative, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis 
Act, would allow adults 21 and older in California to possess up to 
one ounce of cannabis and give local governments the ability to tax 
and regulate the sale of cannabis to adults 21 and older - just like alcohol.

Proponents of these initiatives hope that at least one will get on 
the 2010 ballot. They say the time is ripe for change as Sacramento 
battles budgetary woes and an increasing number of Californians and 
Americans are showing support to legalize pot. Supporters say sales 
tax from marijuana would rake in at least $1 billion in revenue for the state.

A Zogby Poll earlier this year found that 52 percent of Americans 
support legalizing marijuana. The same poll found that six out of 10 
people in California favored pot legalization.

Support to legalize marijuana has been finding steady support among 
Americans over the years. A USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll in August 2001 
found 34 percent favored legalizing marijuana use. That was the most 
support for legalization since pollsters began asking the question in 
1969. According to the USA Today report, the support for legalization 
had been constant at about 25 percent for 20 years before the USA 
Today poll recorded an increase to 31 percent in August 2000 and 34 
percent in August 2001.

Joseph Rogoway, a San Francisco criminal defense lawyer who formerly 
practiced in Orange County, is one of the key proponents of the 
California Cannabis Initiative. He contends the people of California 
are ready to vote on this controversial matter, given the snowballing 
support over the years.

"I can tell simply from the overwhelmingly positive support we've 
been getting not only from San Francisco, but across the state," he 
said. "Recent polling shows that the people of this state support 
legalization of marijuana."

Rogoway also cites a State Board of Equalization report, which 
estimates that taxing marijuana sales in California could rake in $1 
billion a year in sales tax revenue.

Along with fellow defense attorneys James Clark and Omar Figueroa, 
Rogoway believes that making pot legal is the solution to preventing 
crimes involving the drug.

"Our initiative is the best way to keep marijuana away from children 
because you treat it like alcohol," he said. "You regulate the 
distribution and sale of marijuana. Right now this market is 
unregulated and completely ruled by the drug cartels."

Also, as a defense attorney, Rogoway said he wants to stop defending 
those accused of possessing marijuana.

"It's a waste of precious resources," he said. "This initiative, if 
passed, is going to save the state millions in criminal justice expenditure."

But a majority of law enforcement officials have a different 
viewpoint. Garden Grove police Chief Joseph Polisar says that 
legalizing marijuana would become a problem for local law enforcement 
members, who would be caught between state law and a federal law that 
says it's illegal. Polisar strongly recommended to the Garden Grove 
City Council that they pass an ordinance banning all medical 
marijuana clinics, saying they are a breeding ground for crime.

Under federal law, marijuana is illegal, period. The U.S. Supreme 
Court has also ruled that federal law enforcement agents have the 
right to crack down even on marijuana users and distributors who are 
in compliance with California's medical marijuana law. Law 
enforcement officials such as Polisar fear that if marijuana is 
legalized in California, it could set the stage for a groundbreaking 
clash with the federal government over U.S. drug policy.

Polisar says legalizing marijuana is going to make his job of 
interpreting the law harder. And it won't solve anything, he says.

"It's the same as if you try to legalize prostitution," he said. 
"Even if it's made legal, there will still be a stigma attached to 
it. People are still going to seek out drug dealers in street corners 
instead of going to a pharmacy and purchasing marijuana with their 
credit cards."

Besides, marijuana is a "gateway drug," Polisar says.

"Activists are merely using the budgetary crisis as an excuse to 
legally use narcotics," he said.

Federal officials have consistently tightened marijuana regulations 
over the years. That did not change until several states, with 
California leading the way in 1996, passed initiatives legalizing the 
use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The use of marijuana was regulated in every state through The Uniform 
State Narcotic Act in the mid 1930s. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 
made possession or transfer of cannabis illegal throughout the United 
States under federal law, excluding medical and industrial uses, in 
which an expensive excise tax was mandated.

The Narcotics Control Act of 1956 made first-time cannabis possession 
an offense with a minimum of two to 10 years imprisonment and fines 
of up to $20,000. However, the U.S. Congress repealed mandatory 
penalties for marijuana-related offenses in 1970.

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 regulated the prescribing and 
dispensing of psychoactive drugs including stimulants, depressants 
and hallucinogens. This act lists five categories of restricted 
drugs. This law classified cannabis as having a high potential for 
abuse, no medical use and not safe to use under medical supervision.

On Nov. 5, 1996, California residents passed Proposition 215, also 
known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which legalized the 
medical use of marijuana in the state.

Despite Prop. 215, the law is still murky. Individual cities still 
have the power to decide whether they want these dispensaries in 
their communities. Orange County cities such as Garden Grove have 
imposed bans on medical marijuana dispensaries. Some others such as 
Laguna Woods have allowed dispensaries to open and operate in their 
cities. The Lake Forest City Council recently initiated action to 
shut down 14 dispensaries in the interest of public safety.

Still, many Southern California activists believe that the solution 
lies in legalizing not just marijuana, but the entire cannabis plant, 
which has a wide variety of uses. Industrial hemp, which comes from 
the cannabis plant, is used to make a wide range of products, from 
diapers to handbags.

Buddy Duzy, a Simi Valley resident who is raising money for the 
California Cannabis Hemp and Health Initiative, says their proposal 
will make use of all cannabis hemp legal for industrial, nutritional, 
medicinal, religious and recreational purposes.

"I think the timing is good for this type of an initiative because 
Californians now understand the true value of the plant," he said. 
"We believe the time is ripe to bring this issue to voters."

.While other initiatives would limit the cultivation and use of 
cannabis, this initiative would make the cannabis plant completely 
legal and "a non-issue," Duzy said.

"It'll be no different than any other crop like corn or wheat," he said.

La Habra resident and activist Jason Andrews says he is ready to 
become the local hemp farmer in a heartbeat. Andrews cultivates 
marijuana in his home as part of a medical marijuana cooperative.

"As a patient, I felt that the prices being charged at medical 
marijuana clinics were atrocious," he said. "So I started growing my 
own and it's legal in California, thanks to Proposition 215."

Andrews says he started using and cultivating marijuana for medical 
purposes after he was injured in a car accident five years ago.

"I got strung out on prescription pills," he said. "With marijuana, 
there are no side effects, just relief."

However, marijuana cooperatives are treated as nonprofits and 
therefore exempt from tax, Andrews says.

"That's ridiculous," he says. "Marijuana should be taxed and that 
could provide valuable revenue for the state."

Still, legislators balk at the idea of making what's listed as a 
"narcotic" on the federal schedule of drugs legal just so it can be 
taxed, although marijuana advocates maintain that taxing pot can 
solve the state's budgetary problems.

Assemblyman Van Tran said he will not support legalizing marijuana.

"First, I'm against taxing products and services as a means to raise 
revenue," he said. "Secondly, I'm against legalizing marijuana 
because I believe it's a gateway drug and will lead to serious public 
safety issues at the local level."

The best way to solve the budget crisis is by streamlining government 
and reducing waste, not raising taxes, Tran said.

"We need a fundamental change in California," he said. "We definitely 
do not need to legalize marijuana to solve our money problems." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake