Pubdate: Mon, 11 Oct 2010 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2010 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.signonsandiego.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386 Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area. Author: Matthew T. Hall Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/ Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19) SAN DIEGANS ENGAGED IN DEBATE OVER POT MEASURE Proposition 19 Would Legalize Marijuana Under California Law San Diegans have pivotal roles on both sides of Proposition 19, the battle to legalize marijuana that may prove a turning point in the nation's decades-old war on drugs. Polls suggest California and San Diego voters are closely divided on the Nov. 2 ballot measure, which would allow people at least 21 years old to grow, possess and use limited amounts of marijuana. Backers say the measure would let law enforcement focus more on violent crime, drain money from drug cartels and bring new revenue to local governments by allowing them to regulate and tax marijuana. Opponents say the measure would lead to a confusing patchwork of laws from city to city, encourage more youngsters to light up and make roadways more dangerous and the cartels even more deadly. A City Heights couple, Ben Cisneros, 27, and Rachel Scoma, 25, are regional field directors in charge of San Diego voter outreach for the Yes on 19 campaign. In addition to the larger themes, they believe legalization would be an overall economic benefit to the state. "This can be like the California wine industry," said Cisneros, an occasional pot smoker who is involved in the campaign while deciding where to apply to law school. "It can create a huge amount of jobs." San Diegan John Redman, 51, executive director of the nonprofit Californians for Drug-Free Youth, argues for the No on 19 campaign at forums statewide. "How are kids going to say no when the adults are saying yes?" said Redman, whose daughters are 15 and 19. "We have to understand that drugs are not harmful because they're illegal. They're illegal because they're harmful." The two sides are largely counting on the power of their arguments. Neither campaign has reported much fundraising, and both are vying for voter attention with high-profile, heavily advertised races for governor, U.S. Senate and other ballot initiatives. About three-quarters of the $2.1 million supporters had raised through Sept. 30 came from Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee, and $1.3 million of that total was used for a signature drive to qualify Proposition 19 for the ballot. Opponents had raised only $210,000 through Sept. 30. Late contribution reports filed since then show supporters continue to out-raise opponents, $328,000 to $85,000. A state legislative analysis estimated state and local governments could save tens of millions of dollars a year on the costs of incarcerating and supervising some marijuana offenders. The same analysis also estimated government tax and fee revenues could potentially increase by hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Any financial benefits would depend on how the U.S. government reacts - -- marijuana would still be illegal under federal law -- and how local governments regulate and tax marijuana activities. Proposition 19 would make it legal for individuals to possess of up to an ounce of pot and would allow them to grow it in a space of up to 25 square feet. People would be prohibited from possessing marijuana on school grounds, using it in public, smoking it while minors are present, or providing it to anyone under 21 years old. Most of the political and law enforcement establishment across the state opposes Proposition 19: major-party candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and attorney general; police chiefs and sheriffs associations, including those in San Diego County. Civil libertarians, along with some minority groups and former law enforcement officials, support the measure: the ACLU of Northern California and Southern California; National Black Police Association; former executive assistant San Diego Police Chief Norm Stamper; Alice Huffman of California NAACP; Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. surgeon general. The battle is being waged through mostly conventional means. Scoma, the supporter from City Heights, has 3,000 yard signs and 2,000 fliers to distribute citywide. Redman, the drug prevention expert, has 24 newspaper endorsements on his side. Starting in September, Scoma, a graduate of Washington and Lee University Law School in Virginia who declined to discuss her own drug use, has spent Saturdays with 50 to 70 volunteers going to festivals, grocery stores and other places where potential voters gather. They have compiled a list of supporters they plan to call and encourage to vote on Election Day. Scoma said supporters are old and young, men and women, but mostly Democrats and libertarians. She said she set up a booth at the state Republican convention in San Diego in August and got some winks and smiles but no one signed up to support her effort. Scoma, who will learn whether she passed the California state bar exam next month, said the campaign is connected to her career. "The first thing if I'm going to help more people is to pass better laws to make sure I have the defense I need to help future clients," she said. Redman has worked in drug prevention for a decade. He's also a girls' youth soccer coach who hears stories about how easy it is for teenagers to get drugs. This week, his campaign schedule includes an Asian Business Association of San Diego forum, a Rotary Club meeting in Escondido and a symposium at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles about the international effects of Proposition 19. He explains his involvement by a desire to keep kids safe. He said Proposition 19 would increase marijuana's availability and decrease how dangerous people perceive it to be -- a double whammy for youngsters. "Proposition 19 will increase youth use and that's what saddens me the most," he said. "Proponents of Proposition 19 say if we legalize, regulate it and tax it, we can control it and keep it out of the hands of youth. That's such hogwash." A Sept. 26 Field Poll showed that 49 percent of likely voters surveyed backed the measure while 42 percent did not, a reversal of a July poll that found the initiative trailing by 4 percentage points. In Southern California counties including San Diego but not Los Angeles, supporters outnumbered opponents in September, 45 percent to 44 percent. Eighty-four percent of those surveyed had heard of Proposition 19, which is unusually large for a ballot measure. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake