Pubdate: Sat, 30 Oct 2010
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Page: AA4
Copyright: 2010 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: John Hoeffel
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Dianne+Feinstein

PROP. 19 CALLED A 'DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT'

Opponents of Proposition 19, arrayed in front of the Glendale Police 
Department, denounced the marijuana legalization measure Friday, 
charging it would lead to more stoned Californians and make schools, 
businesses and roads less safe.

"Proposition 19 is a dangerous experiment based on false arguments 
and fake promises," said U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), 
co-chairwoman of the opposition campaign who headlined the event.

Feinstein, who also opposed the 1996 initiative that allowed 
marijuana to be used for medical reasons, said passing Proposition 19 
would tell California's children there is nothing wrong with smoking marijuana.

"The last thing we need to do is make it easier for drug dealers to 
increase their consumer base by pushing pot on young people," she 
said. "Buying and consuming marijuana, in my view, is already too easy."

The Proposition 19 campaign did not have any official events, but 
Stephen Downing, a former deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police 
Department, and Hanna Leibman Dershowitz, a lawyer who has been 
speaking for mothers who oppose pot prohibition, crashed the news conference.

"This is scare tactics, same old song," Dershowitz said. "Marijuana 
is about as available in California as one could imagine it could 
possibly be, and I don't see that parade of horribles."

Proposition 19 would make it legal under state law for adults 21 and 
older to grow and possess marijuana, and would allow cities and 
counties to approve commercial cultivation and retail sales.

The Drug Policy Alliance, flush with money after a $1-million 
donation from multibillionaire investor George Soros, unveiled a 
final advertising blitz Friday aimed at boosting turnout among young 
voters - who overwhelmingly support legalization - and swaying 
undecided ones. Ads will run on radio and television, in the Los 
Angeles Times and on Google and Facebook.

The opposition campaign has substantially less money to spend, but 
has received a boost from the California Chamber of Commerce. The No 
on 19 campaign and the chamber are both running radio ads throughout the state.

Feinstein was joined by Glendale's mayor, two police chiefs and 
representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Los Angeles 
Area Chamber of Commerce and the Assn. of California School Administrators. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake