Pubdate: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 Source: Brown and White, The (Lehigh U, PA Edu) Copyright: 2010 The Brown and White Contact: http://www.thebrownandwhite.com/home/lettertotheeditor/ Website: http://www.thebrownandwhite.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2715 Author: Johana Bhuiyan Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+19 PRO PROP 19 The results of the midterm elections significantly altered the spectrum of power in the legislative branch from overwhelmingly Democratic to Republican. But it was not only politicians who Americans were asked to vote for, ballots in various states also included several propositions. One was California Proposition 19. Prop 19, an initiative to reform marijuana regulation laws, only needed a simple majority (more than half) to be passed and instated the day after the elections. This would be a giant step for the legalization of marijuana in the country. Unfortunately, the proposition was defeated with the final count at 54 percent of California voters voting 'No', and 46 percent voting 'Yes'. If Prop 19 became law in California, it would allow all people age 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for personal consumption, use marijuana in non-public areas or designated smoking areas and grow marijuana plants within an area of 25 square feet. However, among other things, it would also give local and state governments the right to regulate, tax and authorize the sale, cultivation and possession of marijuana. This law would take the marijuana industry out of the streets and put it into the hands of the government. In doing so, penalties and punishments resulting from marijuana-related activities would decrease exponentially if not completely, violence related to the illegal marijuana industry would decrease, and there would be safer alternatives to using marijuana in terms of consumption, as well as providing a safer environment to do so. Most importantly, though regulated, the use of medical marijuana would be completely legalized. Prop 19 not only reduces the risk of harming yourself and others when participating in marijuana-related activities (for example, it would also illegalize driving under the influence of marijuana), but it also increases accessibility to the benefits of the drugs for those with medical problems. Let us also remember that there are zero recorded deaths directly related to marijuana, a fact that is completely untrue for tobacco and alcohol, two drugs that are considered softcore drugs and safe enough to be governmentally regulated. What may come as a surprise to many is that the counties in California most known for "pot-growing" voted against the legalization of marijuana. The motivation behind this phenomenon is clear; those who grow and sell marijuana are unwilling to share their profits with the federal or state government. Whether the federal or state government should, in fact, tax, and thus profit from the sale and cultivation of a drug they spent years refusing to regulate, is another dimension of controversy surrounding Prop 19. At the risk of advancing a textbook liberal agenda, not to say I support or encourage the consumption of marijuana, I do believe that the regulation of marijuana is logical. Though it does not completely appeal to the growers and sellers of marijuana, it should appeal to the federal government, those who can stand to reap the benefits of medical marijuana, even communities within which there is a prominent use of marijuana, and, lastly, recreational users as well. Prop 19 would eliminate the need for illegal drug dealers by legalizing and regulating the drug trade, enforcing an age limit, as well as other regulatory limitations and decreasing the prominence of unnecessary arrests and charges against those in possession of small amounts of marijuana and/or paraphernalia. It would also facilitate accessibility to alternatives of consuming marijuana (i.e. in baked goods) in substitution for smoking marijuana. The act of smoking, regardless of what substance is being smoked, can lead to cancer. It is this variable that leads people to believe marijuana is in fact a dangerous drug. Despite the fact that Prop 19 did not pass, the high voter turnout on the issue was promising. For many, Prop 19 was a poorly drafted test run that went well. Public sentiment is on their side, and they will be back. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake