Pubdate: Wed, 08 Oct 2014
Source: East Bay Express (CA)
Column: Legalization Nation
Copyright: 2014 East Bay Express
Contact: http://posting.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/SubmitLetter/Page
Website: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1131
Author: David Downs

PRO-WEED VOTERS SHOULD NOT IGNORE THE ELECTION

Numerous ballot measures and candidates will shape the future of 
cannabis in the state.

The deadline to register to vote in the November 4 election is 
October 20, and cannabis activists are warning that progressives and 
young voters should not ignore the so-called "off-year" election. 
Voters in 2014 will, in effect, be deciding if they will continue to 
be denied access to medical marijuana and whether they will be 
getting recreational weed stores in 2016, said Ellen Komp, deputy 
director of California NORML. Candidates elected this November will 
be in charge when California likely legalizes pot in 2016.

As a result, each progressive, pro-cannabis vote is essential, Komp 
said. Voters who support access to cannabis can swing narrow races 
for city council, county supervisor, and county sheriff. Now is not 
the time to tune out.

Komp helped assemble a California NORML voter guide for the state, 
and said progressives have the potential to score big wins this 
off-year, thereby laying the groundwork for legalization in 2016 - if 
they vote, that is.

Props 46 and 47

Activists are urging a "yes" vote on Prop 47, which would reduce the 
penalty for possession of cannabis extracts, commonly called hash, 
from a felony to a misdemeanor. Prop 47 is sponsored by San Francisco 
District Attorney George Gascon and backed by state Senator Mark 
Leno, and its passage would signal that the state is fed up with mass 
incarceration. "Midterm elections are a forecast of things to come," 
said Dale Jones, who is working on legalization in 2016 as executive 
director of ReformCA.com.

Reformers also urge voters to vote "no" on Prop 46, which would 
mandate random drug-testing of all doctors in California. "It's 
chemical McCarthyism," Komp said.

California Attorney General

Incumbent Democrat Kamala Harris likely will coast to victory over 
Republican challenger Ron Gold. But it's pro-lifer Gold who endorses 
full legalization, while Harris has stood silent as federal agents 
terrorized thousands of medical marijuana patients during the 
three-year-old federal-state crackdown.

Controller

Pot law reformers are pushing hard for the election of Democratic 
candidate Betty Yee for state controller. Yee bested her primary 
opponent John Perez by just a few hundred votes. Now, the state Board 
of Equalization member is facing off against a "particularly 
terrible" anti-marijuana Republican, Ashley Swearengin, Komp noted. 
Swearengin is the mayor of Fresno, an area of the state that has 
enacted medical pot dispensary and cultivation bans. Out-of-state 
conservatives are propping up Swearengin in the hopes of gaining a 
toehold in the capitol, Komp said.

Seventh Congressional District

Rancho Cordova and Roseville patients and their allies have the 
chance to return incumbent freshman Democrat Ami Bera to Congress. 
Bera faces a serious challenge from Republican Doug Ose, who 
encouraged federal raids on patients and has attacked medical 
cannabis as a "sham."

Local Initiatives and Races

Last year, the state Supreme Court granted cities and counties 
sweeping power to completely roll back Proposition 215. With 
statewide regulations stalled, local politicians are shaping the face 
of medical marijuana in California and will control adult-use access 
after 2016. And at least twelve local initiatives on the November 
ballot across the state will define how folks can grow medical 
cannabis and where they can get it.

In the battleground of San Diego County, voters in the cities of 
Encinitas and La Mesa will cast ballots on Measure F and Measure J, 
respectively. The measures will lift bans on dispensaries, install 
regulations, and tax medical cannabis at 2.5 percent. That would be a 
major victory for patients in a region in which there isn't a single 
licensed dispensary and cannabis users are under siege, said Terrie 
Best of San Diego Americans for Safe Access.

In Santa Ana, reformers are backing Measure CC to regulate 
dispensaries, and are urging voters to vote "no" on the city-backed 
Measure BB, which would prohibit patients ages 18 to 21 from 
accessing medical cannabis and would ban pot clubs from almost the entire city.

In Santa Cruz, county and city officials hope to pass Measures K and 
L to tax medi-weed at 10 percent in the county and 7 percent in the 
city of Santa Cruz. The robust MMJ community has not filed arguments 
for or against Measures K and L.

Voters in the rural Northern California pot-growing counties of 
Butte, Lake, Nevada, and Shasta are all facing decisions over 
patients' rights to cultivate this year. Reformers are urging "yes" 
on B and "no" on A in Butte County, "yes" on O in Lake County, "yes" 
on S in Nevada County, and "no" on A in Shasta County.

In San Leandro, pro-cannabis candidate Victor Aguilar is seeking a 
spot on the city council. And San Leandro mayoral candidate Pauline 
Cutter is also courting the patient vote.

Don't know where your local candidates stand on patient's rights and 
smart drug policy? Ask them and share their answer, said Best.

"If you're not voting, you're part of the problem at this point," she added.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom