Pubdate: Wed, 08 Oct 2014
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Page: A1
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Andrea Noble
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

MARIJUANA OPPONENTS WANT DEBATE BEFORE VOTE

Say Cannabis Campaign Is Wrong

"The question is, 'Do we want to see this repeating?' Alcohol and
tobacco have a higher targeting towards the African-American community
and minority communities. In Colorado, they're not supposed to be
targeting kids, but why are they making gummy bears and Pop Tart
marijuana products?" - Will Jones, Two. Is. Enough. D.C.
anti-marijuana legalization advocacy group

With little money, a late start and an uphill battle in polls,
opponents of the initiative to legalize marijuana in the District are
hoping a public debate will give their cause the airtime they can't
afford to buy.

The Two. Is. Enough. D.C. (TIE DC) advocacy group, which formed last
month, has until Nov. 4 to persuade the majority of city voters to
reject a ballot initiative that would make it legal to grow, use and
possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana in the nation's capital.

Founder Will Jones said his group, which garners its name from the
notion that two legal drugs - tobacco and alcohol - are enough in
society, is contacting local television and radio stations about
hosting a debate in coming weeks between himself and Adam Eidinger of
the DC Cannabis Campaign.

Mr. Jones, 24, said a debate would allow him to challenge what he
called misleading information that the DC Cannabis Campaign has used
to further its cause and to clarify the line between legalization and
a D.C. law enacted this summer that decriminalizes possession of small
amounts of the drug.

A poll by The Washington Post this year found that 63 percent of D.C.
residents approve of marijuana legalization. With the numbers in his
favor, Mr. Eidinger said, it isn't in his cause's best interest to
give his opponents free press, but he is trying to strike a deal under
which TIE DC would disclose its financial backers ahead of a debate.

Both groups are due to file campaign finance reports Oct. 27, but
neither would disclose fundraising numbers ahead of the deadline.

"The only reason I've been hesitant to disclose our donors is it's not
as much as I'd like," Mr. Jones said. "Unfortunately, today it's money
that talks."

The filing would be the first report for TIE DC, which formed after
the last campaign finance deadline in September. The group - launched
with the support of a handful of Advisory Neighborhood Commission
members, church leaders and other civic advocates - cites problems
caused by alcohol and cigarette use, such as disease and addiction, as
concerns they have about the legalization of a third recreational drug.

The September filing for the DC Cannabis Campaign showed that the
group had raised more than $200,000 overall - including $85,050 in
donations from Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, a California company that
has supported marijuana legalization efforts across the country, and
$20,000 from Drug Policy Action.

Recreational pot use is legal in Washington state and Colorado, and
residents in Alaska and Oregon are expected to vote on legalization
initiatives this year. During a debate Monday, Colorado Gov. John
Hickenlooper said state voters were "reckless" for legalizing
recreational marijuana, citing a lack of information about the health
effects of retail pot.

If legalization is approved Nov. 4, it would be the second time this
year that the District has loosened its drug laws. The D.C. Council
passed decriminalization laws this summer to replace criminal
penalties for possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana with a $25
civil fine. On Tuesday, the council gave initial approval to a bill
that would allow nonviolent marijuana offenders to have their criminal
records sealed.

Meanwhile, legalization would enable D.C. residents to grow up to six
marijuana plants in their homes and possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana.

The ballot initiative would not legalize the sale of marijuana, but
city lawmakers likely would devise regulations to allow sales
transactions and pot shops in the wake of the initiative's approval.
Two mayoral candidates have pledged to do so, leading opponents of
legalization to question how the drug would be marketed in the city.

Mr. Jones fears a legalized marijuana industry would focus advertising
on black and minority communities and that companies would target
marijuana products to children.

"The question is, 'Do we want to see this repeating?' Alcohol and
tobacco have a higher targeting towards the African-American community
and minority communities," he said. "In Colorado, they're not supposed
to be targeting kids, but why are they making gummy bears and Pop Tart
marijuana products?"

Mr. Eidinger said those concerned with marijuana marketing should
voice their concerns to the D.C. Council, which would have the
opportunity to regulate those matters, not oppose the ballot measure
outright.

"This initiative doesn't result in businesses opening up. We are not
talking about marketing at all," Mr. Eidinger said. "The council
should be held accountable for that."

The D.C. Council was responsible for devising a regulatory scheme for
the city's medical marijuana program after it was approved through a
ballot initiative.

Drug and alcohol use are already prevalent among teenagers in the
District. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's 2013 High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 32.2 percent
of D.C. high school students said they use marijuana and 31.4 percent
said they use alcohol.

Mr. Eidinger agrees with some of his opponents' concerns, such as
marijuana marketing to children. But he said other pronouncements,
including classifying marijuana as a gateway drug, are based on ideas
"disproved for more than decade."

"They are making emotional arguments, but they are not arguments based
in science and the facts," Mr. Eidinger said. "Their argument is that
you keep two more dangerous substances legal while keeping a
less-dangerous substance illegal."

D.C. lawmakers this summer said it was necessary to decriminalize
marijuana to address racial disparities among those arrested for
marijuana possession. Mr. Jones is concerned that the same message has
continued to be used unchecked for legalization support even after
marijuana possession was made a noncriminal offense.

Young black men, those most often arrested for marijuana possession,
could face discrimination in other ways if the drug is legalized, Mr.
Jones said.

"Is legal marijuana going to help our youth?" he said. "Even if it's
legal, a lot of employers are not going to let people on the job
having recently used marijuana."

Unless better drug testing technology is developed to pin down
specific time frames for marijuana use, there is no simple solution,
Mr. Eidinger said.

"I think it's going to take years of marijuana being legal to find the
best approach," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard