4 ms·

I was sort-of expecting this. I am very disappointed, even though I don't smoke pot. To me, it was a question of personal freedoms. Here are some reasons why P

by ajays 16y ago

I was sort-of expecting this. I am very disappointed, even though I don't smoke pot. To me, it was a question of personal freedoms. Here are some reasons why Prop 19 didn't pass, as far as I can see: 1. Fear of the unknown. People are fairly comfortable with the situation right now: small-time tokers don't usually get busted; anyone who wants to light up can get it from a neighborhood 'pharmacy' with a doctor's letter (or via a friend with a doctor's letter). So why change a good thing? 2. Fear of the feds. Eric Holder deliberately came and put the fear of federal retaliation into people. Why did he have to come down and take sides in this _state_ proposition? 3. Medical Marijuana folks. I was surprised to see that quite a few medical cannabis dispensaries were strongly opposing Prop 19. I guess they're doing a roaring business now; if Prop 19 passed, their business would have suffered badly as the recreational smokers no longer needed them. Shame on them for putting profits before principles. 4. More fear, this time about the wording of Prop 19. A lot of people came out and claimed that Prop 19 was flawed, it would make matters worse, etc. Just this evening one anti-19 guy was on TV, saying "Prop 19 doesn't ban smoking weed just before you get into the car and drive". Well d'uh! There's already DUI for that; does the Prop have to explicitly lay out and ban each and every way one can get high on pot? Use common sense, people. 5. Recent law in Sacramento that turns possession into an infraction. Many people are unaware of this, but the State legislature passed a law a few weeks ago (and signed by Arnold) that reduces the penalty for possessing a small amount (1oz or less) to and infraction; just a $100 fine, and no jail time. This, to me, is still a victory for Prop 19: had Prop 19 not been leading, the legislators would not have passed this new law. So all in all: I'm disappointed that Prop 19 failed; but at least we got a law in the State that makes possession just an infraction.

tptacek 16y ago
It is not at all clear how existing CA DUI law --- which is very specific about measuring the influence of alcohol, but completely vague about the influence about drugs --- would have meshed with Prop 19, which spoke only of avoiding conflict with statues against "impairment". Your question regarding whether the measure needed to explicitly lay out each and every &c &c? Yes. That is what they needed to do. This is a point Steve Yegge made, persuasively, last year (in "Have you ever legalized marijuana?"). The details killed this proposal.
philwelch 16y ago
On point 3, I'm pretty sure CA cannabis dispensaries are required to be non-profit.
- ajays 16y ago
  There are ways to be "non-profit" and still make a ton of money. "Non-profit" only means that the organization should not make a "profit". A trivial example would be if you ran your own non-profit, and basically paid yourself all of the "profits" as salary. There are non-profits where the top leadership makes in the high 6-figure range.

by ajays 16y ago

tptacek 16y ago

It is not at all clear how existing CA DUI law --- which is very specific about measuring the influence of alcohol, but completely vague about the influence about drugs --- would have meshed with Prop 19, which spoke only of avoiding conflict with statues against "impairment". Your question regarding whether the measure needed to explicitly lay out each and every &c &c? Yes. That is what they needed to do. This is a point Steve Yegge made, persuasively, last year (in "Have you ever legalized marijuana?"). The details killed this proposal.

philwelch 16y ago

On point 3, I'm pretty sure CA cannabis dispensaries are required to be non-profit.

ajays 16y ago
There are ways to be "non-profit" and still make a ton of money. "Non-profit" only means that the organization should not make a "profit". A trivial example would be if you ran your own non-profit, and basically paid yourself all of the "profits" as salary. There are non-profits where the top leadership makes in the high 6-figure range.