Most Californians oppose legalizing marijuana: poll

[Hepburn]

Hopes that California will become the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana appear to be turning into a pipe dream.

Voters plan to oppose a measure on the November 2 ballot to legalize marijuana use by 53 percent to 43 percent, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday that showed a big change of sentiment from June.

More: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6945VJ20101006

This state freaking needs the money that legalizing MJ could bring in. The moral opposition to this is total bullshit. If the RWs ~~ as the article references ~~ are so opposed, then let them start a drive to reinstate prohibition as to liquor.

GMAB!

Edit to fix typo

[bemildred]

1. Bullshit. nt

[Scuba]

2. Most polls are designed to shape opinion, not measure it.

[Hepburn]

3. I have to think that your are correct...

...I don't know anyone who is opposed to legalizing MJ and I live in a Seniors development over-run by Fundies and other religious nuts. They all think of the cash first.

[lunatica]

4. You're right

The Californians who vote for the important stuff are for it. This is an issue that will get the Democrats out to vote. We voted for it to be used legally for medical reasons. We'll vote for it to be used to generate revenue for the state. It's that simple. I can't wait to see hemp being used to start new industries in the state. The use of it to get high is secondary in my view.

[ellenfl]

13. bingo! one can only hope that this year they fail.

all you hear from pundits left and right is how the polls show dems rolling over and dying. DON'T BELIEVE THE POLLS! VOTE! :headbang:

ellen fl

[Upton]

5. Polls are all over the place on this

a recent one had it passing by 11%. I wouldn't be surprised if it fails though.

[bherrera]

6. They'll break their chains

The idea that marihuana should be illegal is similar to the use of chastity belts, a medieval idea. Someday, these Californians will understand the truth, and will legalize marihuana. But they are too stupid to see reality.

[NikRik]

7. If true ,what a shame !

After waiting all these years to see some progessive movement towards legalazation and to get this close only to be shot down. Who are these idiots that want to for one continue to waste our tax money enforcing such a unjust cause ? Why would they deny California the much needed money that taxing this product could raise. Its odd how they can find the money to build huge prisons ,however schools are being shut down. If this bill does not pass its a sign that ignorance still runs rampant here in the good old USA !
IMHO, NikRik

[no limit]

8. Last I checked legalization was up by 11%. What happened?

[Hepburn]

9. I have no clue...

...maybe the move to decriminalize it and make it only an infraction took the steam out of legalizing it???

I thought it would pass with no problem and I am hoping those posters upstream are correct on this poll.

[Gravel Democrat]

34. Maybe finally some people are starting to read the trojan horse that is prop 19

If you sat down with friends and talked about what legal cannabis might look like I seriously doubt that you'd imagine what proposition 19 will bring.

There's a lot but this is core:

1. it only "legalizes" 1 oz and under, in public. Anyone caught with over 29 grams gets a misdemeanor or felony, just like it is now.

2. only "legalizes" a 5x5' growing space *per residence* not per resident.

A 19 supporter just the other day said he had read the prop and was sure that it was per person. Most supporters have no idea what they're supporting, he proved it, and he said he "worked" on the campaign.

Half of CA can only grow half the year anyway. A good grower might be able to fit 7 or 8 plants into a 5x5 space. Tenants must get landlords permission. (would you write permission if you knew the feds could confiscate your property because your tenants were breaking federal law?)

3. perhaps most importantly, it *makes private sales illegal* where there is no law now. This paves the way for monopolies. Just look at Oakland where a license for large scale growing is proposed at $300,000 per Year.

19 is like the "health insurance reform". Lots of meaningless BS, few facts, and the media isn't really discussing the fine points.

Stoners Against the Prop. 19 Tax Cannabis Initiative
A PANDORA'S BOX OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: WHY WE MUST VOTE NO ON PROP. 19
http://votetaxcannabis2010.blogspot.com/


dragonfly
i am a long-time pro-marijuana activist and professional stoner. i travel the world, find the best ganja, smoke it, and write about it for pot magazines (cannabis culture magazine, west coast cannabis, and skunk)

What marijuana lawyers have to say about California’s Proposition 19
http://palmspringsbum.org/blog/2010/09/what-marijuana-lawyers-have-to-say-about-californias-proposition-19/

California’s Proposition 19 will supersede or amend its medical marijuana laws
http://palmspringsbum.org/blog/2010/07/californias-proposition-19-will-supersede-or-amend-its-medical-marijuana-laws/

Blowing Smoke: Proposition 19 & Medical Marijuana
http://www.rhdefense.com/blog/marijuana-law/blowing-smoke-proposition-19-medical-marijuana/

[Le Taz Hot]

10. Huh???

This VERY RECENT POLL has it up by 11%? :wtf:

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2010/sep/30/prop_19_52_latest_poll_californi

[Hepburn]

11. I am going to research this some more...this makes no sense. n/t

[no_hypocrisy]

12. I find that poll hard to believe if it was a true cross-section of the population in California.

I'd accept it if it were Arkansas and just evangelicals.

[Hepburn]

15. I am wondering who exactly they polled.

Like I said upstream on this thread ~~ I live in a Seniors Development and I don't know one person who is opposed. The article states that supposedly there are areas where the measure is very unpopular, there is a lot of opposition, and this offsets the strong majorities in favor found in the LA and SF urban areas.

:shrug:

[notesdev]

14. Can't be just the RWs

not enough of them to even come close to 53 percent.

[Upton]

16. Well, it doesn't help that Brown and Boxer

are opposed to it. Many Democrats or moderates are probably following their lead..

[nebenaube]

18. Now Californians can understand

just how many dealers, prison guards and narcs they have... Because only those who currently profit from prohibition could continue to support it.

[Le Taz Hot]

17. From the article:

"Michael Smith, a 20-year-old student at Long Beach City College who plans to become a nurse, said marijuana had been a gateway drug for friends who continued to ecstasy and Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug." The story is unbalanced without an opposing view which tells me there's a good chance there's an agenda here.

The article also states that, there are "other parts of the state that are opposed" but isn't specific. I live in the Central Valley, a conservative part of the state, and I'm not hearing a whole lot of opposition. We're farmers here. The state is broke. We've got like a 15.9% unemployment rate. I can't believe the opposition, even around here, is that high.

This story has a lot of holes in it.

[Hepburn]

20. Thanks for another Californian chiming in on this...

...I live in the Long Beach area and it is hard for me to imagine anyone going to LBSU as being opposed ~~ let alone someone pursuing a medical career that thinks that MJ leads to hard drug use.

BTW: Your post makes a ton of sense ~~ the farmers in the Central Valley are looking at what saves their farms.

I cannot believe this poll and glad that others feel the same way. This state needs the funds that legalizing MJ would bring in.

[G_j]

26. "Voters plan to oppose"

?
this article is a hack job.

[Cleita]

19. I work in a medical practice that also writes

letters for legal use of medical marijuana. I find that many of our patients are against this particular proposition. They are opposed to the sin taxing like with cigarettes and liquor to begin with. They don't object to the ordinary sales tax. They say it will put the legal growers out of business too. I don't know why because I don't use it myself but this is what they say.

Also, I don't know where that student gets his facts. I find that many patients are seeking marijuana to break a habit of using Xanax, other psychotropics and pain-killers.

[Hepburn]

21. On using MJ rather than hard drugs...

...I have seen persons with horrendous pain problems use MJ successfully rather than Vicodin, Demerol, etc., and they have had very successful results. And, like you, I have seen others who have used it to get off being hooked on RX meds.

I am hoping that this passes for many reasons. To me, moral conduct cannot be legislated, thus drugs of all kinds and things like prostitution should not be prohibited. Legalize it and tax it, IMO.

:hi:

[tularetom]

22. The cops are freaking out that it might pass

I've seen a couple of editorials by police chiefs and district attorneys opposing this measure. Really scary shit. The whole world will go to hell if this thing passes.

They can see the gravy train going off the rails if it passes. Their overinflated budgets will be cut in half. And they'll have to deal with REAL criminals instead of spending all their time hassling people over fractions of an ounce of weed.

[Hepburn]

23. But, if this passes, why would they think that their departments would receive less money?

That is what I do not understand. Same budgets, right? :shrug:

[tularetom]

25. Crime rates will go down

Simply because the BS possession stuff that they use to justify hiring more cops and pumping up their departmental budgets will no longer be crimes.

Less crime should equal fewer cops. If the politicians have the balls to do it.

Fewer cops = lower budgets. Over time.

And I suspect they are afraid their own salaries and fat retirement packages may be adversely affected.

[Le Taz Hot]

24. This conflicts with information in this article:

"For one thing, more and more police officers have decided that the 40-year drug war is a farce and a failure. These cops have been eyewitnesses to the ruinous effects of drug arrests on the lives of the people they've been hired to protect and serve, and they're finally speaking out. Members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, in particular, have been reaching out to service clubs, civic groups, and fellow cops throughout the state. They've been especially persuasive in countering the escalating fear-mongering misrepresentations of anti-19 forces."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamper/legalization-up-in-smoke_b_749360.html

[tularetom]

28. Apparently that information has not founds way to Stanislaus Co. yet

Not a real progressive area.

This editorial by a lot of the county law enforcement brass appeared in the paper yesterday.

It's kind of a shotgun critique of the proposition but it isn't hard to see the real motive behind their opposition.

[WeekendWarrior]

29. Most cops WANT it to pass out here

They think enforcement of pot laws are a pain in the ass and they know the destruction prohibition is causing through gang crime. What you're seeing is PUBLIC RELATIONS in action, nothing more.

[tularetom]

30. Rank and file cops may support it

But the more politically connected police chiefs and sheriffs haven't got the message yet.

They're still concerned with protecting the little fiefdoms they've built up since the war on drugs was initiated.

Check this editorial from the Modesto Bee:

http://www.modbee.com/2010/10/04/1368723/prop-19-blows-smoke-around-growing.html

[WeekendWarrior]

27. I have no idea whose ass they're pulling that out of, but

every other poll that has been done out here shows the measure winning by over 50% now and gaining in popularity.

Add to that the simple fact that most people aren't going to ADMIT they support the measure. Not when their neighbors are listening.

http://www.alternet.org/story/148412/pot_legalization_in_ca_polling_over_50%25_--_this_thing_could_really_pass

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Honeycombe8]

32. How can a state legalize a drug that the fed govt declares illegal?

How is that possible?

[Major Hogwash]

35. They can't. They're setting themselves up for a costly legal battle. Which they can't afford.

If the Gubinator already signed a bill decriminalizing it, that should be enough to prevent fighting an expensive court battle over it.

If they were smart, they would let another state pass a law like this first and let them incur the court costs.

[B Calm]

33. I hope this poll is bullshit! I was looking forward to taking a trip to

California when I retire.