My thoughts on Proposition 19

[kaysho]

October in California is the start of two seasons: the rainy season and the proposition season.  The first is a result of Mother Nature.  The second is a result of our penchant to want to vote on everything.  I happen to think both are pretty much all wet, but that's another story.

At the top of the ballot this year will be Proposition 19, which

Comments

[jurann]

Tricky issue, and yeah, I agree that it's not as straightforward as it could be. So a couple things I should be forthright about from the start: I am not a California citizen as I have decided to upkeep my Washington residency and registrations for personal reasons so I will not be voting on this issue and secondly I am -highly- allergic to marijuana

[kaysho]

The value of items, like illegal drugs, that are inherently pushed onto the black market, is usually greater than people think, both because the illegality pushes the price up (the reason why current marijuana growers tend to oppose Prop 19!) and because it makes it difficult to get really good statistics, so it tends to put it out of people's minds. But I have read that marijuana is actually California's highest-value "export crop", worth more than any of the produce grown in the Central Valley, and I believe it. Well, heck, there were people in the early 1930s who were concerned that the economy of the city of Windsor, Ontario would collapse if the US repealed alcohol prohibition, since the town was pretty much surviving on revenue from alcohol smuggling. :)

And I wouldn't worry about your neighbours' pot smoke any more than now. After all, like cigarette smoke, once it's legal, it can be regulated.

[skorzy]

Its interesting to see your thought process about this almost exactly mirrors mine. I also not entirely sure how I will vote yet because of that.

However, my gut instinct is to vote in favor of this for the one reason you mentioned: if it doesn't pass this time, it will be exponentially more difficult in the future to pass a *good* law on the regulation of recreational cannabis use.

[kaysho]

I am increasingly leaning that direction as well, just because I'm realising that the reasons for which I was leaning "no" are all pretty much in the class of "what if something goes wrong". If I vote no, nothing will have a chance to go wrong, but only because nothing will have a chance to go right, either.

Also, I read in the paper this morning that a new poll showed it failing by 49%-44%, and my reaction was ... disappointment. That means, deep down, I want it to pass, and there's only one way to help make that happen. :)

[vlad_badger]

You should come on over and we can have some tea and cake and a smoke, and talk about this :3

I know i'll be voting yes on 19, it was more of a 'heart' feeling than anything else, seeing less people in jail/more money by taxing it and so on.

[kaysho]

That sounds like an excellent opportunity for some empirical research. :)

[foxplay]

I dont smoke weed, and quite honestly dont look at useing it in a positive light

Main reason being is the drug seems to be similar to alchohal to which i have similar feelings (the only exception is i do drink on rare occasions), you can use it responsibly and sparingly and it has little to no effect on the rest of your life the alternative being some people over use it, its all they are ever interested in (similar to a alchohalic always wanting to get drunk/drink) It comes down to personal responsibility and self control which sadly and honestly alot of people simply lack.

All that being said, why are we still throwing away money demonizing such a minor drug? why not do the same to alchohal, oh wait its because they tryed that and failed miserably, but not before wasting millions on drug enforcement.

Why not be less retarded and make some money off legalizing such a minor drug, tax it just like cigerettes and alchohal. Mabye then we could start digging the country out of debt with 1 more useless waste of money being turned into

[kaysho]

The use of any recreational drugs (with the possible exception of caffeine) is rarely viewed in a truly positive light. Studies have shown that, given photos of the same person, just in one case holding a beer in his hand and in the other unencumbered, people will have a more positive impression of the one without the beer. And beer is legal and accepted. Same for someone, say, holding a cigarette. For weed, doubly so, since its illegality adds an extra social stigma

[iamweasel_2112]

Don't you just love California? We can't just have a simple yes - or - no issue even like this, it has to be incredibly complicated and muddy. I honestly don't like our system of referendum much at all -- it's done nothing but cloud the waters further and further with every initiative passed.

[kaysho]

Well, real life is usually complicated and muddy. :)

Besides, when something is out-and-out banned, it's fairly simple with no subtlety about it. If you want to allow something, but it's something you know you shouldn't allow to a totally unlimited extent, you have to decide exactly how much, where, when, etc. This is also why we have far more pages of regulations than we do laws, because legislatures can't handle ALL the specifics. And neither can initiatives.

But I do think we need to make a change so that initiatives are more rare and are tougher to get onto the ballot just because someone has deep pockets and wants to hire signature gatherers to promote his pet idea.

Then again, that's pretty much what Prop 19 is, isn't it? :)