Police and Prison Guard Groups Fight Marijuana Legalization in California

[bemildred]

Roughly half of the money raised to oppose a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in California is coming from police and prison guard groups, terrified that they might lose the revenue streams to which they have become so deeply addicted.

Drug war money has become a notable source of funding for law enforcement interests. Huge government grants and asset-seizure windfalls benefit police departments, while the constant supply of prisoners keeps the prison business booming.

Opposition to the marijuana legalization initiative, slated to go before voters in November, has been organized by John Lovell, a longtime Sacramento lobbyist for police chiefs and prison guard supervisors. Lovell’s Coalition for Responsible Drug Policies, a committee he created to defeat the pot initiative, raised $60,000 during the first three months of the year, according to a disclosure filed earlier this month.

The funds came from groups representing law enforcement, including the California Police Chiefs Association, the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association, the Los Angeles Police Protective League’s Issues PAC, and the California Correctional Supervisor’s Organization. Other donors include the California Teamsters union and the California Hospital Association, as well as Sam Action, an anti-marijuana advocacy group co-founded by former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum.

https://theintercept.com/2016/05/18/ca-marijuana-measure/

[virtualobserver]

1. it is always about money

[dae]

2. The Louisiana Sheriffs Association hired a freaking lobbyist

to fight legalization.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. I'm shocked! Shocked I say!

[Mopar151]

4. Where is the sobriety industry on this?

Are they figuring on more, or less business? I know that they seem to be riding the NH "heroin" (fentanyl) "epidemic" for all it's worth, and Colorado reports a significant reduction in opioid problems.

[DetlefK]

5. Quote: "If Marijuana isn't dangerous, why is it illegal?"

“If marijuana is not a dangerous drug, the federal government would have made a change, but the fact remains that it’s a federal crime,”

Yeah, except scientists can't make studies to find out whether it's dangerous because it's illegal.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Wasn't Gay Sex between consenting adults illegal in many places up until the Lawrence decision?

"It needs to be illegal because it's bad, and we know it's bad because it's illegal!"

They are really scraping the bottom of the logic barrel.

[Major Nikon]

14. Drugs ruins people's lives

So we are going to put you in jail and ruin your life to prove it.

[Rex]

23. Yeah such a great system!

Haven't ruined your life yet? Well, let us help!

[Warren DeMontague]

9. You don't need a fucking study, either. Humans have been using cannabis for over thousands of years.

If one doesn't want to go back that far, they can check with DEA Administrative Judge Francis Young, 1988:

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/109464-in-strict-medical-terms-marijuana-is-far-safer-than-many

“In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care."

[bemildred]

12. It's very unusual, that sort of thing, no fatal dose.

If you think about it, you realize that means it really cannot do you a lot harm along the way to the not fatal dose either, it's food-like.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

16. It is indeed food-like. It's also medicinal, which is why it is illegal. Big Pharma can't be...

...havin' no plant that can be easily grown indoors or in the Back 40 and has been said can displace up to 150 pharmaceutical, profit-generating synthetic drugs.

[bemildred]

17. That's the other thing, it's pretty much free if you can grow it.

No further inputs needed. And it's a weed, it's not tricky to grow or process, although the MMJ business does its best to fancy it up. And it has a nice smell, floral.

[Warren DeMontague]

20. I think historically the "why" has more to do with things like racism and the hard-baked puritanism

in our national psyche. It was associated with the "other" and thus dangerous, plus it makes people feel good and enjoy things like sex and eating more, which sure sounds sinful.

The whole WR Hearst hemp versus paper thing didn't help, either.

[moonbabygo]

15. My mother

use to tell us a story when we started having our own children about my brother who was colicky. She would go to her mother for help. My grandmother (whose from Italy) would go into the field and pick a plant (this according to my mother) and would boil the plant and add to my brother's formula. He when then sleep well. There is nothing wrong with my brother today, he is 62 healthy and was always smart. As time went on we figured it was a marijuana plant. Years later the state burnt down the whole field.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. Queen Victoria used cannabis to help with her menstrual cramps.

It's odd that she wasn't known for being more amused, really.

[moonbabygo]

26. My Nana and the queen

how lovely that sounds

[Scuba]

6. The prison industry, the pharmaceutical industry and the alcohol industry all fear the pot industry.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. And they all donate to Debbie Wasserman Schultz

...

[Scuba]

10. You noticed that too, eh?

[Iggo]

13. Well, gosh, that's just weird.

[Aerows]

29. And that doesn't surprise

anybody with two brain cells to rub together.

[MindPilot]

11. Teamsters?

If that is the kind of use to which the dues collected from the rank and file are put, no wonder people have soured on unions.

[libodem]

18. Of course

Its their bread and butter.

[TrappedInUtah]

21. Pretty much as expected

The only people still opposed to MJ legalization are either profiteering off prohibition, simply ignorant or they just hate the culture associated with the herb.

[Rex]

22. Why let go of an easy cash cow?

Justice? This is all about the Benjamins!

[shanti]

24. more reason to be worried about

who will be running in the GE. the young people are leading the charge this time. if there is no good choice for them, they simply won't show up to vote in november, which is when this initiative is on the ballot.

the last initiative was during mid-terms, almost a guarantee of failure. i was really feeling hopeful that this time, being a GE, it will finally pass. now, not so much...

[PufPuf23]

25. Evidence that that the police and prison sectors self-select for unsuited individuals. eom

[Oneironaut]

27. Sickening. The drug war is a racket.

[Aerows]

28. I don't like pot

that said, if someone tried to legislate whether or not I could grow rosemary, thyme and dill in my garden, I'd be pissed.

[Ruby the Liberal]

30. To address the ills of society

we seem to focus on who is being hurt by them. We would be better served to refocus on who is profiting from them. Then we may be able to adapt sane solutions.

[zappaman]

31. Sure let then waste money.

This will overwhelmingly pass.