Is it California's Turn to Legalize Marijuana?
When news broke on the evening of November 6 that Colorado had become the first state to legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, patrons at the trendy Casselman's Bar & Venue in Denver erupted in cheers before they hugged each other and cried. Onstage, organizers and friends of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol thanked those who had gathered — the elderly African-American ladies, the young hipsters, the business execs. There were far more people in suits, however, than in tie-dye in attendance that night, and there was nary a hint of ganja smoke in the hip establishment.
Pragmatism trumped counter-cultural rebellion again a few hours later in Seattle's Hotel Ändra, where travel writer Rick Steves joined business leaders and members of the ACLU, along with Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, in thanking volunteers for making history in that state. Last week, Washington's Initiative 502 went into effect, and Colorado's Amendment 64 was implemented on Monday. Prosecutors in both states have already been dismissing simple possession cases by the thousands.
But cheers for Colorado and Washington on election night were accompanied by a bit of jealousy here in California, where voters narrowly defeated the pot legalization measure Proposition 19 in 2010. "A lot of people have said to me, 'How come we couldn't do that last election?'" remarked Stephen Downing, a retired Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief and a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).
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NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, has planned a conference on legalization for January 26 and 27 at Fort Mason in San Francisco. NORML, the Marijuana Policy Project, the Drug Policy Alliance, LEAP, Americans for Safe Access, the Emerald Growers Association, and the Oaksterdam community in Oakland, have been holding both public and private talks as well. "No question about it," said Bill Zimmerman, who helped run California's successful Proposition 215 medical marijuana initiative in 1996. "A lot of people in California are starting to talk about a future campaign — certainly the debate about 2014 versus 2016, all that's being engaged."
http://www.alternet.org/it-californias-turn-legalize-marijuana
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