Snoop Dogg Makes Ad in Support of Prop 19

By Ron Crumpton

With Prop 19 trailing slightly in the polls, Snoop Dogg releases an ad in support of the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010.

Hit it Dogg!!!

In an ad sponsored by the League of Young Voters, Mr. Dogg encouraged people to get out and vote on November 2^nd. At the end of the advertisement, he said “and on Prop 19,” he pauses and hits a blunt, “You know how I feel about that.”

If the funds are available to run this ad correctly, this could be a shot in the arm for the trailing ballot initiative.

Polls taken of likely voters could be in error. As I stated before, unlikely voters will be the deciding factor in the passage of Prop 19. These unlikely voters will come from the 18 to 29-year-old age bracket.

The public support of the measure by Snoop Dogg, will have an impact on that demographic.

All rappers and rock stars that support prop 19 should do so publicly. It is their fans who have the most to gain, and the most to lose, when it comes to the issue of legalization. They owe it to the fans. After all, their fans are the reason that they have multi-million dollar homes and private jets.

Moms Say Marijuana Okay, Punitive Policies No Way

By Ron Crumpton

Of the many war cries used by advocates in their quest to legalize marijuana, perhaps the strangest of these is “do it for the children.”

However, if you attended the Press Conference held in California by members of the Women’s Marijuana Party, then that is exactly what you heard.

According to attorney and mother of two Hanna Dershowitz, it might be counterintuitive.

“I have the conversation [with my kids] every day about how much sugar is appropriate,” said Dershowitz. “The right thing is to have a reasonable conversation in the context of controlled, regulated marijuana.”

Gretchen Burns Bergman

The group had many reasons for their support of the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, but perhaps the most compelling of those came from substance abuse counselor and Executive Director and Co-Founder of A New PATH Gretchen Burns Bergman.

In 1990, her oldest son, now in his thirties, was arrested for marijuana possession. She said that the initial arrest of her son led to a decade of cycling in and out of the prison system for non-violent, low-level drug possession charges.

This experience gave her a unique understanding of how the justice system in America treats marijuana users. Bergman said that a mother never stops advocating for her children, and that is why she is advocating for a change in California’s drug laws.

“Mothers are leading the charge, just as during the 30s,” she said. “Not because we love drugs and alcohol, but because we love our children and we cannot stand the costs of our punitive policies.”

LULACC Calls Out Calderon on Prop 19

By Ron Crumpton

On Friday, the United Latin American Citizens of California (LULACC) endorsed Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010.

"The current prohibition laws are not working for Latinos, nor for society as a whole,” said state director Argentina Davila-Luevano. "Far too many of our brothers and sisters are getting caught in the cross-fire of gang wars here in California and the cartel wars south of our border. It's time to end prohibition, put violent, organized criminals out of business and bring marijuana under the control of the law,” she added.

This announcement came just one day after the release of Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s interview in the L.A. Times, where the Mexican leader said that it is his belief that loosening American drug laws would cause "serious consequences for American and Mexican society."

This timely endorsement of the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, should tell the Mexican president that the Latin community has a better grasp of reality than one of its most prominent leaders.

Apparently they recognize the fact that members of their community are targeted by law enforcement, and that when arrested they serve not only more jail time, but are also jailed more often than other offenders.

Perhaps they realize that the prohibition of marijuana is a magnate for violence in Latin America, and that by trying to tighten the grip on drug cartels, you only increase that violence. Instead they believe that eliminating the need for illegally grown marijuana, would be a deathblow to many of the drug cartels.

Maybe they are able to understand that, with the continued presence of prohibition in the Americas, their people are suffering from all the ills associated with illegal production without receiving any of the benefits from legal production. They would rather see marijuana as a viable crop, which can produce jobs throughout the Americas, than to continue to have the violence and oppression that the drug cartels inflict on their people.

Maybe this is an announcement to all of the governments of the world. That another voice is telling its leaders that people from all walks of life and all nationalities are wise to the irresponsible and spurious lies that they have spread throughout the world for the last 80 years.

It is also a symbol to all of the people who believe that prohibition is wrong!

It shows that there are always people out there who believe as you do, and if these organizations continue to show their support, and if everyone of you use your voice to spread the word to others then someday soon these individual voices  will become something much more powerful; a single voice.


Note: this was originally posted as LULAC, but it is actually LULACC. The term United Latin American Citizens of California was correct.

EDITORIAL: Congratulations on Decriminalization, Prop 19 Still Needed

By Ron Crumpton

The decriminalization of marijuana is a huge step in the rights of Californians, but the shortcomings of decriminalization still cause major problems for smokers and the rest of Californians.

Marijuana is now an infraction, and that means that thousands of people will no longer be sent to prison for minor marijuana possession. This will save the state of California millions of dollars now that they will not have to house, feed and care for the medical needs of offenders.

However, it does absolutely nothing to stop the dangers involved in the continued illegal drug trade.

Basically, it is now legal to possess marijuana in California, but as long as you have the legal consumption of marijuana that is dependent upon the illegal production of marijuana the most hideous dangers that prohibition causes will still persist.

Street level dealers will still be facing jail-time for selling it, so it will still present a danger to the average smoker who has to purchase it.

It will still be sending billions of dollars to the Mexican drug cartels, and as long as the market for illegal marijuana exists, it will continue to fuel the violence on the Mexican side of the border.

In addition to keeping this money in California, Prop 19 would create legal jobs where the workers do not have to go to jail and would have to pay taxes on their salaries. Cities and counties would be able to collect sales taxes.

With all of California under such a budget crunch, why would you not make it legal to produce it?

Decriminalization helps smokers in some of the issues they face, but it fails to make marijuana productive for communities.

The one thing that Californians cannot do is see this as a reason not to turn out and vote for Prop 19.

Not only would it help with economic and safety issues, but it will allow Californians to take another step forward. A chance for the cannabis community to take another step towards legitimacy, a chance to say that our time has come and a chance to say that we cannot be persecuted for believing in the spiritual and healing value of this plant.

“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” – Thomas Jefferson

This prohibition has caused our community to live under tyranny. After all, we are talking about a medicine here. Most people who smoke marijuana have some ailment that marijuana helps to ease. It could be as serious as AIDS or cancer, or it could be something less threatening, yet still damaging, such as depression or stress.

Prop 19 will end California’s criminalization of an herbal remedy that has been used for thousands of years by numerous societies all over the world.

Prop 19 is an opportunity not only for Californians to stand up for themselves, but it is also an opportunity for Californians to stand up for the rights of our community throughout America and the world.

Prop 19, if it passes, will be the first death nail in the casket of prohibition. It will be a catalyst that sparks the fires of legalization in other states, and it will send a clear message to the federal government that the will of the people still means something in this country.

The passage of Prop 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, is the biggest opportunity the cannabis culture has ever had, and if it fails, then who knows when another opportunity of this magnitude will happen again.