Hashing Out the Law
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
SPEAKS OUT
UCLA students discuss how they plan to vote on Proposition 19, the ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana.
Yichen Lee
Third-year, psychobiology
Voting no on proposition
"If the state wants to get more money, there are other ways than (legalizing) something that is bad for people."
James Hsu
Second-year, master of business administration graduate student
Indifferent, likely not to vote
"It's not part of the culture that I'm associated with or my friends are associated with. If anything, I'm marginally against it."
Christina Lee
Fifth-year, atmospheric and oceanic studies
First-year, School of Education graduate student
Voting yes on proposition
"I think economically (the state of California) can benefit from (its legalization)."
By Shoshee Jau
Oct. 6, 2010 1:58 a.m.
If passed, Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, will allow California residents to grow marijuana for private use or purchase the drug at local grocery stores.
The item was first placed on the California ballot last March by medical marijuana provider Richard Lee, and the proposition will be on the ballot next month.
According to Yes on 19 spokesman Dan Newman, the initiative is a logical response to California’s “failed war” on the drug.
Though previous legislation under Proposition 215 only legitimized marijuana use for medical purposes, the drug remains popular in the recreational drug scene as well. Easily obtained and often overlooked by some police, the drug is prevalent in California in spite of current state and national policies, Newman said.
“Essentially, the war against marijuana has failed ““ it’s easier for a teenager to buy pot than beer,” he said. “That’s why you have police on the front lines of the failed marijuana war who are out to tax it like alcohol and tobacco, which will generate millions of dollars and allow police to target violent crime and put street cartels out of business.”
Yet because the proposition also allows private cultivation of the plant in a 25-square-foot space per person, the commercialization of the drug may not result in the overflow of money speculated by proponents, said Patrick Murphy, politics professor at the University of San Francisco.
“We have no idea what the market is for medical marijuana now,” Murphy said. “That is an unknown number, and I’m troubled by the fact that we don’t know. We should have a handle on (that) if we’re changing the policy right now and seeking out benefits.”
The aftermath of the proposition, if passed, remains ambiguous at best, said Roger Salazar, spokesman for No on 19. Even if the item is approved, the execution may be shabby because there is no standard for enforcement or common leadership, he said. Regulations will be decided by local governments and municipalities, creating a different set of rules for each county.
“The initiative doesn’t provide control regulations, leaving complete and utter chaos as to how to deal with it,” Salazar said. “The rules and regulations will be left to a patchwork of 536 local entities. This initiative is about passing off the system, which creates a free-for-all we won’t be able to walk back from.”
According to Mark Kleiman, professor of public policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, the proposition’s defiance against the federal Controlled Substances Act may potentially create problems for California, which will likely sell marijuana at a lower price than illegal dealers in other states.
“Legalizing marijuana by making it a commercial product like alcohol is the wrong way to do it, because it will create an industry that profits addiction,” Kleiman said. “California will now become the center of (selling) marijuana all over the country. (Therefore), I’d like to see cannabis legalized, allowing people to grow their own, but not operating on commercial sale.”
But some worry that the promotion of recreational marijuana use will undermine the medical marijuana industry. However, the integrity of medical institutions will keep dispensaries in business, said Susan Leahy, manager of The Farmacy, an herbal medicine dispensary in Westwood.
“I feel the legalization of cannabis will not hurt us, because our patients know that we are an organic and safe place to shop,” Leahy said. “I feel that not passing Prop. 19 would be more of a stigma against us because we deal with it being a medical issue here.”
Ultimately, the outcome of the proposition will be based on the number of young people who vote, Murphy said.
“Those most likely to support it are least likely to turn to the polls; 18- to 24-year-olds don’t go to the polls,” he said. “There’s not much on the ballot to get them excited. The more conservative folks, older folks who are more against it are more likely to go to the polls. And stoners are really unmotivated.”
