If you vote no on Proposition 19, nothing changes

Prohibition is failing

Published by The Reporter

Posted: 10/29/2010 01:03:01 AM PDT

If you vote no on Proposition 19, nothing changes. Marijuana is easier for teenagers to get than alcohol or tobacco now. Marijuana is the No. 1 source of funding for drug cartels now. Marijuana has been used by more than half of the full-time work force now. Marijuana prohibition clearly isn't working.

Concerns raised by opponents of Proposition 19 about the Drug Free Workplace Act are unwarranted. The U.S. Department of Labor Web site explicitly states: "The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 does not require drug testing." Additionally, concerns about driving under the influence of marijuana are unwarranted. We already have laws addressing driving under the influence for medical marijuana users and there has been no epidemic. The epidemic is with alcohol, which is responsible 39 percent of all traffic deaths.

This initiative simply mimics a stricter policy than Alaska's on growing and possessing marijuana (Alaska legalized growing and possession in 1975) and lets local governments decide if they would like to legalize sales. San Francisco will probably legalize it, along with Oakland and some other, more liberal cities.

If our city wants to legalize it, after seeing whether the effect is negative or positive, then it can. But we've already failed on every possible criteria for preventing marijuana use, so why not give legalization -- a policy that works in the Netherlands, Alaska, and Portugal -- a try?

Vote yes on Proposition 19.

Gerald