As most people already know, CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Marijuana Decriminalization Bill 1449 on September 30, a whole month after the Bill passed California State House and was sent to the Governor for his signature. This Bill “downgraded” small personal Cannabis possessions from criminal misdemeanor to civil infraction.
Bill 1449 did enjoy a wide-spread support by the law makers and by professional organizations. First introduced by California Senator Mark Leno, the Bill was approved by Ca Public Safety Commission by a vote of 5-2; it was passed by California Senate by a vote of 21-13 and by California General Assembly by a vote 43-33. Bill 1449 had an impressive backing of California professional organizations and Civil Rights groups.
Those who endorsed the Bill included the American Civil Liberties Union, Drug Policy Alliance, and even California District Attorneys’ Association. California State Medical Association already declared in its Position Statement a while earlier that “marijuana criminalization is a failed public policy”.
It is worth remembering as well that the recent scientific Conference in L.A., while unfortunately stopping short of the full Cannabis Legalization endorsement, unanimously held that criminalization of personal Cannabis possessions leads to serious Civil Rights violations, is totally outdated, and largely counterproductive.
Those who opposed Bill 1449 were such enemies of Civil Rights as the so-called “saveCalifornia”, “Heritage Foundation”, CA Police Chiefs Association and CA Narcotic officers’ Association”. A rather “distinguished” group of “professionals”, don’t you think? “SaveCalifornia” hate group’s spokesperson Randy Thomasson blasted the Governor for signing the Bill:
“This virtual legalization of marijuana definitely sends the wrong message to teenagers and young adults,” Thomasson said. “It invites youth to become addicted to mind-altering pot because there’s not much hassle and no public stigma and no rehab if they’re caught.”
“Hassle, stigma, addictive pot, coercive “rehab” – wow! In one respect “saveCalifornia” hate group hit this right on the nail – “dogma” and “stigma” do go together perfectly, and they are the favorite “weapons” of diverse variety of bigots.
And that is when, as an act of ultimate hypocrisy, “saveCalifornia” campaign is being financed by big alcohol, while “Heritage Foundation” agitates against both gay rights and Medicinal Cannabis around the country!
The Police Chiefs and “Narcs”, these defenders of “ideological purity” when it comes to Cannabis law reform, may not be altogether as “selfless” in their opposition as they would like for us to believe. As the Officers from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition recently explained in Los Angeles, their actions in support of the continuing anti-Cannabis repression are simply explained by the desire of the Prison-Industrial Complex for more and more “departmental funding”, regardless of how many lives would be destroyed in the process. I suspect as well that those people are strongly “addicted” to the anti-Cannabis repression, and are in full “denial” with regards to this “addiction”.
But the question that we all need to ask is this: Who do these people think they are to oppose the decisive support for the Bill by real professionals? Who do they think they are to oppose the decisive support by Civil Rights groups? Who do they think they are to oppose the Will of California voters to the point where what the voters want hardly even matters for these people, while the only thing that truly “matters” to them is their “dogma” (and departmental funding)! Now, the Governor took his “good time” before signing Bill 1449 into law on September 30, 2010. No one can possibly accuse Governor Arnold of having been “in a hurry” to sign this Bill! And I further strongly believe that public sentiment itself played a decisive role in Governor’s decision to sign this Bill. After all, a full Legalization Initiative, CA Proposition 19, is leading 52-41% in latest Polls!
I would like to also mention a small group calling itself “stoners against Proposition 19″ This group of people has worked relentlessly to undermine the Prop. 19 Campaign for the selfish reasons of their own. Prop. 19 Campaign (as well as Huffington Post and others) deserve full credit for refuting this group’s false ideas and slogans, which is also why CA Prop. 19 is doing so well in the latest Polls. If it had been otherwise, if the “stoners against Prop. 19″ had managed to hurt Prop. 19 and to cause people to abandon that effort, Prop. 19 would have been behind, and not ahead in the Polls, and this would have spelled very bad news for Bill 1449, which would have probably been vetoed by the Governor, which is exactly what the hate groups wanted him to do.
Overall, the history of CA Bill 1449 again clearly demonstrated that the hate groups opposing Cannabis law reform couldn’t care less about the scientific evidence or the Will of the voters. They will pursue their “dogma” regardless of anything, and this is exactly what turns them into “hate groups” and enemies of democracy. Once the People clearly see this simple truth, they will turn up in huge numbers on November 2 in SUPPORT of democracy, and they will vote to pass California Proposition 19 which is in the interests of a vast majority of voters of the great State of California!
doctork 
