Proposition 19 lacks funds, not buzz



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A recent poll by the Los Angeles Times and the University of Southern California shows that 51 percent of California voters oppose legalizing marijuana.

With just a week away from voting time, the Yes on 19 campaign says it is stepping up its efforts.

But both campaign sides have had little capital compared to other campaigns this election cycle. With less money, the campaign is focusing on reaching voters online instead of on televesion.

Recently, the campaign for legalizing marijuana just got a monetary push from investor George Soros. He donated $1 million to the Drug Policy Alliance.

Stephen Gutwillig is one of the alliance’s spokespersons. He declined to give details about Soros and the donation. He did say, however, that the alliance plans on using the money for voter mobilization and public education.

It is a little late in the game to film and televise advertisements. So far, there is only one pro-legalization marijuana advertisement done by the Yes on 19 campaign.

Tom Angell is the spokesperson for Yes on 19. He says the advertisement originally played in Los Angeles, but it recently expanded to Bakersfield, Fresno and Chico. The campaign also purchased a “predicted dialer.” That is a gadget that calls about five people at once, and when someone picks up the phone, it connects to a volunteer.

Their so-called “grassroots campaign” will be focusing more on communication though Facebook and blogs. They also signed up hundreds of volunteers to man the phones. Expect a phone call this week.

Comments

  1. I am a conservative and I am voting for Proposition 19 because I will not vote with the tyrants Boxer, Feinstein and Pelosi. A vote for Prop 19 is a vote for smaller less intrusive government.

  2. Well I donated to it and there was 1 million dollars donated this week as mentioned above. What did No on 19 get? $10,000 from the beer lobby? Ha vote Yes on 19 people!

  3. why did you not post my reply,what is the matter TRUTH HURTS!

  4. you lying about your poll numbers again.YES/19 is still WINNING,by the way the name of your report is very underhanded,prop19 lacks funds…..NOT yes/19 was donated 1 MILLION JUST THIS WEEK! YES/19

  5. Yes to 19, let’s keep up the grass roots support for something that will help so many, and hurt so few people. What are they scared of??
    contemporary canvas artists going crazy in downtown LA??

  6. Oh, how I wish I could vote in California on Nov 3! I would take a half day off work to go early and vote for Proposition 19! The evidence is in and the AMA agrees with the DEA Administrative Law division and the Institutes of Medicine that marijuana is safe and effective medicine whether smoked, vaporized, or eaten. We are fortunate that a God-given plant can treat so many disorders and provide widespread relief of symptoms as well as slowing and/or stopping disease processes. The passage of proposition 19 would give better access to this drug now and dispensaries would not have to work with recreational users cheating the medical system.

    The bars by which we tolerate medicinal and recreational drugs should be not be raised or lowered on whims or cultural biases but rather on scales of scientific evidence. If American society can tolerate the use by adults of alcohol and tobacco then we can tolerate the adult use of marijuana, because by every measure marijuana is far, far safer than either or any other drug of abuse. It is one of if not the safest drug someone could pick to use recreationally: No deaths by overdose ever! Supporting proposition 19 would make marijuana available as a safer alternative to alcohol and separate the sale of marijuana from the sale of other illegal drugs.

    Hemp, the low-THC cousin to the marijuana plant, is already enriching the world in many forms: as a foodstuff with wonderful nutritional properties; as a source of fiber for rope, cloth, paper; as a source of oil useful as fuel; as a component of hempcrete, an alternative to concrete; and other uses. Hemp is easy on the soil and can grow with minimal or no fertilizers and can grow in poor soil. Now we import millions (and soon billions)of dollars of hemp products. We complain about corporations sending jobs overseas, but government prohibition is driving jobs and billions overseas. Voting for proposition 19 will allow farming of this wonderful plant in this country.

    Prohibition is intended to prevent injury and death from the abuse of drugs. However, prohibition necessarily brings negative consequences to bear on users and sellers. With marijuana, the consequences of prohibition inflict more suffering and death than marijuana ever has. This patterns impacts minorities disproportionately. Our constitutional rights have been severely edited in pursuit of prohibition and in the case of marijuana, prohibition was built on many lies. Scientific evidence have exposed the lies, but the lies keep coming. Voting for proposition 19 won’t stop the lying, but it will stop some of the dying that comes from prohibition, and make it harder for kids to get marijuana than it is now.

    All told, medicinal, recreational, and industrial marijuana will be worth at least 250 billion over the next ten years. Right now a significant part of this 250 billion goes to organized crimes from marijuana prohibition. Really, shouldn’t California keep as much as possible lawful and taxable? Proposition 19 can be one of the drivers of California economy.

    The federal government’s position on medical marijuana is wrong and is not supported by science. Marijuana’s prohibition has been an “utter failure” and we know so from the GAO and CBO, and just about every other look at the evidence. Expert panel after expert panel conclude that adult use of marijuana should not be prohibited. Political inertia and a wide-spread dis-informational campaign put out by the federal government sustain prohibition. People’s belief in government crumbles and the law is disrespected. Proposition 19 can restore some measure of belief in equal justice and can set the country right on this issue and free America to take on more pressing issues. Please, do the country a favor, vote for proposition 19.

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