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Nov 3, 2010 - Update! R.I.P. Prop 19. We barely knew you.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Top 10 Reasons to Vote No on Prop19

When discussing any topic, it is always fair to give both sides of an argument equal time.  There are many stoners who are almost rushing to get Prop19 passed, but what you may be unaware of is that there is also a group of PRO-LEGALIZATION marijuana enthusiasts who are AGAINST Prop19.

One of those people is the author of Prop215 (Dennis Peron).  For those who don't know, Proposition 215 legalized the use of medical marijuana in California.






The editing in the video isn't of the highest quality and Dennis Peron isn't as charismatic as Prop19's main architect and advocate, Richard Lee, but Peron does make some interesting points.


Top 10 Reasons to Vote No on Prop19

1. Proposition 19 isn’t really legalization. It only allows possession of up to one ounce of cannabis. Under current California law, an ounce or less of pot is a simple civil infraction — you CAN’T be arrested, you DON’T go to court, and you WON’T get a criminal record. Prop 19 doesn’t make any improvements to decriminalization or prop 215.

2. Prop 19 creates several new cannabis related crimes with extremely severe penalties. Don’t pass a joint to a 17 year old, you will be looking at a max of 7 years in state prison, seriously.

3. Prop 19 is solely designed to allow large scale cannabis production by politically connected corporations. Oakland has already started the process to license a Prop 19 Cartel mega-grow.

4. Most legal experts agree that Prop 19 is poorly written and will leave police and judges to enforce it at their discretion. For example, consuming cannabis would be illegal in the same "space" as a minor. Police and judges are free to interpret the word "space" to mean the same room, house, or entire apartment complex.

5. There is no need to rush into a law that will be difficult to change. There are better full legalization laws, including one set to be on the ballot in 2012.

6. Prop 19 will lead to the walmartization of the cannabis industry. And unfortunately, this will result in lower quality and fixed prices. Limited competition and government control will allow large scale growers to determine prices and dictate quality standards (or lack thereof).

7. Local governments will control the taxation, production, and distribution of cannabis. This is a touchy political issue; most local politicians won’t risk a backlash by allowing dispensaries in their city. This means many people will have to travel long distances or break the law to purchase cannabis.

8. Prop 19 will likely supersede prop 215, adversely affecting medical cannabis users by dictating grow size, possession amount, patient to patient sales, and location of use.

9. Unbiased cannabis activists do NOT support Prop 19. This includes the late Jack Herer and the co-author of prop 215, Dennis Peron.

10. The federal government has decided to not prosecute medical cannabis users. This will not be the case if Prop 19 passes. Many people believe that the passage of Prop 19 will bring an aggressive response from the feds, perhaps putting medical users at risk of losing access to medicine.

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What do you guys think?  Are these valid points?

34 comments:

  1. They are valid, yes. Enough so that it makes me feel that I should vote No on this and wait until the 2012 props.

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  2. great read and vids man ty for info!

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  3. i'm jealous how California has advanced beyond B.C.
    although, i've been caught with a quarter or less many times, and the police here don't really do anything.
    it would be nice to be able to carry an ounce with no fear of legal prosecution

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  4. Hm, I definitely didn't see it that way, maybe it's not that good of a Proposition. But Maybe (just maybe) it will open the door to improved laws being passed on the subject...
    it's always good to have both angles, thanks!

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  5. if these are the top ten reasons to vote no, i will still choose to vote yes.

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  6. Great post man..very interesting reasons to vote

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  7. And it really doesn't matter, it will still against federal law regardless of the vote, according to the AG

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  8. Sadly my limited understanding ... and little to no desire to research it ... is that even if States make it legal the Feds still say no.

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  9. Yeah from what I can see these are valid points

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  10. hm, i had no idea about alot of this, guess it was too good to be true

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  11. People need to get off the weed shit. It's not an addiction, huh? That's why you beg so much to get it legalized, right? People who smoke weed are so annoying.

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  12. These are all very valid points, the key is to keep government out of it as much as you can otherwise youll get corruption. i never knew all that, thanks for the heads up.

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  13. Guess I should have mentioned I am too lazy to research Negatives for legalizing which is my way of saying Im not against it.

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  14. It's interesting to read about the pro-marijuana people who are against Prop 19 -- partly because most people would probably just assume they're supporters. It's going to be a very close vote, and I'm excited to see the results in a few days

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  15. some of the points that he makes are very true.
    i just hope this law doesnt get abused.

    it still has to pass though, cause every step in the right direction is a good step.

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  16. those are some good points I never thought about. THanks for sharing.

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  17. Wow, I didn't realize how potentially flawed this could end up being.

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  18. I say repeal and wait for 2012
    I have insomnia but I live in texas so I can't get cannabis for it, I refuse to take sleeping pills because you become dependent on them. I'm willing to spend 2 sleepless years before I let the government tax and regulate my dreams

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  19. I didn't realize under an ounce was already that lax in Cali. Sounds like they should take another term and get shit ironed out.

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  20. Love this man, i am really stoned and my head is fucked now reading all this! Check my blog too man
    http://onetechmind.blogspot.com/

    http://onetechmind.blogspot.com
    Cheers

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  21. thanks for informing me...i didnt know it was nothing really

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  22. Lot of good points brought to light that few realized, very informative.

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  23. The only people that don't want the ability to grow any plant they want are the Mexican drug cartels and conservative fucks that have the need to be legislated because they need something to stop them form doing what they want to do knowing it is unethical an immoral. Who get's caught with their pants down?

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  24. Those aren't really anti-pot, they are just anti-prop19. lame. I want to see more data showing that pot is stupid and will only hurt society.

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  25. hmmm, seems uv found the small print so to speak. i never wouldve thought this prop was ment to make more laws about nonmedicinal weed

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  26. this is good to know even though I don't smoke

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  27. im not fussed if this proposition is passed, there are much bigger crimes to tackle in Cali

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  28. Man you're blog is so diplomatic. Giving both sides of the argument? You're crazy.

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