Hey, 19!
Billionaire businessman and philanthropist George Soros has contributed $1 million to the California ballot measure that would legalize marijuana for recreational use.
The hedge fund manager announced his support for Proposition 19 in a piece published today in the Wall Street Journal. He wrote that Proposition 19, which would also allow the regulation and taxation of the substance, isn't perfect but "would represent a major step forward and its deficiencies can be corrected on the basis of experience."
You go, George!
Here is the rather lengthy Op-Ed in the WSJ that is worth a look:
Why I Support Legal Marijuana
We should invest in effective education rather than ineffective arrest and incarceration.
by George Soros
Our marijuana laws are clearly doing more harm than good. The criminalization of marijuana did not prevent marijuana from becoming the most widely used illegal substance in the United States and many other countries. But it did result in extensive costs and negative consequences.
Law enforcement agencies today spend many billions of taxpayer dollars annually trying to enforce this unenforceable prohibition. The roughly 750,000 arrests they make each year for possession of small amounts of marijuana represent more than 40% of all drug arrests.
Regulating and taxing marijuana would simultaneously save taxpayers billions of dollars in enforcement and incarceration costs, while providing many billions of dollars in revenue annually. It also would reduce the crime, violence and corruption associated with drug markets, and the violations of civil liberties and human rights that occur when large numbers of otherwise law-abiding citizens are subject to arrest. Police could focus on serious crime instead.
The racial inequities that are part and parcel of marijuana enforcement policies cannot be ignored. African-Americans are no more likely than other Americans to use marijuana but they are three, five or even 10 times more likely—depending on the city—to be arrested for possessing marijuana.
Read the rest
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With a week to go, we have lots of important candidates to elect.
But as Bill Maher pointed out on his HBO show last week, supporting legalizing pot is a huge winning proposition for Democrats.
We have a chance here.
Let's win this one!
Website:
http://www.yeson19.com/
It’s Time to Reform California’s Cannabis Laws!
Today, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are wasted enforcing the failed prohibition of cannabis (also known as marijuana). Prohibition has created a violent criminal market run by international drug cartels. Police waste valuable resources targeting non-violent cannabis consumers, while thousands of violent crimes go unsolved. And there is $14 billion in marijuana sales every year in California, but our debt-ridden state sees none of the revenue that would come from controlling and taxing it. Cannabis prohibition has failed.
We need a common sense approach to control and tax cannabis like alcohol.
On Facebook:
Yes on 19: Control & Tax Cannabis 2010
And a similar national measure:
I support HR 5843 (Marijuana Decriminalization)