I stated earlier today that I was anxiously waiting for an official California Democratic Party statement on the California Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. Although the party said they will wait until July to issue an official party stance, that didn’t stop United States Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) from sounding off. According to Talking Points Memo, Senator Boxer’s campaign manager Rose Kapolczynski issued a statement declaring that the United States Senator does not support the legalization initiative.
“Senator Boxer does not support this initiative because she shares the concerns of police chiefs, sheriffs and other law enforcement officials that this measure could lead to an increase in crime, vehicle accidents and higher costs for local law enforcement agencies,” Kapolczynski said. “She supports current law in California, which allows for the use of medicinal marijuana with a doctor’s prescription.” Sounds like a typical politician duck job to me!
I would like to ask the following up questions to Senator Boxer:
1. When you say that you are FOR medical marijuana with a doctor’s prescription, does this mean that you fully support the current California medical marijuana law? And if so, what IS the current law in California?
2. Do you support dispensaries?
3. Do you support the California Supreme Court decision that essentially states that there are NO limits for medical marijuana patients?
4. Considering it is relatively easy to get a medical marijuana card in California (almost any adult can qualify if they really wanted to), would you support millions of marijuana consumers if they decided to jump through the hoops for a medical marijuana card, knowing they are only getting it for recreational use? After all, they would be ‘legal’ in your eyes at that point. Never mind that they are simply consuming marijuana as they always have, because according to you, they are now better citizens because they have government documents and paid a government fee. Wouldn’t you rather minimize fraud in the medical marijuana program and save the tax revenue that it costs to enforce such fraud? Because, that’s what would happen if the initiative was approved.
5. Are you at all worried that you are alienating millions of California voters that consume marijuana recreationally? As a Democrat, you have to be aware of the fact that a large majority of marijuana consumers vote for Democrats, right? You are going to need all the support you can get in your bid for re-election, which makes this a bad time to alienate an emerging voter bloc.
I e-mailed these questions to Senator Boxer’s office, but as of this posting, there is no response (with a name like TheWeedBlog, I don’t really expect one!). I recommend that every California voter write an e-mail to Senator Boxer and tell her how you feel. Or better yet, write Senator Boxer a letter! I was taught in my upper division poly sci classes that when a United States Senator receives a written letter, they assume that the viewpoint in the letter represents roughly 10,000 other constituents. So if you really want to get her attention, and tell her to change her mind about her stance on this initiative, write her a letter. Feel free to tell her that Johnny Green told you!
Photo by moonbattery.com
