SACRAMENTO, CA — Yesterday, the Yes on 64 campaign announced East Bay congressman and former Alameda County prosecutor Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) announced his support for Proposition 64, the statewide ballot measure known as the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA).
Prior to his election to Congress in November 2012, Swalwell served as a prosecutor in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for seven years. As a congressman, he serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and previously served on the Committee on Homeland Security.
“As a former prosecutor, my guiding principles are to uphold the rule of law and to protect our most vulnerable citizens from abuse,” said Swalwell. “Scientists and health care professionals believe that keeping marijuana illegal is unjustified. Prosecution of marijuana violations clog our already over-burdened courts and cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually to enforce.
“It is clear that marijuana is widely available and consumed by many,” Swalwell said. “However, the cultivation and distribution is lawless. Prop 64 will bring sensible regulation and licensing of marijuana cultivation, distribution and use – and legal penalties for violations that harm the public health, public safety and/or the environment.”
Swalwell joins California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, bipartisan elected officials including Democratic U.S. Reps. Ted Lieu and Jared Huffman and Republican U.S. Rep Dana Rohrabacher, and a rapidly-growing and diverse coalition including physicians, environmental leaders, business owners, small farmers, civil rights groups and social justice advocates, in support of California’s consensus ballot measure to regulate the adult use of marijuana.
Read more on Congressman Swalwell’s voting record here.
