By Tom Angell
The last time California voters considered legalizing marijuana, nearly every major daily newspaper editorial board in the state came out in opposition.
That’s not the case with Proposition 64, this year’s measure to end cannabis prohibition in the Golden State.
Late last week, the largest newspaper in Southern California and the largest newspaper in Northern California both issued editorials in favor of the ballot initiative.
The Los Angeles Times argued:
On balance, the proposition deserves a “yes” vote. It is ultimately better for public health, for law and order and for society if marijuana is a legal, regulated and controlled product for adults. Proposition 64 — while not perfect — offers a logical, pragmatic approach to legalization that also would give lawmakers and regulators the flexibility to change the law to address the inevitable unintended consequences…
By sending mixed messages, the federal government has effectively ceded its role and left it to states to create a new national marijuana policy that legalizes marijuana with minimal harm and meaningful protections. Proposition 64 is California’s attempt to do just that. The Times urges a “yes” vote.
And the San Francisco Chronicle said:
Any serious discussion of marijuana legalization must begin with the acknowledgment of reality: Prohibition is not working. The drug is popular and readily available for recreational use, either through medical marijuana dispensaries, where 18-year-olds can purchase cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation, often after a nudge-and-a-wink; or a black market that continues to thrive. As with the era of alcohol Prohibition until its repeal in 1933, criminal enterprises have exploited the outlawing of a popular product. In the case of cannabis, Prohibition also has wreaked significant environmental damage from clandestine operations that divert water from streams, use chemicals and otherwise tamper with the ecosystem away from regulators’ scrutiny…
Prop. 64 would bring discipline and oversight to an industry that is operating in the shadows, to the detriment of public health, the environment and public safety. Vote yes on 64.
A spokesman for the Proposition 64 campaign said it was the first time in history that the influential papers had endorsed a legalization measure.
The endorsements are a reversal from 2010, when both editorial boards urged voters to reject that year’s marijuana legalization measure, Proposition 19. It was later defeated on Election Day by a margin of 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent.
Last month, the San Jose Mercury News and the East Bay Times issued editorials in favor of Proposition 64. Like the papers that weighed in last week, they also opposed the legalization measure six years ago.
The support from California newspapers this time around is part of a growing acceptance of ending prohibition by the state’s political elite.
Proposition 64 itself was drafted by a coalition brought together by Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom (D). In 2010, the then-mayor of San Francisco couldn’t bring himself to even issue a public endorsement of what could have been the first successful statewide measure to legalize marijuana.
Barbara Boxer, one of California’s two U.S. senators said that she’s “leaning in favor” of this year’s measure, while she opposed the one six years ago.
Kamala Harris, running to replace the retiring Boxer in the Senate, now says marijuana legalization is “inevitable” but that her current job as state attorney general prevents her from taking an official position on the measure. She once literally laughed off a reporter’s marijuana question.
And while Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has been quick to trash the idea of legalizing marijuana whenever asked about it in the past, he told the Chronicle’s editorial board in a meeting earlier this month that he is “mulling” whether to reverse his position and support Proposition 64.
The warming toward legalization by leading political figures and opinion makers is by no means unanimous, however.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), long one of Congress’s most ardent defenders of the war on drugs, has strongly criticized Proposition 64.
And this weekend the editorial boards of the Sacramento Bee and Fresno Bee both came out against the measure.
But while prominent voices like these certainly impact the debate about legalization, voters will ultimately decide for themselves whether to enact the measure on November 8. And the latest polls bode well for the effort to end prohibition.
Two surveys released last week showed Proposition 64 winning. A USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll of California voters found 58 percent in support to 34 percent against. And a SurveyUSA poll of likely voters showed the measure ahead, 52 percent to 40 percent.
And last month, a survey of the state’s residents — not just voters — found the measure leading by a huge margin of 71 percent to 26 percent.
