By Tom Angell
The former mayors of two of California’s largest cities endorsed a measure to legalize marijuana in the Golden State on Monday.
Antonio Villaraigosa and Willie Brown, who respectively used to run Los Angeles and San Francisco, both said they were going to vote for Proposition 64, which would make California the largest state in the country to end cannabis prohibition.
Neither former mayor endorsed Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative that California voters narrowly rejected in 2010, and their support for this year’s measure is indicative of a growing acceptance of ending prohibition by the state’s political elite.
For example, the largest daily newspapers in the cities that Villaraigosa and Brown used to govern also recently endorsed Proposition 64, this year’s legalization measure. Both the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle opposed the earlier anti-prohibition initiative.
Proposition 64 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, says that her current job as state attorney general prevents her from taking an official position on the measure, but she predicted in a debate last month that voters will approve it. That’s a big change from two years ago, when she 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 recently that he is “mulling” whether to reverse his position and support Proposition 64.
Villaraigosa is considering running against Newsom for the Democratic nomination for California governor in 2018 after Brown’s term is up, and has said he will make a final decision soon after Election Day.
His endorsement of Prop. 64, which enjoys broad support from Democratic voters, could be seen as a smart political move and a way to get out ahead of the issue before a likely victory. While Villaraigosa won’t be able to take nearly as much credit for legalization as Newsom will, the endorsement is a way to put down a marker so he can say he was for ending prohibition prior to voters making it happen.
“I took my time on this measure because I wanted to make sure it included protections for children and public safety,” Villaraigosa said of the legalization endorsement. “In evaluating the measure in its entirety, I am convinced there are enough safeguards to make it a workable proposition.”
A poll released Tuesday by Survey USA on behalf of several local TV stations found that likely voters support Proposition 64 by a margin of 54 percent to 39 percent.
