Wednesday, November 8, 2006

Major marijuana initiatives OK, call me a glass half-full kind of guy. I know a lot of people are really disappointed by the loss of all three major initiatives (legalization in Nevada and Colorado; medical marijuana in South Dakota), and I am disappointed, too. But it's not the end of the world, and in fact, there's quite a lot to be pleased with in the results of those initiatives. Despite the full weight of the federal government using taxpayer money to oppose the initiatives; despite various local and state officials improperly (perhaps illegally) using their offices to campaign against and spread falsehoods; despite the fact that voters knew this would create a conflict with federal law; despite the decades of propaganda... Combined, close to one million people voted in favor of these initiatives (in a midterm election in not highly populated states). All three initiatives got respectable percentages in the 40's (unlike drug warrior Earnest Istook, who only got 34% in the Oklahoma governor race). The South Dakota medical marijuana initiative lost by only 16,000 votes. As daksya notes, the demographics look to be on our side long-term. Not bad. And in the process, there was even some national coverage and discussion of these issues. Seeds were sown. Kudos to those who worked so hard on those initiatives. It's got to be particularly hard for you right now, but be proud of what you did. And kudos also to those independent candidates around the country tilting at windmills and getting more people to talk about drug policy reform. Now we've got to do our job to continue to educate and motivate people, stripping away the layers and years of lies, softening up the masses for the next round. Update: See this chart for information on all the marijuana-related initiatives, including a number of smaller ones that we won in Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica (California), Missoula County (Montana), and four districts in Massachusetts. 9:05:38 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Meet the new Chair of the House Government Reform Committee With the Democrats taking the House, the biggest thing to happen is a shift in committee chairs. The new head of the House Government Reform Committee (which includes Drug Policy) will most certainly be Henry Waxman (CA). Waxman voted in favor of the Hinchey Amendment to prevent the feds from interfering with medical marijuana states. He also voted to cut funding to Plan Colombia, and voted against increasing Byrne Justice Assistance grant funding. Representative Waxman has also been an outspoken critic of the Administration's use of propaganda, raising "concerns about whether Administration officials improperly used taxpayer funds to pay for efforts to influence public opinion." Hmm... seems like a match made in heaven for investigating the ONDCP's interference with state initiatives. I don't know who will be the Chair of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources, but it won't be Souder any more! (although he did win re-election to the House) Via Scott at StopTheDrugWar.org, I see that Oklahoma moron first class Earnest Istook, who dropped out of the House to run for Governor, was demolished and will have to give up on his attempts to destroy the constitution in the name of the drug war. 12:26:12 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []