Could Prop 19 affect the 2012 Presidential Election?

From Cannabis Culture-

"Democratic strategists are studying a California marijuana-legalization initiative to see if similar ballot measures could energize young, liberal voters in swing states for the 2012 presidential election.

Some pollsters and party officials say Democratic candidates in California are benefiting from a surge in enthusiasm among young voters eager to back Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana in certain quantities and permit local governments to regulate and tax it."


What are your thoughts on this? Could prop 19 if passed, affect the future of cannabis use in other states? If not passed it could be taken into more serious consideration by possible President hopefuls.

It likely means good news either way. Any mainstream exposure of the issue is good.

 

I think while at it's root level it may be good news for pot smokers, it does really shine a light on what a motherfucking sham our political "system" (racket) really is.

What bigger carrot on a stick is there these day's outside of free gubbermint money?

Fuck the fuckers, dems' / repubs, heads / tails, same goddamend coin...

 

It's actually not a bad idea assuming it doesn't bring out the "won't somebody please think of the children" crowd in equal numbers.

Or it could just wind up going:
55% of people were going to vote legalize
55% of people were going to vote legalize
Weed was finally gonna be legal
But then they got high
But then they got high
But then they got high

 

fuck them children with a pedo cock!!..

 

To be honest I think that if it is legalized in California next month, it will then become a golden (or green) carrot, dangled above the heads of Americans when it comes time for the 2012 election.

Here in Canada it is already starting to look that way. The leader of the Liberal party, afraid of another conservative government, has stated that he is looking to introduce decriminalization legislation. Despite having said only last March that, "legalizing marijuana would create problems" with the United States. He has no real intention of doing shit about it, just using the idea of decriminalization for leverage. Not that we should be surprised by this.

Watch Obama's take on/reaction to Prop 19 next month. See what happens to his ideals over the next year or two.

The whole issue will surely be used as bait by someone.

 

not really what the question was but.....

im not really for prop 19......but i also must say i am not a resident of california.....i think they need to revise ALOT of the bill and then we'll see. sure it would be awesome to be legal but really, read the bill, doesn't sound too great to me....

 

How is prop 19 not a good bill?

 

he probably deals and cares more about profit than people enjoying freedom

ive read the bill, and while i agree pretty much everything could be better, who cares? marijuana will still be legal (on the state level at least) talk about being given an inch and taking a mile. they're never going to pass a bill that says "marijuana is legal to buy/possess/sell/cultivate/process in unlimited quantities by absolutely everybody with zero taxes or state oversight"

 

lol, no i care about the people.......and in doing such do not want to see them, medical patient or otherwise, getting raped in taxes for something that is relatively cheap to obtain.

EDIT: sure im biased by being a grower but still charging people the taxes that they are going to charge if prop 19 passes is RIDICULOUS!

 

wow you pegged me right on the money im a balla nigguh

 

I doubt the taxes will be much otherwise it would defeat the entire purpose. The taxes on alcohol are pretty high too but alcohol is still relatively cheap because supply and demand keeps it the legal market reasonable to make sure there's not a million moonshine operations going in every state.(the analogy being weed if anything would remain the same price or be cheaper than it is now to compete with the black market and from a flooding of the market from a bunch of new growers, it's simple economics)

 

one example......

 

One town in central California tries to tax the shit out of it, no surprise, California isn't a liberal paradise, away from the coast California is pretty conservative. Other towns in the north and around Big Sur where most of the growing in mass amounts already takes place will institute a much lower tax rate to attract people to their counties. As for everyone else it's not like they're going to go door to door doing marijuana searches, they're banking on the fact enough people are lazy enough that they'd rather just buy it at a store than grow it.

 

this is just laughable, not every grower of cannabis grows cash crop buds.// i known people using dual 400hps, didnt bud plants for over year., I dont know what the fuck he was doing.. he just couldnt grow weed. not everyone with a few lamps has a green thumb.. or money flowing out there ass ..

 

calm down man i was being sarcastic, in light of the fact that many growers and dealers have flat out stated, on this site and others, that they are against the legalization and taxation of marijuana simply because it could hurt their profits.

not to sound like an optimist, but i think that article you posted is sensationalist. marijuana is already illegal in california for recreational use, so calling prop 19 "back-door prohibition" sounds goofy as hell, as does "it’s a giant leap down the path of prohibition" wtf? a giant leap down a path that we are ALREADY at the end of?

why make something just economically unfeasible, when its already illegal? does that make any sense to you?

look at it another way, say alcohol taxes rise so much that the cheapest bottle of liquor you can get is $300. What do you think would happen? 99% of all the liquor stores would close down and a huge amount of revenue would dry up because almost nobody is going to pay that much.

same thing does for prop 19. if they do place taxes too high, people simply wont buy it legally, and there will be no revenue. thus defeating the whole purpose of prop 19 in the first place. cities know this, and while a few others may go crazy like rancho cardova say they are going to, that simply means people will grow and buy their stash in cities without ridiculous taxes.

as far as medical patients, i dont see how they can be taxed. california does not tax medicine, and if marijuana is considered medicine in the hands of a MMJ patient, i can't see how they would legally be taxed. maybe someone with more legal knowledge could explain that one.

 

Facebook Billionaire Gives Money to Legalize Pot in California
By Luisa Kroll, Forbes - Wednesday, October 6 2010


Dustin Moskovitz confirmed tonight that he has recently given $50,000 in support of Proposition 19, which is seeking to legalize marijuana in California this November.

He had previously donated $20,000 to supporters of the act, which would allow people 21 years old or older to possess, cultivate or transport cannabis for personal use and would permit local governments to regulate and tax commercial production and sale of the substance.

Not too many other billionaires have come out in favor of legalizing pot but one who has is Peter Lewis, who donated $12,800 to Oregon’s medical marijuana ballot this November, according to my colleague Clare O’Connor. (Read her September post). Lewis, who was arrested for drug possession in New Zealand a decade ago, has been a longtime supporter of the issue; he apparently smoked marijuana for pain relief after his left leg was amputated.

Moskovitz, who is now the America’s youngest billionaire and who is played by actor Joseph Mazzello in the just released Facebook movie “The Social Network,” had no other comment at this time. Moskovitz left Facebook in 2008 and started Asana, a software company that allows individuals and small companies to better collaborate. The company, which has several of the same early backers as Facebook, lists some of its values as pragmatism, chill-ness and being a mensch. For now, we estimate that his entire $1.4 billion fortune comes from his 6% stake in Facebook.

- Article from Forbes

 

I like what they said on the daily show the other night about it since the Governator signed a bill to decriminalize, in California the conservative position is to decriminalize, the liberal position is to turn all fire hydrants into bongs.

 

"be it recreational or medicinal. The city’s Personal Cannabis Cultivation Tax measure, which will join Prop. 19 on the Nov. 2 ballot, would impose an annual tax of $600 per square foot on indoor grows up to 25 square feet, and a $900-per-square-foot tax for anything larger."

That's bullshit. Not everybody has that kind of money to pay for something that would be a hobby or personal use. Fuck them.

It's thngs like that that give one a bad idea of what may or could happen. If they'd charge that kind of tax to grow it, what would they do with the cannabis they sell through stores? Then they'd find people who haven't paid that grow tax and throw them in jail. There, problem solved.