so. this comes from a no on prop 19 site.
1. Proposition 19 isn’t really legalization. It only allows possession of up to one ounce of cannabis. Under current California law, an ounce or less of pot is a simple civil infraction — you CAN’T be arrested, you DON’T go to court, and you WON’T get a criminal record. Prop 19 doesn’t make any improvements to decriminalization or prop 215. (yes, illegal activites will get you a criminal record.)
2. Prop 19 creates several new cannabis related crimes with extremely severe penalties. Don’t pass a joint to a 17 year old, you will be looking at a max of 7 years in state prison, seriously. (actually the law states that the max is 5 years, and only refers to businesses, not individuals. http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_19,_the_Marijuana_Legalization_Initiative_%282010%29 )
3. Prop 19 is solely designed to allow large scale cannabis production by politically connected corporations. Oakland has already started the process to license a Prop 19 Cartel mega-grow. (um i believe that the proposition lets me grow my own, so the word "solely" is probably not your best bet here.)
4. Most legal experts agree that Prop 19 is poorly written and will leave police and judges to enforce it at their discretion. For example, consuming cannabis would be illegal in the same "space" as a minor. Police and judges are free to interpret the word "space" to mean the same room, house, or entire apartment complex. (actually its only when minors are present, and i believe to be present you must at least be in the same room.)
5. There is no need to rush into a law that will be difficult to change. There are better full legalization laws, including one set to be on the ballot in 2012. (well i dont want to wait two more years for a law i could have next month, and you dont have any links. how convenient.)
6. Prop 19 will lead to the walmartization of the cannabis industry. And unfortunately, this will result in lower quality and fixed prices. Limited competition and government control will allow large scale growers to determine prices and dictate quality standards. (its not likely that cannabis will get "worse" as time goes on.)
7. Local governments will control the taxation, production, and distribution of cannabis. This is a touchy political issue; most local politicians won’t risk a backlash by allowing dispensaries in their city. This means many people will have to travel long distances or break the law to purchase cannabis. (again, i can grow my own, but traveling all the way to my back yard may be difficult.)
8. Prop 19 will likely supersede prop 215, adversely affecting medical cannabis users by dictating grow size, possession amount, patient to patient sales, and location of use. (um no, the law states that patients will still have patient status and will not be forced to follow prop 19's recreational use because they need it for medicine and restriciting someones medicinal amounts is unconstitutional.)
9. Unbiased cannabis activists do NOT support Prop 19. This includes the late Jack Herer and the co-author of prop 215, Dennis Peron.(thats their right as americans)
10. The federal government has decided to not prosecute medical cannabis users. This will not be the case if Prop 19 passes. Many people believe that the passage of Prop 19 will bring an aggressive response from the feds, perhaps putting medical users at risk of losing access to medicine. (medicinal users will still be medicinal users unless they choose to give up their licence.)
2. Prop 19 creates several new cannabis related crimes with extremely severe penalties. Don’t pass a joint to a 17 year old, you will be looking at a max of 7 years in state prison, seriously. (actually the law states that the max is 5 years, and only refers to businesses, not individuals. http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/California_Proposition_19,_the_Marijuana_Legalization_Initiative_%282010%29 )
3. Prop 19 is solely designed to allow large scale cannabis production by politically connected corporations. Oakland has already started the process to license a Prop 19 Cartel mega-grow. (um i believe that the proposition lets me grow my own, so the word "solely" is probably not your best bet here.)
4. Most legal experts agree that Prop 19 is poorly written and will leave police and judges to enforce it at their discretion. For example, consuming cannabis would be illegal in the same "space" as a minor. Police and judges are free to interpret the word "space" to mean the same room, house, or entire apartment complex. (actually its only when minors are present, and i believe to be present you must at least be in the same room.)
5. There is no need to rush into a law that will be difficult to change. There are better full legalization laws, including one set to be on the ballot in 2012. (well i dont want to wait two more years for a law i could have next month, and you dont have any links. how convenient.)
6. Prop 19 will lead to the walmartization of the cannabis industry. And unfortunately, this will result in lower quality and fixed prices. Limited competition and government control will allow large scale growers to determine prices and dictate quality standards. (its not likely that cannabis will get "worse" as time goes on.)
7. Local governments will control the taxation, production, and distribution of cannabis. This is a touchy political issue; most local politicians won’t risk a backlash by allowing dispensaries in their city. This means many people will have to travel long distances or break the law to purchase cannabis. (again, i can grow my own, but traveling all the way to my back yard may be difficult.)
8. Prop 19 will likely supersede prop 215, adversely affecting medical cannabis users by dictating grow size, possession amount, patient to patient sales, and location of use. (um no, the law states that patients will still have patient status and will not be forced to follow prop 19's recreational use because they need it for medicine and restriciting someones medicinal amounts is unconstitutional.)
9. Unbiased cannabis activists do NOT support Prop 19. This includes the late Jack Herer and the co-author of prop 215, Dennis Peron.(thats their right as americans)
10. The federal government has decided to not prosecute medical cannabis users. This will not be the case if Prop 19 passes. Many people believe that the passage of Prop 19 will bring an aggressive response from the feds, perhaps putting medical users at risk of losing access to medicine. (medicinal users will still be medicinal users unless they choose to give up their licence.)