http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/citizens-outspending-cops-on-prop-19/Content?oid=1987060
The campaign to legalize marijuana is attracting much more money than
opponents, but Tax Cannabis 2010 backer Richard Lee worries that it
might not be enough.
By David Downs
August 11, 2010
Hundreds of California citizens allied with the state's medical
cannabis industry outspent law enforcement establishment by a ratio
of five to one on the effort to roll back eighty years of pot
prohibition in the now-broke Golden State. Campaign finance reports
released last week show Tax Cannabis 2010 received $176,430 in
monetary contributions from this period, which covers April 1 to June
30, 2010, and also received $37,609 in non-monetary contributions for
a total of $214,040. The drug law reform group has an ending cash
balance of $61,933 after expenditures.
Oakland businessperson Richard Lee's Oaksterdam University chipped in
at least $40,000 during the reporting period and total overall
contributions from the school now total $1.46 million. Medical
cannabis groups like Berkeley Patients Group and delivery service The
CannyBus also have donated funds. Jeff Wilcox and his marijuana
cultivation corporation AgraMed, who pushed for cultivation permits
in Oakland, donated to Proposition 19 as well as Councilwoman Nancy
Nadel, who gave $125. NORML's Dale Gieringer gave more than $10,000,
while George Zimmer of the Men's Warehouse contributed another $500
to his total contributions of $20,500.
The large volume of contributions came from hundreds of regular
citizens across the state and country who are employed as teachers
and engineers. One Stinson Beach. resident listed his occupation as
"alchemist."
California's official law enforcement opposition group, known as
Public Safety First, reported about $61,000 in contributions. The
largest donors: the California Police Chiefs Association, which gave
$30,000, and the California Narcotics Officer's Association, which
contributed $20,000. Public Safety First's largest expenditure to
date has gone to campaign consultants the Wayne Johnson Agency in
Sacramento. Public Safety First has about $18,000 cash on hand. A
RAND Corporation study showed California would spend roughly $300
million less on law enforcement and incarceration if it stopped
arresting about 60,000 Californians for pot each year.
As previously reported, about $100,000 in new funds supporting Prop
19 has come from an East Coast libertarian who formed the Drug Policy
Alliance Network Committee to Tax and Regulate Marijuana. All other
groups supporting and opposing Prop 19 did not e-file campaign
finance reports, indicating negligible funds.
Lee has said it could take $10 million to wage an advertising
campaign on behalf of the measure, which is either winning or losing
by a few points, depending on poll methodology. He recently told
AlterNet that fund-raising for the campaign was "off-track," and that
a one-on-one grassroots campaign would replace costly ad buys.
Cannabis Cash in Mayor's Race
The city of Oakland's mainstreaming of medical marijuana has extended
to its mayoral races, where leading cannabis dispensaries,
hydroponics stores, and the Prop 19 campaign are showing up in
campaign finance disclosures for mayoral candidates Rebecca Kaplan,
Jean Quan, and Don Perata.
Tax Cannabis 2010 volunteer coordinator Jennifer Hall donated the
maximum personal amount of $700 to Kaplan's campaign, as did Dan Rush
of the UFCW Local 5 who recently helped unionize Oaksterdam.
Potential Oakland cultivator Jeff Wilcox of AgraMed also donated the
maximum of $700 to Kaplan, while dispensary Green Mind Gardens of El
Cerrito donated a symbolic $420 and UFCW Local 5's political action
committee donated $250.
As for Quan, she received $700 from Oakland hydroponics retailer
iGrow. Owner Dhar Mann has also expressed interest in obtaining a
coveted cultivation permit.
And longtime Oakland politico Don Perata received $400 this year and
$100 last year from SK Seymour LLC, which is Oaksterdam owner Lee's
company. Lee also donated $10,000 last year to a cancer initiative
set up by Perata. AgraMed employee Martin Kaufman donated $700 this
year to the Perata campaign. Interestingly, natural enemies of
medical cannabis like cops and pharmaceutical companies also donated
to Perata. The Peace Officers Research Association of California gave
$1,300 to Perata through their PAC, and the Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers Association of America chipped in $600 to Perata's
mayoral campaign.
Can 'Just Say Now' Pot The Vote?
A new national campaign to legalize adult use of cannabis launched
last week, called "Just Say Now." The DC-based group intends to turn
out the youth vote this November in states where marijuana is an
issue, including California. 2010 is a midterm election, meaning a
significant drop-off in the liberal voters who elected Obama in 2008,
but Just Say Now aims to counter that trend by unleashing the group
Students for Sensible Drug Policy on college campuses.
Weed may be a wedge issue that turns out youth voters in states where
it matters, says This Is Your Country on Drugs author Ryan Grim on
the Huffington Post. Additionally, Congressman Barney Frank told The
New York Times that national decriminalization/legalization is less
than five years away.
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