Global Ganja Report

On Aug. 25, the Los Angeles Times ran an opinion piece, "Why California should just say no to Prop. 19." jointly written by Gil Kerlikowske, John Walters, Barry McCaffrey, Lee Brown, Bob Martinez and William Bennett, directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under presidents Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush. On Narco News, Al Giordano responds with "Six American Zeroes: Reason Enough to Support California Prop 19." Here are some excerpts:

On Aug. 12, the California Chamber of Commerce held a press conference bashing Prop 19, claiming employers would have to permit employees to smoke marijuana at work. But First Amendment lawyer and Prop 19 author James Wheaton says the Chamber is lying. Employees don't have to let workers come to work drunk, and they wouldn't have to let them come to work high. Furthermore, employers can already fire employees at will, as well as if they fail a drug test, and that will not change if Prop 19 passes.

Mexico's former president Vicente Fox wrote on his blog Aug. 8 that "we should consider legalizing the production, distribution and sale of drugs"—the most far-reaching stand for legalization yet in Mexico, where more than 28,000 people have died during the current administration's war against drug cartels. The proposal is sparking the predictable backlash from hardliners, as AP reports...

California attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown has come out strongly against Proposition 19, the voter initiative that would effectively legalize in the state if passed this November. Speaking before the California District Attorneys Association Conference in Monterey, Brown said legalizing would open the flood gates for the ruthless and deadly Mexican drug cartels: "Every year we get more and more marijuana and every year we find more guys with AK-47's coming out of Mexico going into forests and growing more and more dangerous and losing control." (KSBW, June 29)