Mendo: flurry of anti-Measure B action

NO ON MEASURE B CAMPAIGN PICKS UP STEAM ON ELECTION EVE
Mendocino County has seen an encouraging last-minute uptick in
letters to the editor opposing Measure B. The No on B campaign has
been gaining traction in the last few days, as the Kelly decision has
cast the validity of Measure B into doubt. More opponents have been
willing to come out of the closet after a nasty and divisive campaign
in which B advocates initially intimidated and steamrolled
opponents into silence.
Tomorrow (June 3rd) will tell whether the tide has changed enough
to defeat B. In the event B does pass, it now faces a daunting court
challenge that will leave Mendocino grasping for new & better
solutions.
California NORML is proud to have supported the No on B campaign
and will continue to support the search for workable solutions in
Mendocino. IT"S NOT TOO LATE - PLEASE SUPPORT NO ON B WITH AN
ON-LINE CONTRIBUTION: http://www.nomeasureb.org
- Dale Gieringer, California NORML

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/letters/ci_9453912

No on Measure B

Article Last Updated: 06/02/2008 08:01:58 AM PDT

To the Editor:

Whoever designed Measure B did an excellent job of sparking
divisiveness among progressives in Mendocino County, and this fact
alone makes me wary. While we clearly have a marijuana problem in
need of remedy, Measure B is not the answer. I think many
well-intentioned citizens are misinformed about its probable effects
and are pro-B because of unrealistic expectations.

For example, Phil Baldwin recently wrote a letter lamenting
adolescent marijuana use. Phil is a person whose opinion I respect
and I basically agreed with everything he wrote, except his
conclusion: Yes on B. Certainly marijuana has an adverse effect on
teenagers. Smoking pot makes most people lethargic and for teenagers,
this can be disastrous. But how will Measure B impact teenage
marijuana consumption? I was a student at Ukiah High before Measure G
passed and marijuana was easier to come by than condoms, say, or
alcohol or the perfect prom dress. Teenage substance abuse is one of
myriad important issues that Measure B does not address.

Measure B is being touted as a re-criminalization' of marijuana
which, theoretically, will diminish state and federal heat while at
the same time allowing local law enforcement to crack down on
growers. It's hard to ignore the fact that big-time growers have
become a problem in our county. They deplete natural resources, draw
unwanted attention to our community and don't pay taxes to support
our libraries and schools. Moreover, they propagate a culture that
glorifies easy' illegal money and makes citizens hard at work at
normal' jobs feel gypped. It's high time' we did something about it,
but Measure B will not deter large-scale commercial growers.

Measure B makes no special effort to hinder big-time operations:
their legal status will not be altered by its passage. Measure B
focuses on the difference between six and 25 plants, thereby
re-criminalizing small-scale farmers who we decided as a community
(when we overwhelmingly approved Measure G) aren't deserving of
criminal status. In fact, deterring small personal and medical-use
growers will only drive prices up for commercial growers in blatant
violation of the law. Growers with less than 25 plants aren't
polluting our environment, hiring slews of trimmers from LA or
guarding their patches with guns. They aren't making a fortune,
either. (Try growing 10 plants and making enough money to support
your family, buy a new truck and fly to Mexico for the winter. )

In short, Measure B targets the wrong guys! (Last month, our Board of
Supervisors restricted growers to 25 plants per plot, rather than per
individual, rectifying one of the primary oversights of Measure G.)
By encouraging law enforcement to persecute anyone with more than six
plants, we will make criminals out of our friends and neighbors --
out of law-abiding citizens with families and jobs. Not only am I
opposed to putting people with seven pot plants behind bars, I am
also concerned that Measure B will have a deleterious effect on our
economy. Like it or not (and I don't like it), marijuana cultivation
has become a large part of our economy. This means we need to address
the issue slowly -- first targeting massive grows that breed violence
and environmental degradation -- or we will jeopardize local
businesses and professionals. Measure B fails to differentiate
between various scales of growing vis-a-vis law enforcement, makes no
provisions for tackling the problem of teenage substance abuse in our
community and focuses on an arbitrary distinction between six and 25
plants that will criminalize upstanding citizens. Vote No on B.

Amber Trotter
Redwood Valley
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/letters/ci_9454014

Measure G is the law

Article Last Updated: 06/02/2008 08:02:12 AM PDT

To the Editor:

In America, government was instituted to secure the rights of The
People. Lawmakers protect us by properly transitioning our vote/laws
into society in a safe and timely manner. Why wasn't Measure G
properly transitioned when it passed in 2000?

Laws can't transition themselves. The success or failure of a law to
protect society is determined by the course-of-action politicians
develop for its safe transition into society. Not educating the
public automatically creates ignorance, confusion and fear. Why
wasn't there an education program to help safely transition Measure G
into society?

Lawmaker's lack of interest to properly transition Measure G
encouraged large-scale marijuana operations which jeopardized public
safety and the environment. It automatically polarized society. Not
protecting our rights separates government from The People. Ala: The
third world.

Not properly transitioning The People's vote/law denies their voting
rights which subjugates American freedom and violates the American
rule-of-law. In America, there's no patriotic duty to oppress
freedom. Measure B is endorsed by politicians who denied American
rights. We can't solve our problems with the same mentality that
created them.

Politicians who don't know how to abide-by and convey America's
founding principles can't protect our rights. Repealing Measure G
won't correct the wrongful effects politicians caused by not properly
transitioning it. To properly change a wrongful effect, first,
correct its cause.

If we truly wanted to "Save Mendocino County," we would do our duty
as Americans and ensure that our politicians secure and serve the
rights of Americans by abiding by and conveying the founding
principles of American freedom. If not the founding principles of
freedom, what are we forced to serve?

Ray Withey
Willits
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/letters/ci_9453985

No on Measure B

Article Last Updated: 06/02/2008 08:01:36 AM PDT

To the Editor:

Yes on Measure B has failed to look at the many aspects of marijuana
criminalization and legalization. If Measure B passes it does nothing
to address the real problem and that is the people in the hills with
machine guns and thousands of plants. No, it will only take up more
law enforcement time busting people growing on their land peacefully
that are already complying with the law. People that are complying
with the current law are not causing the problems that Measure B is
saying Measure G has caused. It is the people that are already
breaking the guidelines of Measure G that are causing problems.

Anytime you take something and make it illegal in the first place you
make a black market. It happened in the days of alcohol prohibition.
The Mafia took over the booze market and violence occurred. Now if
marijuana was legal people everywhere would grow their own smoke and
it would no longer be a big commercial business. But wait a second,
how would big pharmaceutical companies profit off this? What if
people in wheelchairs with MS were growing and smoking their own weed
and didn't need their oxycotin anymore? No, that can't happen. Just
think of how sad the billionaire heads of these companies would be.
They would be losing their billions more dollars to come. The truth
is if marijuana were legal pharmaceutical companies would not be able
to control it.

Why was marijuana illegal in the first place? Dupont and Hearst in
the 1930s paved the way for marijuana and hemp criminalization.
Magazines such as Popular Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering
Magazine had predicted hemp would be the number one crop in the U.S.
and the rest of the world and it had the first business potential to
exceed a billion dollars. Hemp is useful in many ways such as food,
textiles, paper, oil, and fuel. Ford had developed a Ford Model-T
back in 1941 that was made of hemp and ran on hemp oil! Hearst was
taking off cutting down trees and making paper out of them. And
Dupont had way too much potential with the petroleum based products
such as polyester and plastic. If hemp would have taken off it would
have taken 80 percent of Dupont's business. Dupont and Hearst worked
very hard putting out ridiculous propaganda such as Reefer Madness
and Marihuana: Assassin of youth. Today we still see anti- Marijuana
ads on TV that say if you buy a joint you are promoting terrorism.

I overheard a lady of about 70 years old telling her friends if
Measure B passes it would affect people like her. I would also like
to point out that Measure B supporters say that people can still get
their medicine as much as they need, they just need to go to their
doctor and their doctor can up their prescriptions. This is very
misleading as doctors are recommended not to go above the state laws
and give out more and could be subpoenaed to court. The truth is many
people all over Mendo will be turned into felons for growing a plant
that is their God given right to grow.

Chloe Hunter
Ukiah

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