Posted on 10/02/2010 1:31:18 AM PDT by South40
Starting in January, getting caught with an ounce or less of marijuana in California will be an infraction on par with jaywalking and littering — and not a misdemeanor that can tie up juries and show up on criminal background checks for job applicants.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law Thursday, but said it doesn’t change his opposition to Proposition 19, the Nov. 2 ballot measure that would legalize possession and personal use of up to an ounce of marijuana.
Reaction was predictably divided Friday. Both sides of Proposition 19, which voters will settle on Nov. 2, tried to use the signing of Senate Bill 1449 to their advantage.
Supporters said it would save the state millions of dollars in court and prosecution costs at a time the money was sorely needed and shows momentum is on their side.
“Our movement is shaping policy in California and beyond,” proponent Jeff Jones said in a statement. “Ideas once considered radical are now completely mainstream.”
Opponents noted that a central argument for the proposition — that minor marijuana possession cases occupy too much of the legal system’s time — had evaporated.
Said No on 19 campaign manager Tim Rosales: “This new law takes away the last reason anyone would have to vote for Prop. 19.”
In a statement released by the governor’s office, Schwarzenegger said, “In this time of drastic budget cuts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, and the courts cannot afford to expend limited resources prosecuting a crime that carries the same punishment as a traffic ticket.”
He noted that under the current law, jail time cannot be imposed, probation cannot be ordered and fines cannot exceed $100, meaning that possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is “an infraction in everything but name.”
In San Diego, the reclassification of possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction could mean hundreds of drug cases a year get resolved without the involvement of lawyers and jury trials.
Since January 2008, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office has handled more than 1,930 limited marijuana possession cases, some of which involve other crimes, while filing about 41,000 cases a year.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and longtime public defender Larry Beyersdorf agreed the infraction designation would reduce the time and effort lawyers on both sides spend on such cases.
Dumanis, who opposes Proposition 19 but worked to pass the bill signed by the governor, said: “It will mean that there will be less court appearances like any kind of ticket.”
Beyersdorf lauded the law’s broader effects.
“Right now any misdemeanor conviction stays on your record forever,” he said. “We’re constantly getting calls from people who are having trouble getting a job because 10 years ago they were convicted of a very minor offense. We don’t need to brand people for life with this kind of stuff.”
Similar legislation failed on the Assembly floor in the 2001-02 and 2005-06 legislative sessions.
In Ocean Beach, Seth Norman, a 20-year marijuana smoker, called the new law “awesome” and said it would lead more people to light up.
“The lesser the laws get, the more it’s going to go up,” he said as a man walked by holding a cardboard sign emblazoned with “just need some weed.”
Other Ocean Beach residents said they didn’t think the change would drastically affect marijuana use around the state. They said if a marijuana user has done it long enough, the consequences, regardless of how strict or lax they may be, are not a concern.
“People do it anyway,” Dave Powell said.
Feelings about Proposition 19 are also unlikely to change as a result of limited possession becoming an infraction, Powell said.
Lee Lambert of Vista has lived in North County since 1986 and is active in the campaign against Proposition 19. He was upset when he heard what Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature had done.
“With a budget deficit of $20 billion almost, why are they working on this?” he said. “This is mind-boggling to me.... Where are their priorities?”
He also criticized the change because it “sends the wrong message” by encouraging youngsters that marijuana use is OK and not as serious a crime as it should be.
A spokeswoman for San Diego Superior Courts, contacted late Friday afternoon, said she couldn’t immediately get the information to explain how marijuana infractions would be handled next year.
No, I’m pretty sure I know what I’m talking about here.
You really have no idea of my experience in the matter, so it is futile to belabor this point.
But anyways, who says it’s a grower or distributor lacing it?
It passes through a lot of hands and often, it winds up in the hands of a sketchy street dealer... guys who are lacing their own stuff cause that’s what they’re into.
And also, dealers certainly cut hard drugs with all kinds of stuff.
Oh, I feel so much safer now knowing it will pass through the hands of the Obamacare people even though I don't do it...
Your just wrong about this.
Just like you can buy a cheap fast food burger for a buck, but dinner at Ruth Chris is still going to set you back at least $100.
You think people who do cocaine are going to switch to pot if the prices are more reasonable? That is ridiculous on it’s face. By that logic, Hyundai would have put BMW out of business a long time ago.
California has made pot an infraction.
But like MA, it is still illegal and punishable by a small fine.
But we are talking Proposition 19, on the November ballot, which proposes to make pot 100% legal, regulated, and taxed, just like cigarettes or alcohol.
That is significantly different than the current CA or MA law.
In many states, you can only buy alcohol from the “state store.”
Washington state is one of them.
Fortunately, I don’t see too many strung psychotics who have been abusing tomatoes and cucumbers in the psych ER. I cannot say the same thing for marijuana, which I have seen used as a tool to ruin more than a few lives.
It’s not nearly as benign as some make it out to be, particularly when used at a young age.
Yes, more communism and state control...
Don't worry, Obamacare will pay for it all with more government control.
It’s not nearly as benign as some make it out to be, particularly when used at a young age.
I think alcohol is worse.
That is so much easier for the lazy, lying government scums than enforcing the border integrity of the United States isn't it???
If people are so worried about the drug cartels coming here, why not just fix the border problem???
That is so much easier for the lazy, lying government scums than enforcing the border integrity of the United States isn't it???
If people are so worried about the drug cartels coming here, why not just fix the border problem???
AND...
How is it that illegals are supposedly coming here for jobs with unemployment as high as it is?
Either all of it should be made legal or none of it. Legalizing one drug over another is a half-measure. Legalize all of it but that’s hardly likely. Standing in the way is a mountain of idiotic, hypocritical Victorian-esque morality.
Not for long meth sales to increase.
I’m not sure how those factors determine job safety, but, I would actually agree with you.
The reason I make the point, is that while someone is working for me, I am legally responsible for the safety of that person, those around them, and damages that they may incur.
With that in mind, I do my best to hire non-users and those who don’t show signs of heavy drinking. This may sound unfair to you, but until our legal system is changed from nannyism, it is a fact. Until the lawyers hold individuals responsible, instead of business owners, then this is the way it must be.
But, I agree with you, I should have the right to not hire whoever I damn well feel I shouldn’t hire. Let the market decide. Heck if Muslims make the best butchers in the world, then they should have no trouble getting a job. But, if for some reason, they refuse to handle... say pork... that should be reason enough to not hire them. Sadly, that sort of logic doesn’t apply in this country.
It is even to the point that Church’s are being forced to hire atheists and the like. Any business should be able to hire whoever they want, and dismiss whoever they want (so long as they are legally able to work). Good hiring and firing practices will help or hinder success, and maybe make America more productive.
The cartels already deal in more dangerous drugs like cocaine and meth, so I don't think you can argue that they will drop pot in favor of them. There is simply not a supply shortage of other illegal drugs. Anyone who wants them can get them now at a reasonable price.
and we'll see a spike in hard drugs and the crime and violence that comes with them.
Why would there be any increase in their usage? The cartels supply products that are in demand. They don't create the demand itself. How are they going to get more people to use coke or meth, for example?
At the state level. Federally it’s still very much illegal.
Thanks. But I know a California proposition cannot change federal law.
Cartels don’t deal with meth.
Tweakers with bathtubs full of cough medicine and Drain-o deal with meth.
Where are you getting that? They sure as hell do traffic in meth!
And the cartels still have the same dilemma - how can they increase demand if supply is already being met?
Macro-economics.
It’s called Price Elasticity of Demand.
Meth is not imported. It is locally produced, usually in bathrooms and basements.
Nonsense...
I have never smoked marijuana. I'm no alter boy, it's just that with respiratory problems I could never smoke anything even tobacco. But I have brothers and friends who do and have done so since the 70s. I saw this post and asked them if they have ever heard of pot being "laced" with anything. They mentioned Thai stick and they also explained to me what Thai stick is. They also said they have smoked mint leaves laced with PCP but have never heard of pot being laced with anything, and this from people who have used marijuana for the past 30-40 years.
I believe them.
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