(St. Petersburg, FL) The Field Research Corporation just released the results of their latest Field Poll evaluating the support\/opposition to California\u2019s ballot initiative, Proposition 19. This initiative to tax and legalize use, cultivation and distribution of marijuana is opposed by 48% of the voters, while only 44% support it. <\/p>\n
Demographically, the poll reports an overwhelming opposition by double-digit margins from minority California voters. According to Bishop Ron Allen, head of the International Faith Based Coalition and an anti-drug advocate in Sacramento, \u201cThe results of this poll show that the African American and Hispanic communities are fed up with drugs being pushed onto their children and into their neighborhoods. People understand that this is a serious public health and safety issue. As an African American I am concerned that the legalization of such poison would bring more drug dealers, increased use, and other negative consequences to our communities!\u201d<\/p>\n
Bishop Allen has also been outspoken against the California NAACP\u2019s position that this is a civil right\u2019s issue. Allen refutes, \u201cContrary to what is claimed, Proposition 19 will not change the prison statistics for drug possession crimes by minorities. Under current California law, there is no mechanism that allows for the arrest of anyone for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. Proposition 19 would not change that situation but would certainly send the wrong message to our children, make marijuana, and probably other drugs, more readily available thereby driving drug use up. We could expect more drug impaired individuals on our highways, in our workplaces and in our schools!\u201d<\/p>\n
Calvina Fay, executive director of Drug Free America Foundation said, \u201cThe outcome of this poll is evidence that as the public has become more educated about the dangers of drug legalization and the flaws of this Proposition, they have more readily rejected it.\u201d Fay continued, \u201cThis initiative is not a solution to California\u2019s economic problems. In fact, this Proposition, according to L.A. District Attorney Steve Cooley, does not allow the state to generate any revenue because one section of the act prohibits any marijuana-specific state tax. Additionally, there is considerable uncertainty about its potential impact. No government has ever legalized the production and distribution of marijuana for general use, so there is virtually no evidence on which to base predictions or to gamble with the outcomes of such a dangerous experiment with the future of our children!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on The Field Poll results, the public doesn\u2019t want marijuana legalized,\u201d added John Redman, Director of Community Alliances for Drug Free Youth and a San Diego resident. \u201cCalifornia voters would have to agree that it\u2019s acceptable for pseudo-legal drug dealers to profit from the slavery of addiction. Many experts agree that the cost from addiction and usage associated illnesses far outweighs the amount of any revenue claimed to be generated \u2013 something the state of California cannot afford,\u201d concluded Redman. <\/p>\n
If you would like to set up an interview about this issue with Bishop Allen, John Redman, Calvina Fay or other policy experts, please contact Lana Beck at (727) 828-0211 or (727) 403-7571.<\/p>\n
Source: http:\/\/www.cadfy.org.php July 9, 2010<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(St. Petersburg, FL) The Field Research Corporation just released the results of their latest Field Poll evaluating the support\/opposition to California\u2019s ballot initiative, Proposition 19. This initiative to tax and legalize use, cultivation and distribution of marijuana is opposed by 48% of the voters, while only 44% support it. Demographically, the poll reports an overwhelming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}