[420 Girl]

Redding’s elected leaders are on record opposing Prop. 19, a measure on the November ballot legalizing marijuana.

The City Council voted 3-1 Tuesday afternoon to adopt a resolution opposing Prop. 19 after failing to muster the votes needed to avoid taking a stand on the issue at all.

Vice Mayor Missy McArthur cast the lone dissenting vote against opposing the measure.

“We've been eradicating marijuana for years and I don't see the war on drugs working,” McArthur said.

“I believe we should be regulating and taxing it (marijuana) to the maximum and get our forests back so they are safe and free of the drug cartels.”

Police Chief Peter Hansen had urged the council to take a stand against Prop. 19, noting the League of California Cities and police chiefs up and down the state oppose the measure.

“Prop. 19 is poorly written, and it has a lot of loopholes,” Hansen said.

Prop. 19 would legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for anyone 21 and over, allow marijuana consumption in homes or in establishments licensed for the purpose, and permit cultivation of up to 25 square feet of the plant for personal use.

Local government could regulate and tax marijuana consumption or ban it outright, under Prop. 19. Criminal and civil penalties against driving under the influence and selling the drug to minors would apply.

Hansen told the council he wasn’t asking for a vote on whether Redding would ban marijuana should Prop. 19 pass.

The police chief also drew the distinction between Prop. 19 and Prop. 215, the 1996 measure legalizing medicinal cannabis. Prop. 19 could further complicate the already murky territory around medical marijuana, Hansen said.

“We’ve worked hard with the medical marijuana collectives to make sure people who need medicine have safe access,” Hansen said.

A half dozen marijuana and medical cannabis patient advocates urged the council not to come out against Prop. 19.

Rob McDonald, of Redding, told the council laws against marijuana have always been unconstitutional.

“Government is meant to protect the rights of the people to pursue their lives without interference,” McDonald said. “Today, we see more interference than ever. That needs to stop.”

McDonald suggested the council take no stand on Prop. 19, and Vice Mayor McArthur took him up on that idea. Council member Mary Stegall joined.

But council member Dick Dickerson, a retired drug enforcement officer, argued the council should take the strongest possible stance against legalizing marijuana.

Prop. 19 would encourage more people to abuse the drug, the black market would not disappear and any tax revenue generated by cities would most likely go toward paying for the effects of intoxication, he said.

“If you don’t take a stand against this you are letting the people down,” Dickerson told the council.

Stegall changed her vote, saying she would support the resolution against Prop.19 only because she is tired of the initiative process in general, which she believes has helped paralyze state government.

Mayor Patrick Jones, always a staunch marijuana opponent, also voted with the majority.

“Don’t smoke the stuff,” Jones said. “It’s bad for you.”

Council member Rick Bosetti was absent.


NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Redding Record Searchlight
Author: Scott Mobley
Contact: Redding Record Searchlight
Copyright: 2010 The E.W. Scripps Co.
Website: Redding council votes to oppose legalizing marijuana


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