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Cannabis reform initiatives sweep CA ballots in 4 cities PDF Print E-mail
Written by Mikki Norris   
Voters of the three “Santa” cities of Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, and Santa Barbara, gave cannabis reform an early holiday gift Nov. 7 by passing local measures on election day making marijuana offenses law enforcement’s lowest priority. City of Albany voters also passed Amendment D, to allow the establishment of a medical marijuana dispensary, for an electoral sweep at the California ballot box.
VICTORY PARTY — Santa Cruz activists celebrate their Nov. 7 ballot victory with Measure K, one of three “low-priority”initiatives that won. Oaksterdam News photo by Mikki Norris.
VICTORY PARTY — Santa Cruz activists celebrate their Nov. 7 ballot victory with Measure K, one of three “low-priority”initiatives that won. Oaksterdam News photo by Mikki Norris.
Susan Stephenson of the Next Generation political consulting group, jump-started and oversaw the California Cities Campaign with the assistance of long-time activist Mikki Norris. Bolstered by the passage of Oakland’s 2004 Measure Z, Stephenson, who managed the campaign for the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance, had submitted a proposal to take the measure to other California cities and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) agreed to provide basic funding and support for it.

This women-led effort’s call to stop the arrest, prosecution, and incarceration of adults for marijuana and enable police resources and tax dollars to focus on violent and serious crime apparently resonates well with Californians.
The cities were strategically identified as favorable to reform and geographically situated to represent constituents in northern as well as southern California. Activists in the local communities formed campaign committees, helped tailor the initiative language to fit the political realities of their cities, and made an outreach to officials, endorsers, and voters.

Santa Monica was the surprise top vote getter of these efforts. Political consultant Barbara Grover and campaign coordinator Nicki La Rosa navigated through a challenging political landscape to bring the winning message to the voters and turn out a 65 percent vote in support of Measure Y. This was done without getting any elected officials to go on record endorsing the measure.
Following the victory, former Santa Monica mayor and Santa Monicans for Sensible Marijuana Policy member Mike Feinstein said, “One of the great things about municipal government is that a community can filter an idea whose time has come from the bottom up, instead of waiting for it to come from the top down. That’s what we did in Santa Monica, and hopefully this will lead to similar evolution of policy on higher levels — pardon the pun.”

Measure Y proponent Corey Garnett added, “While this measure by no means signifies the end to the irrational prohibition on marijuana, it is a good first step. I’m very happy that the voters of Santa Monica agree and have helped us to advance this process while freeing city funds and resources to be focused on more pressing issues.”

The Santa Monica Police Officers Association came out against Measure Y, fearing that this would impede their ability to go after criminals. But, the support of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition helped to offset this opposition, and former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper, a representative of that group, provided a face of law enforcement and a message to voters in mailers in all three cities, “ Talk to them privately, most cops will tell you that enforcement of marijuana laws is a colossal waste of time. Making marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority in Seattle has made a huge difference freeing up the police to concentrate on real crimes, like rape, robbery, auto theft, and domestic violence.”

This election turned out to be a nice birthday present for Lara Cassell, campaign coordinator for Santa Barbara’s Measure P, who worked on the signature component as well as the endorsement and get out the vote efforts. Sensible Santa Barbara committee members were fortunate that no opposition argument was submitted for the voter information pamphlet and none surfaced throughout the campaign, aside from one editorial against it signed by Police Chief Sanchez. Measure P gained the support of the local newspapers, Councilmember Das Williams, doctors, a former DA, and a host of other respected community leaders and organizations.

The fact that Santa Barbara has the perception as being a more “conservative” area, made this win even sweeter. People who live in the Santa Barbara area, however, are pleased with the libertarian bent of the population, and point to the fact that the city has been very supportive of medical marijuana and tolerant of the growing number of dispensaries there, an aspect that ensured confidence in the initiative’s success.

Ethan Krawitz, chair of Sensible Santa Barbara and a leader of UCSB NORML, was not surprised with the strong show of support, however. “I am very happy with the results. When we decided to start the campaign, I knew that it was something Santa Barbara citizens wanted. I think the 65 percent vote confirms that.”

While Santa Barbara and Santa Monica made it the lowest priority for adult, personal use of marijuana, Santa Cruz took it further to cover all adult marijuana offenses, and included a section that requires the city clerk to issue letters to all of state and federal representatives stating, “The citizens of the city of Santa Cruz have passed an initiative to deprioritize marijuana offenses and request that the federal and California state governments take immediate steps to tax and regulate marijuana use, cultivation, and distribution and to authorize state and local communities to do the same.” This duty shall be carried out until state and federal laws are changed accordingly.

Santa Cruz Citizens for Sensible Marijuana Policy along with their campaign coordinator, Kate Horner, generated tremendous, broad community support for their initiative, Measure K. Amongst the endorsers were two city council members, two county supervisors, former mayors, and a diverse group of organizations and community leaders. This translated into the 64 percent vote in support of the measure.

Instrumental to all three initiatives was the endorsement of the California Nurses Association, the local Democratic party clubs, and the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, amongst others. The Santa Cruz committee teamed up with the Democratic Party of Santa Cruz County, which opened their headquarters to Measure K to phone bank as part of their GOTV effort.
The Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara measures create oversight committees within three months of their passage to make sure that the intent of the voters is carried out. They will oversee the development of a supplemental form for the police to fill out in the event of a marijuana arrest, the submission of semi-annual written reports to the city councils, receive grievances and make sure that the police are in compliance with the measures. In Santa Monica, the oversight will be conducted by the city council.

Measure K proponent Theodora Kerry, acknowledged that this effort is not over yet. “I’m grateful for the across-the-board support for this measure, but now our real work begins in finding oversight committee members who will carry out the will of the voters.” Stephenson, wrapped it up with their main talking point, “The voters have sent a clear message to our state and federal representatives: the Drug War has failed – it’s time for a new approach.”

WINNING SMILES — The local campaign coordinators for the three city initiatives. From left: Nikki LaRosa, Lara Cassell, and Kate Horner. Oaksterdam News photo by Jaime Galindo.
WINNING SMILES — The local campaign coordinators for the three city initiatives. From left: Nikki LaRosa, Lara Cassell, and Kate Horner. Oaksterdam News photo by Jaime Galindo.
With a mandate from the voters up and down California, advocates for further reform will soon need to decide how far they can take it at the state level. Should they call for a reduction of penalties? Or how about full decriminalization, or taxing and regulating the sales to adults? Should more cities and counties pursue similar local initiatives, to add to the growing list of jurisdictions that are opting out of Bush’s war on marijuana, or call for a commission to report on alternative approaches to drug policy.

California NORML is planning to host a forum to bring activists together to discuss possible next steps this winter. Details to come.
Meanwhile, as this issue goes to print, San Francisco is considering a county ordinance along the lines of the Santa Cruz initiative. Activists around the country are celebrating the victories and a renewed hope for the future and all its possibilities.

To see the list of endorsements garnered in these campaigns, to read the text of the measures that just passed, or to contact the committees to get involved in their implementation, check out the web sites: sensiblesantamonica.org, sensiblesantabarbara.org, and sensiblesantacruz.org.
 
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