| Florida Medical Marijuana Initiative Fails–For the first time since legalization began in California in 1996, opponents raised almost as much money as proponents to prevent the legalization of medical marijuana in their state. They were able to create and air TV commercials to present other viewpoints to voters, also for the first time. The case opponents presented included the views of the Florida Medical Society whose 20,000 doctors understand what medicine is—and is not. This time around, once they had a chance to hear it, voters took their doctors’ advice. |
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| Alaska Legalizes Recreational Marijuana–You might think the 23 states that have legalized marijuana were responding to citizen demand. You would be wrong. The Drug Policy Alliance and the Marijauna Policy Project, their funders George Soros and the late Peter Lewis, a by-now burgeoning marijuana industry, and an estimated $200 million are behind the drive to legalize marijuana. Imagine a Congress where all 435 Representatives and 100 Senators belong to just one party, and you can begin to understand how one-sided marijuana initiatives have been. |
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| So Does Oregon–Proponents raised $7.6 million to opponents’ $169,000 to legalize marijuana for recreational use, a ratio of 45 to 1. Opponents in Alaska and Oregon could not afford to present other viewpoints in TV commercials. Mean-while, after just ten months of legal marijuana, five Colorado cities passed amendments to ban the sale of recreational marijuana within their borders. The Republican gubernatorial challenger ran on a platform calling for the repeal of legalization. As citizens’ anger mounts over outsiders sweeping in, getting what they want, and leaving behind a mess for taxpayers to clean up, we are likely to see more of that. |
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