Help Pass Marijuana Initiative in Los Angeles

[Marianne]

The Santa Monica initiative to deprioritize marijuana has qualified for the ballot! This common sense measure will make adult personal marijuana use the lowest police priority.

On this coming Tuesday night, June 27, there will be a Santa Monica City Council meeting, and the council is expected to place the initiative on the November ballot.

If you are a Santa Monica resident, or live in a neighboring city, please attend the council meeting. The more people who come out the better, and will help us build momentum for similar initiatives in other cities in LA county.

Where: Santa Monica City Hall, 1685 Main St. in Santa Monica
When: Tuesday, June 27. The meeting starts at 6:45 PM (but this will be on the agenda a little later, if you can't make it until later in the evening.)

Our poll numbers show strong support from the Santa Monica electorate. Although the police brass have said they will oppose us, rank and file officers have said off the record that they would rather not waste their time on small time marijuana busts. In 2004 alone (the most recent year for which we have data) there were nearly 300 marijuana arrests in Santa Monica, costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. We know that most taxpayers would rather see local police focus on serious and violent crime. And that is exactly what this initiative will do: set sensible priorities.

Please let us know if you will be able to come to this meeting, interested in volunteering or if you have any questions.


Newskhawk: Happykid - 420 Magazine
Author: Alberto Mendoza-Director, Los Angeles Drug Policy Alliance
Source: DrugPolicy.org
Copyright: 2006 Drug Policy Alliance
Contact: amendoza@drugpolicy.org
Website: Drug Policy Alliance