At their Nov. 3 meeting, San Marino Rotarians heard arguments for and against Proposition 64—the Adult Use of Marijuana Act—which was approved by California voters on Tuesday.
Sierra Madre Rotarian David Ruprecht, a former executive director of the Libertarian Party of California, made the case for the legalization of recreational marijuana in the Golden State.
Ruprecht said Proposition 64 is “fiscally responsible and socially tolerant.”
“We have not been able to eradicate [marijuana]. Anybody who wants to get pot is going to be able to get it. That’s just the reality,” he stated.
He continued that the criminalization of marijuana-related activities has not been effective.
“As we know, the war on drugs has not been all that successful,” Ruprecht said. “We’re spending billions of dollars trying to eradicate it and it [isn’t] working and we’re putting non-violent criminals in prison.”
Proposition 64, he said, would not only legalize marijuana, but also tax it.
“If it is legalized, it is anticipated that tax revenues from legal marijuana would be in the high hundreds of millions of dollars a year,” he said.
According to yeson64.org, tax revenues will be spent on teen drug prevention and treatment, training law enforcement to recognize driving under the influence of drugs, protecting the environment from the harms of illegal marijuana cultivation and supporting economic development in communities disproportionally impacted by marijuana prohibition.
“There’s a lot of protection for children in this Proposition 64,” Reperecht added, noting that drug addiction should be handled as a medical—not a criminal—matter.
Keith Bushey, a retired Marine and law enforcement officer, spoke in opposition to Proposition 64.
“I’ve spent my entire adult life dealing with the adverse and unfortunate consequences of failed public policy and…If I really thought [Proposition 64] would accomplish what its intended to accomplish, I’d put the signs in my yard,” Bushey, a Republican, said.
Proposition 64, he thought, would contribute to the ‘diminishment of society,” which he attributed to the termination of military conscription, de-institutionalization of mental health issues, devaluation of a high school diploma, and the passage of Proposition 47, which reduced certain drug possession felonies to misdemeanors.
“Now I know the law says 21-years-old, but that’s not going to happen,” he added, noting that marijuana has been a ‘gateway’ drug for some.
He also observed that another proposition on this year’s ballot would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes—Proposition 56.
“Does the irony strike any of you that another issue on the ballot is raising the cost of cigarettes…to further discourage people from smoking?” he asked.
California voters also approved Proposition 56.
