Last week NORML reported on the results of a just-released Field Research Corporation poll that found that 56 percent of California voters agreed with the statement: “Legalize marijuana for recreational use and tax its proceeds.”
Today, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was asked about the Field poll result, which was the third poll of 2009 demonstrating majority support for legalizing pot among west coast voters.
His reply:
“I think it’s time for a debate (regarding taxing and regulating the sale of cannabis for adults). I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I’m always for an open debate on it. And I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what effect did it have on those countries? It could very well be that everyone is happy with that decision and then we could look at that.“
What a difference eight weeks makes. After all, this is the same Gov. Schwarzenegger that said in February that he vehemently opposed California Assembly Bill 390: The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act, which seeks to impose a tax on the commercial production and legal retail sale of cannabis.
And today? Well, today the Governor is singing a different tune.
“It’s time for debate. … I’m always for an open debate on it.” (You can watch a video of Schwarzenegger’s remarks here. **Note, the comments come at the very end of the video.)
So are we!
Since March, NORML supporters have sent over 8,000 e-mails to their members of the California state assembly in support of AB 390, sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. Now it’s time to start directing those thousands of e-mails, phone calls, and letters to the Governor.
Tell Gov. Schwarzenegger: “I am one of the majority of California voters who supports taxing and regulating the use and sale of cannabis by adults. Studies consistently show that countries that have removed criminal penalties for the personal use of marijuana, such as Portugal and the Netherlands, have far lower rates of cannabis use than the united States. I agree that the time has come for an objective and public debate on this topic. I urge you to encourage the legislature to hold hearings on this important issue.”
You can also send an automated e-mail to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s office via NORML’s Take Action Center here.
Hell yeah Arnold!!! It’s time to bring the truth out!
Arnold, I hate you for your flip-flopping, I love you for your ability to become intelligent and accept reason with the rest of us. From one weight-lifter to another; Legalize IT!
If you do not agree to support the majority of voters you are a dick not an Arnold!
CFJ
A-A-A-ARNOLD-ARNOLD A-A-A-ARNOLD-ARNOLD!!! ive always liked ARNOLD. Imma send him a christmas card this year.
Now if florida could just get online. I cant afford to move to cali 🙁
Arnold, please do it. For the sake of our country.
You took steroids (which is really bad for you) and Cannabis!
The Netherlands is a perfect example on how legalizing this god given plant will do your state good.
The “Not so sick” buy it illegally which helps support the mexican drug cartels that is killing mexico and spilling violence over the US boarder as we speak.
Please, for the sake of this country and for all the smokers who have lost everything they once had.
Its about time! We are closer than ever now! Once we legalize it do you think we can do something about health care?
I live way on the other side of this country in the “Bible Belt” but I know this is the right thing to do we must legalize marijuana for MANY reasons, too many for me to list here. I’m hoping that if this happens in CA the other states will notice the benefits and take on this repeal of prohibition. Then our federal government will have no choice but to accept it.
everywhere Governor or Gov. is, they should have wrote The Governator…ha.ha..
This is what we need ladies and gentlemen. If we can get old Arnie behind us what’s stopping us? We can do it Cali, if not us, who? I honestly don’t think there is another state that could get legislation like AB390 passed. Sorry, let me rephase that. I don’t think there’s another state that would test the waters as the pioneer legalization state. It seems like the legalization issue has died down a bit, but hopefully this statement by the Gov. re-ignites the issue. By the way, three days left in the Navy after the last eight long years, and then I “re-ignite”. Peace everyone.
Arnold could get himself re-elected after all…
I just wish someone would start the “serious” debate (or finally engage the marijuana community) instead of just talking about having a debate.
Does Arnold have the courage – we’ll see…
IF the OPPOSiTE of PRO…is CON
THEN WATS the OPPOSiTE of PROGRESS???
CONGRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Hahaha
Keep pushing Californians! Keep pushing! Take ACTION
This is his way to leave his mark on history. Please do this.
What the Govenor Schwarzenegger is doing is what any good politician should do. He is listening to the people whom he serves. Our government is supposed to of the people, for the people, and by the people. The majority of people say it is time to change the laws. It is not up to the government to legislate morality. It is up to individuals to decide what is right for them. And the time for hypocricy is over. We deserve the same rights a alcohol and tabacco users have.
Thank you Gov. Schwarzenegger for being open to a debate on this incredible subject.
The fact of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of the negative effects of marijuana are due to the law and not the plant. It has been a tremendous public abuse that so many people have had their live ruined by the law, and now a huge gangster element is becoming mainstream. All the arguments that state that legalizing marijuana will harm children and society are thinly veiled excuses for keeping the money flowing towards law enforcement. The fact of the matter is that minors can much more easily get a joint than they can a pint of whiskey. The reason is obvious, whiskey is legal and controlled, and marijuana is not. All those arguments from law enforcement against legalization are protectionist, and aimed at keeping the public funds channeled their way.
Prior to being made illegal, Marijuana was classified as a medicine by the United States Pharmacopoeia. Marijuana is less harmful than any other legal drug (alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, prescription drugs) and should not be classified as a Schedule I drug by the DEA. The DEA, which is a law enforcement agency, should not be deciding what is and what is not medicine. This is the DEA keeping billions of dollars channeled in their direction, but at the same time has managed to create horrible atrocities in Mexico, which may soon spill into the USA.
Hemp has tremendous textile and feedstock applications, and these are all being thrown away to keep the money channeled towards law enforcement. Our farmers and industry is being hurt by this law and are falling behind the rest of the world in competitiveness.
Let’s say enough is enough. Can you imagine where this country would be if our great public servants that have used marijuana had all been arrested? Yet, that is what was supposed to have happened. I’m very glad it didn’t. What a ridiculous and oppressive law we have.
For the vitality of California, and the nation, let’s stop wasting money on enforcing a completely failed and harm causing law, which has managed to create a horrible black market. Let’s control the substance and tax it and allow our farmers and industry to prosper from a new source of competitive revenue.
lookin to stay govenor eh arnold??? 8) good dont be a kellog
Dear Governor I’m a registered republican i vote and i want cannabis to be legal in our great state !!! its the smart thing to do its the right thing to do so from San Bernardo county i say Legalize IT. now ill try and say it in german !
Sehr geehrter Herr Präsident Ich bin ein eingetragenes republikanischen i Abstimmung, und ich möchte zu Cannabis legal in unserem Staat! der Smart seine Sache zu tun, die ihre Richtige zu tun, damit aus San Bernadino County, ich sage Legalize IT.
Arnold sees the truth. Maybe other governors will start seeing it too.
Hooray! Maybe the Govenator has stopped being a ‘Girlie-Man’ about Marijuana.
And now … for the victory dance.
aaaahhhhnold! aaaaahhhhhh! Quik everyone get to the choppa its happening and its not a tumah it for real hell yeah do it do it
Marijuna is NOT a health issue as much as it is an integretie issue. What part of lying to the country do these people believe in? God Bless America!
Obviously a political move, but a positive one that ALL representatives should be adopting. It’s a shame that more ELECTED officials are not following the logic of A. The people are in favor of this, B. there is no REAL scientific evidence (or other hard logistical evidence for that matter) that proves this plant should be illegal and C. These laws are actually causing more harm than they are reducing. I could come up with points D-Z but these are really the only reasons a functioning government needs to change it’s outdated laws. It’s a shame that law enforcement has become so greedy and self serving that most people don’t look to the police for aid anymore, whereas most people see them as the enemy or simply people that are out to get you for any possible reason to keep the gears turning. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for a domino effect reminiscent to what happened at the end of the previous prohibition era.
We control this if Arnie doesn’t do the right thing replace him…
Will Arnold be the “Terminator” of [i]cannabis-prohibition[/i]? 😉
Copy and send this letter to Governor Schwarzenegger!
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
First allow me to thank you for calling for a debate on cannabis legalization. As you know there are 56% of your constituents who advocate for the legalization of cannabis for adult personal use. You rightfully called for debate before legalizing cannabis and to see how other countries have dealt with the problem.
Here are a few facts to consider;
The Netherlands have for years allowed cannabis to be sold in small quantities to adults and this has resulted in making pot boring. As a result of their open and science based approach to this Holland’s drug use is about 60% of ours. Holland also has a much lower rate of use for other “hard” drugs than we do.
There are other countries in Europe that have a better approach than we do, Spain being one of them.
California has blazed the trail when it comes to medical cannabis and the abuse has been relatively small. Contrary to what prohibition advocates claim, it has not increased cannabis use by minors. Judge Gay has for long said that California could save at least one billion dollars in incarceration costs and generate another billion dollars in tax revenue for the State. That is a net gain of 2 billion dollars annually for our cash strapped state. It will also create jobs and the related revenues to the state from that.
Another fallacy often proposed is that cannabis is a gateway drug to hard substances. Research has shown that this is false. There is research suggesting the opposite. A ground-breaking study of 4117 marijuana smokers in California reveals that the ‘Gateway Theory’ probably had it backwards. Instead of enticing young people to use other drugs, this study suggests that marijuana may have the opposite effect.
This first-ever clinical examination of a large number of medical marijuana applicants depicts a population that is remarkably normal. The percentages earning bachelors’ degrees and doctorates are nearly identical to the national numbers. They are, in the main, productive citizens with jobs, homes and families who smoke marijuana weekly or daily – and have in some cases for decades.
For the vast majority of these applicants, their use of cannabis ultimately led to a decrease in the use of tobacco, alcohol, and hard drugs. Asked to compare their current alcohol consumption with their lifetime peak, over 10% claimed to be abstinent and nearly 90% claimed to have cut their drinking in half.
Marijuana is far safer than alcohol because it does not stimulate aggressiveness and is not nearly as addictive.
To produce $14 billion (nation wide) in tax revenue (which could be used to pay for education, treatment and prevention for all drugs.)
To deprive cartels and gangs of a major source of revenue.
To significantly enhance the effectiveness of our police and courts. (Current annual marijuana arrests exceed 700,000 per year nation wide.)
To reduce hypocrisy and make drug education more credible and effective.
To end prisons doing far more damage to users than the drug itself.
To remove major barriers to research for medical use.
To reduce violence in general and safeguard law enforcers.
These are but a few of the benefits if cannabis were legalized. As your constituent and as a taxpayer in California, I urge you to address this and let facts and science dictate where we go with this
??
Respectfully submitted
Your name and address here
http://gov.ca.gov/interact
Will Arnold be the “Terminator” of
cannabis-prohibition?
😉
Go Cali!!
i assume that that statement he had made about notwanting to legalize it must have gotten him a few phone calls and emails that pressured him to change his mind, so he is actually listening to the people 🙂 which doesnt happen often in this country.
If he does legalize pot it will be one stop closer for my state to legalize it so i sent him an email http://gov.ca.gov/interact
I mailed Arnold. Lets do it California!
I also think this is bringing great media attention. CNN mentioned they will do a segment on Arnold and his comments.
I love the picture on the front of the blog with Arnold’s shirt reading numero uno. His facial expression is priceless, they should put it on a t-shirt with a catchy slogan to support the proposition. I’m sure that would get some attention lol.
I agree with champagne2878 – I can’t move to California either and Florida needs to get with the program already. We’re supposed to be a cool hip “island’ state if you will, but we don’t even have any medical marijuana laws let alone decriminalization. I guess we can blame Bush’s douchebag son and the new douch in office Charlie Crist. I though Crist was going to be cool but I was wrong on that one. We need to vote the him out.
Hopefully legalization will take hold in Cali and it will spread to the rest of the states as soon as they oogle the revenue that will be created and how some of the crime will drop. 2009 is the year folks, let’s get this done already.
Legalize to end our planet’s suffering; Ganja to end world war!!!!
This is great news. Im a glass is half full kind of guy and although I’m happy he said this, we shall see because actions speak louder than words.
On another note, found a great website that will be bound to get you congrssman’s attention. Has been featured on a few media outlets.
gradegov.com
can someone tell me what happened they were suppose to vote on legalization two months ago
All good flip flopers jump on the band wagon when it’s time for re-election.DON’T TAX MY PLANT. next you’ll want to tax my vegi garden too. SO DON’t TAX MY POT GARDEN EITHER!!!!! PEACE “GOD” be with us in these trying times.
I would move to California without a doubt, unless other states appeared to be following.
I nominate Paul Armentano and Russ Belville to represent the “pro cannabis camp” for this public debate !
A politician listening to citizens? Just when you think you’ve seen it all…
Good job to all of those that are ACTIVE in the fight to finally end this madness. Please, send letters in, the more we send the more we get heard.
Make it so we all can be like Irvin Rosenfeld but better. TOTALLY LEGAL!! Make it so that the Federal Government makes sooooo much money that we get a stimulus check every year. Some fun facts
–A whopping 12 BILLION dollars was generated in CA just from medical cannabis in ’06 alone. If the Federal Gov’t generated it, it is enought to provide healthcare for every sick kid in theU.S.
–Hemp can be produce then processed into a 0 PERCENT CARBON EMISSION FUEL FOR CAR.
–Annually, more people die from vending machines than from cannabis.
–Annually, more people die from ALL LEGAL DRUGS vs. ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS.
Good news! I hope Arnold continues to listen to what California citizens want and stays open to ideas…CA really would get a ton of money if marijuana was taxed, so it’s a serious benefit to consider.
Decades ago the Shafer Commission recommended no legal penalties for adults possessing up to 100 grams of cannabis. Why should the taxpayer foot the bill for another study? What part of “stop violating our Constitutional rights” can’t the government seem to understand?
If the TRUTH be known…
MANY would choose…
A Leaf™
over
Alieve®
as an OTC-med
to mitigate their pain…
If there EVER is such a debate for God’s sake hire a REAL lawyer to present a REAL case for REAL reform. For that matter hire a REAL public relations agency too.
lets get this thing done
Arnold, I hope you terminate prohibition.
It’s not a drug. It’s a leaf
This is it! We may finally have a chance! Let’s all work together to make this happen and then maybe our law enforcement can focus on more important issues than locking up the peaceful smokers who really aren’t posing a threat to themselves or anyone else
this is perfect for the whole country. not only would we be saving billions a year from the raids, prisons, and busts; the country could MAKE trillions a year just from the taxation of marijuana. i can’t see the financial crisis lasting much longer if trillions of dollars are being made a year
Hey Schwarzy! Go take testosterone shrink what left of your balls go terminate a beer your playdough spineless puppet, actor whatever, kinda stupid to criminalise pot in a weed head state! losing votes mate. Do people have any rights in America land of the FREE?….
Hey Shcwartzy! Go pump your muscles stop trying to use your brain! People shouldn´t need your permision to smoke a joint! It´s ok to take testosterone and anabols, shirnk whats left of your nads! ha
Why don´t you decriminalise cannabis so little teenage boys don´t have to get raped in prison for growing a plant in their own home. What does more damage weed or ignorance? People have to oppress others to get what they want -way to go! I smoke weed and I´m by far smarter than you. whatever happened to land of the free home of the brave? what a loser example america is to the world! We value your money and taxes but not the ones that gave it to us! The government is supposed to fullfil the wishes and desires of the people! not the other way around! By the way i served my country for real in real wars for false reasons($)
all for greedy men like you, so when you gonna return the favor and allow me some peace of mind for a change?
Arnold american soldiers and british soldiers have to take medication on operations in Iraq against bio and chemical agents and don´t even have a choice whether we want to or not! Plus! they don´t even know what all the side effects are or even the right dosage to apply.
Very dodgy stuff! Your government thinks it´s ok to test medication on people! but someone can´t smoke a joint? come on! stop trying to bullshit everyone!
You think it´s ok that someone can buy rat poison and kill themselves with NO dramas! but you can´t do something you´ll enjoy! I wasn´t born to work and pay taxes for you to sit back and enjoy the ride! Cut the hypocrisy, lies, corruption,greed, live and let live.
Keep prooving people right! Politicians are scheming little cowards that only know how to pull fake smiles and lie well. Power to the people not the government.
Just a thought how much does the government in your state actually earn with fighting cannabis? Want to end all the problems in the world? just end banker paradises like switzerland and cayman islands where corrupt men like you put their laundered money away from public eyes! I know what to do seems you don´t.
sorry i don´t respect cowards.
CAN SOMEBODY BUILD A WEBSITE SHOWING EACH REPRESENTATIVE AND THEIR SUPPORT?
Sorry for the all caps. I keep seeing a thousand pages of forums saying the reasons it should be legal. I see hundreds of news columns talking about the existence of the bill. What I’m not seeing is a unified front, showing each representative BY NAME and whether they support or not. We should be spending our time and resources to annoy the living hell out of those individuals who are not going to support the bill. We need them to make public their intent to vote in support of the bill. We need a countdown to the deadline for their vote.
We need for these people to know that if they neglect their constituency in this matter it will affect their reelection. Threaten their jobs and get their attention. Show that the people support this bill and are organizing against their apathy. Politicians are rich and powerful and only act when they feel its politically safe to do so. Make enough noise so they can always point to the public after the vote and say they were made to vote they way they did, for the public.
WE NEED A WEBSITE WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES NAMES, DISTRICTS, POSITIONS AND THE END OF THEIR REELECTION DATE. WE NEED PRETTY COLOR GRAPHICS SO EVEN IDIOTS, CHILDREN AND ANIMALS CAN SEE WHERE THIS BILL STANDS.
Arnold,
When the rhetoric about having a debate is over and the forum is finally opened, let facts and facts reign! All studies must be cited and an independent team of fact checkers prepared to corroborate those presented. All too often politics becomes the arena of demagogues keeping our old prejudices alive and proving our reason oh-so-brittle! For those eager to enjoy a rather enlightening overview of the topic, see on Google Video the award-winning Canadian documentary, “The Union: The Business Behind Getting High.”
If California legalizes marijuana for everyone, the other states will fall in line. This is the first step! We must convince the governator that this action is necessary.
i cannot believe why people have voted for him.
he is still an actor, sorry but serious.
All drugs should be legal, it would stop crime and
putting money in the pockets of criminals. Let’s
debate all drugs, why not? Wake up America
Let’s clean up these cities…..
[…] what about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier this month announced, “[I]t’s time for a debate” regarding taxing and regulating the sale of cannabis for […]
He’s two faced. That’s what it means. We must band together on this.
Medical Marijuana Card
it comes down to politics, and getting re elected. so i am not surprised at all.