The campaign to pass Proposition 19, the California ballot measure to legalize the private adult use and cultivation of cannabis, released a television ad today featuring former San Jose police chief Joseph McNamara, who makes a strong public safety case for ending the current prohibition laws.
Says McNamara in the ad (view below):”Let’s be honest: The war against marijuana has failed. I know from 35 years in law enforcement. Today, it’s easier for a teenager to buy pot than beer. Proposition 19 will tax and control marijuana just like alcohol. It will generate billions of dollars for local communities, allow police to focus on violent crimes, and put drug cartels out of business. Join me and many others in law enforcement. Vote YES on Proposition 19!”
McNamara served as San Jose’s chief of police for 15 years.
The ad begins airing on televisions stations throughout California, with a specific emphasis on southern California, tomorrow. (Interested parties who wish to donate to the ad campaign can do so by going here.)
McNamara also has a commentary on today’s Huffington Post, which you can read here:
Let’s Be Honest: The War Against Marijuana Has Failed
[Excerpt] For 70 years, we have prohibited marijuana in this country, each day expecting different results. But as William F. Buckley once said: “Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.”We spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year arresting people for marijuana possession, sending them to trial, and incarcerating small-time offenders.
And yet, despite our war against it, marijuana is so freely available that anyone who wants it in California can get it.
… On my watch as police chief in San Jose, the city was named the safest large city in the country, despite having the fewest police per capita. That’s because we policed intelligently. And between smart policing and sound policy we can make our streets safe, instead of paying lip service to the failing war on marijuana.
California cannot afford to continue the same failed policies of the past. … That’s why I am asking you to join me and many others in law enforcement by voting YES on Proposition 19.