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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Secret Stoners May Be Key To Proposition 19 Success

Kevin Douglas Grant |
October 26, 2010 | 9:50 a.m. PDT

Executive Editor

Nevermind certain polls that say California isn't ready to legalize marijuana.  It turns out voters may be lying to the pollsters on Proposition 19, claiming "No" votes when they're really voting "Yes."

An EMC Research survey of 1000 people put support for the measure at 56 percent.  A recent LA Times / USC poll put the number at 39 percent.  Aside from the distinct possiblity that polls don't mean anything, Talking Points Memo editor Josh Marshall wrote:

"[S]upporters of Prop 19 are insisting that there's a 'reverse Bradley effect' playing into what appears to be declining support or at least making support for the proposition look softer than it is. The idea is that people feel uncomfortable saying they're for legalization. And in fact there's at least some evidence suggesting that they're right."

As a bellwether for America's social issues, California's pot deliberations have won particular interest during this midterm election cycle.  One of the most powerful followers is billionaire investor Geoge Soros.  A longtime supporter of drug legislation reform, Soros plans to put a million dollars behind Prop in the final days before Nov. 2.

He pledged his support in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday:

"I agree with Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP, when she says that being caught up in the criminal justice system does more harm to young people than marijuana itself."

Soros is not the only powerful old white man to be so vocal about legalization.  The "Yes on 19" campaign recruited retired San Jose police chief Joseph D. McNamara to star in commercial that starts running Tuesday.  He says:

"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."

Whether or not there is a secret stash of supporters out there afraid to make their true vote known, the proposition may be mostly symbolic anyway.  Neon Tommy has reported:

"While the federal government wouldn’t be able to require California law officials to help them enforce the federal law, the police and the Obama administration plan on doing so.  L.A. County Sheriff, Lee Baca, has already publicly stated that even if the proposition passes, he will tell his officers to disregard the voters decision, saying 'Proposition 19 is not going to pass, even if it passes.'"

For Prop 19 supporters, it's first things first.

 

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