With polls showing support for allowing recreational use of marijuana in California, Proposition 64’s opponents are urging voters to look at increased crime and traffic crashes in Colorado, a state where it’s legal to use and sell the drug, as a cautionary tale.

“California would be falling into a pit hole, falling into a ditch,” Bishop Ron Allen, the founder of the International Faith Based Coalition, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Since voters legalized marijuana there in 2013, traffic-related marijuana deaths have increased by 48 percent, emergency room visits by 49 percent, and marijuana-related poison center calls by 100 percent, according to a letter provided by No on 64 from Denver District Attorney Mitchell Morrissey.

The prosecutor’s letter did not say if marijuana’s legalization caused the increases, only that there was an increase after the substance was legalized.


Proposition 64 would legalize marijuana use for people over 21, impose state taxes on sales and cultivation, create a licensing system, establish standards for marijuana goods, and allow local governments to set regulations — from taxing marijuana sales locally or banning it.

A SurveyUSA poll completed on Sunday shows that 51 percent of likely voters support the proposition, down one percentage point from a poll from the end of September. Opposition is polling at 40 percent, eight percent are undecided, and one percent are not planning to vote on the measure.

And a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll from early September found 58 percent of California voters support Prop 64, while 34 said they would vote against it. Another 8 percent had no answer. It is supported by a majority of men, a majority of women, and a majority of both Democrats and Republicans.

“We recognize it’s going to be an uphill battle,” county Supervisor Dianne Jacob said.


“We need to get the word out that the Colorado experience tells the whole story,” she added.

Melanie Weaver from the California Association of Highway Patrolmen said there aren’t provisions in Proposition 64 to effectively catch drugged driving. Officers are trained to evaluate drivers for marijuana intoxication, but there is no clear-cut standard for impairment, and motorist who drive drugged often are not punished because it can be difficult to prosecute a case.

“Even if officers are able to get them off the road, there’s no real consequence,” she said.

Jason Kinney, a spokesman for Yes on Proposition 64, said Colorado initially had problems right after pot was legalized, but subsequent regulations resolved most of the issues. He said California’s Proposition 64 will avoid some of Colorado’s early mistakes.


It also includes provisions to make marijuana use safer than current regulations. For one, it includes requirements on potency and recommended dosage for marijuana edibles, and it prohibits products and packaging intended to appeal to children, Kinney said.

“There will be no gummy bears,” he said.

While anti-Proposition 64 coalition believes California’s voters will be persuaded to vote against legalized marijuana by seeing Colorado as a cautionary tale, polls show that Coloradans and voters in other states where marijuana use is legal do not regret their decisions to end prohibition.

A survey this fall by Public Policy Polling commissioned by the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project show that there are mixed but mostly positive views of recreational marijuana in Colorado. The Cannabist — an edition of the Denver Post newspaper — reported that the poll revealed that 51 percent of voters in Colorado would not want to repeal legalization, while 36 percent would. Another 13 percent were undecided.


Another 47 percent said legal marijuana was a positive thing for Colorado, 39 said it was bad, and 9 percent said it had no impact while another 6 percent were undecided. Colorado’s Amendment 64 to legalize marijuana was approved in November 2012 with 54.8 percent of the vote.

Oregon also has legal marijuana, and a poll conducted this fall by DHM Research found that 61 percent of voters think that the change had a good impact on the state. In 2014, 54 percent of voters supported legalization.

The polls, Proposition 64 opponents said, have little significance in California.

“California has a lot of different demographics than Oregon,” said Tim Rosales, a strategist working on the anti-Proposition 64 campaign.


Without providing specifics, Allen said the polls were “off center” and that were pushed by organizations that want to see the legalization of all drugs.

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The United Medical Marijuana Coalition and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith announce "Buy Safe Buy Legal”. A campaign that helps medical marijuana patients separate law-abiding dispensaries from law-breaking dispensaries.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com


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