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For Immediate
Release: Tuesday July 20th, 2004
Contact: Mikki Norris 510-215-8326
Oakland
Cannabis Initiative Clears Final Hurdle
July 20th
City Council to place it on the ballot
If Passed,
Oakland Will be on Record as Approving the
Taxation and Regulation of Cannabis for
Adults By Shifting Police Priority,
Initiative Would Free Tax Dollars for
Vital Services.
Tonight, the
Oakland City Council will vote to place
the Oakland Cannabis Initiative on the
November ballot. The City Clerk has
alerted the council that the Registrar of
Voters confirmed that enough signatures
were submitted to qualify the Initiative
for the ballot, making the council vote to
qualify the Initiative pro forma.
The City Clerk
certified to the Council that the
proponents of the Initiative had submitted
an estimated 23,009 valid signatures -
well over the 18,748 required for
qualification on the ballot
"Legal regulation
and taxation of cannabis offers the best
way to reduce prohibition-related crime,
keep pot off the streets and away from
kids, and raise much-needed money for city
services," said Dale Gieringer, member of
the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance and
proponent of the initiative.
The Initiative
calls for the City of Oakland to tax and
regulate the sale of cannabis (marijuana)
for adult use, so as to keep it off the
streets and away from children and to
raise revenue for the city, as soon as
possible under state law. Until the state
allows such a system, the measure directs
city police to make investigation,
citation, and arrest for private adult
cannabis offenses the lowest law
enforcement priority, effective
immediately upon passage of this
ordinance. The Initiative also advocates
for changes in state law (and at other
levels as necessary) to authorize the
taxation and regulation of cannabis and
eliminate criminal penalties for private,
adult use.
According to a
January 2004 opinion poll, 75 % of Oakland
resident responders want the enforcement
of private, adult cannabis use to be the
lowest priority for law enforcement and 70
% support taxing and regulating marijuana
for adult use similar to alcohol.
"The whole
federal drug war has been a joke at best,"
said East Oakland Councilwoman Desley
Brooks, who supports the initiative.
"People realize that it just doesn't work
and we need to look to some other
solutions. In the neighborhoods I
represent, we would much rather see
resources spent on fighting violent crime
and providing economic development
opportunities."
OCLA is now in
the midst of kicking off a citywide
grassroots campaign which has already
received numerous contributions from local
supporters, including business owners and
private individuals. Also, several elected
officials have already endorsed the
measure, including: City Council members
Nancy Nadel and Desley Brooks, Alameda
County Supervisor Nate Miley, County
Supervisor Keith Carson and Oakland School
Board Member Dan Siegel. The Marijuana
Policy Project, the Drug Policy Alliance
and California NORML also support the
initiative.
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