Voters Guide to Drug Policy Reform Candidates, November 2014
Pro-reform candidates are in green; Anti-reform in red; Neutral in black.
STATE CANDIDATES – BALLOT PROPOSITIONS – CONGRESS – STATE LEGISLATURE – LOCAL RACES AND BALLOT MEASURES
Governor
Gov. Jerry Brown has posted a mixed record as Governor. To the disappointment of many fans, he dismissed calls for marijuana legalization with derogatory comments about “unproductive potheads.” On the positive side, he signed legislation to expand access to clean syringes by drug users and a 911 Good Samaritan Act to protect callers from prosecution for illegal drug possession. He also vetoed a bill banning dispensaries within 600 feet of residential zones. More ambiguously, Brown vetoed a bill to legalize industrial hemp, but then approved a revised version that was conditioned on federal approval (which may soon be forthcoming thanks to the new federal law allowing hemp for research purposes). On the negative side, Brown has resisted court orders to reduce prison crowding, shocking prison reform advocates by vetoing Mark Leno’s bill SB649 to downgrade penalties for possession of narcotics from a mandatory felony to a wobbler (fortunately, voters will have a chance to override him by voting for Prop 47 this November). Continue reading
