VOP: Prop 64

ALL>> I don’t want to see marijuana advertising on television while my son is watching “The Simpsons.” If Prop 64 is approved, Big Marijuana will be allowed to market dope during the hours when our children are watching. Granted, they can’t advertise on “Sesame Street,” but they could place Joe Camel-like ads on shows popular among teens – as a Sacramento Superior Court Judge ruled in August. Judge Shelleyanne Chang approved ballot arguments that Prop 64 “could limit a 45-year ban on smoking ads on television, allowing marijuana ads airing to millions of children and teen viewers.” The judge also wrote that “marijuana smoking ads could be allowed on all broadcast, prime-time shows and approximately 95 percent of all broadcast television programming. Children could be exposed to ads promoting marijuana gummy candy and brownies.” If all that television advertising weren’t horrible enough, Prop 64 makes no provisions preventing drugged driving – as California Sen. Diane Feinstein mentioned in her Oct. 1 editorial in the Sacramento Bee. “Proposition 64 fails to adequately address the public health and safety consequences associated with recreational marijuana use,” the Democratic senator wrote. “It does not do enough to keep stoned drivers, including minors, off the roads.” California’s media is ignoring Colorado, which is enduring buyer’s remorse in the wake of legalizing dope in 2012. The Colorado Springs Gazette, in its “Clearing the Haze” investigative series about marijuana legalization, reported that: The black market for drugs never went away, tax revenues never materialized as promisedCrime increased, jails never emptied of prisoners incarcerated on dope-related offenses and drug use skyrocketed across all age groups (including minors) According to PotGuide.com, Colorado’s 900 marijuana dispensaries outnumber McDonald’s and Starbucks combined. The realities of Colorado has proven that marijuana legalization is a fraud. If Prop 64 is approved, Big Marijuana will swoop into California and turn the Golden State into a cash cow – and our children will pay the price for its greed. I am urging all voters to reject Prop 64 because it’s irresponsible, irrational and immoral. John Berry Inland Empire Chair Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana Paid for by John Berry