Vote with Ngaio: On marijuana and next week’s election

Do you have a stance on Proposition 47 and, if it passes, how do you think it will impact marijuana in the state? Also, have any voting advice for marijuana-related issues?

—Reggie Stardvotar

I am glad you asked. Of course I do. Voting is the most important thing you can do as an activist and as an American. Never let anyone tell you that voting doesn’t work. We got medical marijuana through the vote. Voters legalized the recreational use of cannabis in Washington and Oregon because people showed up to vote. If elections didn’t matter, the GOP wouldn’t be trying to pass all these bullshit-ass voter ID laws. Vote, vote, vote, vote, vote, vote! I cannot stress this enough.

Anyway, yes. In California, the only real drug-related initiative on the ballot is Proposition 47, which would change the law so that some low-level, nonviolent crimes (drug possession, petty theft, forgery, yada yada) would be misdemeanors instead of felonies. If passed, this bill is expected to save hundreds of millions of dollars in court costs. That money would then be used to help out schools, mental-health services, and drug treatment programs.

I am all for it. So are Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Senators Mark Leno, Loni Hancock and Darrell Steinberg. Heck, even former Congressman Newt Gingrich (and I can’t stand him) thinks this is a good bill. The opponents are the usual gang of law-enforcement officers that think all of our problems would be solved if we could just put everyone in jail.

Vote yes on 47.

Turning to more local matters: In Nevada County, Proposition S is on the ballot. It would replace the draconian-outdoor growing regulations created by the board of supervisors with something way more reasonable. Instead of a grow having to be 1,000 feet away from a school, it would have to be 600 feet away. Instead of having to grow their cannabis on flat land (!?!?), growers would be allowed to grow on terraced property. I don’t even get why the BOS would mandate that all grows have to be on flat land. Do they even know the terrain of Nevada County? Also, the plant limits would be raised and indoor growers would be allowed to have two grow rooms: one for young and vegetating plants, and one for plants going into flower. Also, outdoor grows would be restricted to nonresidential zones and the property must be larger than 2 acres. These are all very reasonable rules and I urge you all to vote hell yes on S.

And please, please, please get all of your people that live in Oregon to vote yes on 91. And call your friends in Alaska and tell them to vote yes on 2. And your homies in Florida, remind them to vote yes on 2, too! And if you have peeps in Washington, D.C., have them vote yes on 71.

City by city, county by county, state by state—we will legalize marijuana. Keep voting and we will prevail.