End Criminalization of Cannabis Consumers

Have you read the AUMA initiative? It downgrades most marijuana offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, from misdemeanors to infractions. Most young people under 18 will not face any criminal penalties — no infraction and no misdemeanor, just drug education and community service. Young people 18-20 will face lower penalties than are currently on the books. How can we not support that?

It enables adults to possess, share, and give away up to an ounce legally. How can we not support that, since currently we are fined for up to an ounce? Possessing more than an ounce currently is a misdemeanor, but it makes it an infraction to possess more under this initiative (jail time is currently 16 months+). It allows adults to grow up to six plants legally without a doctor’s note. Currently that is a felony for even one plant, without a doctor’s note. How can we not support that?

It has provisions for on-site consumption, allowing for permits to be issued for that. I love that! I want to be able to go out and enjoy my cannabis in a space that is completely legal, not just tolerated.

I would think you’d be happy that nonprofits can form to provide for low income people. How can you not support that?

Patients who are parents will not face CPS intervention when they are in compliance with the Prop. 215 law, when currently they have no protection. How can you not support that?

It has anti-monopoly language in it (lesson from the Ohio experience) and is skewed towards small and medium sized cultivation licenses (at least it gives smaller growers a head start for the first five years on that).

It explicitly says Prop. 215 is protected, while it makes it so that a jurisdiction can’t completely ban personal cultivation, unlike what is happening currently and when MMRSA is implemented. How can I not support that?

It enables people to get out of jail and expunge criminal records. So many people currently don’t have a way to do that, and it will help people get on with their lives. How can I not support that?

As an edible consumer, I welcome labeling and dosing requirements, as I am tired of not knowing how much I am taking, and not enjoying it when I unknowingly take too much.

I am glad that it doesn’t have a per se DUI, and has provisions for coming up with impaired driving tools (to keep all impaired drivers off the road, not marijuana specific).

While it wasn’t my first choice of initiatives, this one will be on the ballot. I guess I am a pragmatist, as I don’t want to wait for the perfect initiative as I don’t think that exists (at least one that could pass). AUMA is still a game changer and makes significant steps forward in our legal standing and makes us less criminalized. Legal standing is significant. It will move the ball down the court, rather than keeping it so that only patients have some protections. It will start to end the stigma and discrimination as more people can say, I am using this legally, so leave me alone (and I deserve more rights).

I know people in other states and other countries who are waiting for California to legalize, to enable them to go forward. If this passes, it will make it easier for others to do it, too. I want to live in a world that ends criminalization of cannabis consumers, and makes it so we can legally imbibe in other places as well. I am supporting this as I am working for my equal rights.

I can’t pass on this opportunity to reject criminalization and wait another four years for who knows what? Who will be president then? The trend is towards more regulations, not fewer. If Gavin Newsom becomes the next governor, at least we would have an ally in office when it’s time to implement it. He certainly has a stake in making this work, since it conforms with his Blue Ribbon Commission findings. He wants to end the illicit market, so prices will have to come down to do that. He wants it treated like a health issue, not a criminal issue, so he will have to make sure that arrests are down, too.

I know it doesn’t take us all the way to where we want to be, but it at least gets us going in the right direction. I see it as a beginning, not the end point. If this doesn’t pass, our beginning will be medical marijuana under MMRSA, which is not a good place to be, and no more protections for non-patients (the majority of cannabis consumers). I spoke with someone from Washington state last night who said that arrests are way down now as a result of I502, and AUMA is much better than that. So, I expect a big drop in arrests, prosecutions, and incarcerations. It is something I think we can work with to further our status and freedom. If it doesn’t pass, it won’t be interpreted like Ohio. It will be interpreted that the voters don’t want legalization, that people are fine with criminalization of cannabis consumers, and that would be a huge setback for the movement.

By the way, if MCLR or CCHI gets a miracle and gets on the ballot, I would support that, too.

You know I am a long-time advocate for social justice, equal rights, and human rights, and I will support efforts that I believe will move us in that direction. Hope this helps you understand where I am coming from.

Mikki

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Chris Conrad and Mikki Norris are giving a talk about the AUMA legalization initiative at the LA NORML office on January 30 at 2 PM.