Oakland-Style "Measure Z" Campaigns Slated for More CA Cities

Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 21:38:24 EST
Subject: DRCNet Coverage of 2006 Measure Z's

Marijuana: Oakland-Style "Measure Z" Campaigns Slated for More
California Cities 2/16/06

<http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/423/moreZ.shtml>http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/423/moreZ.shtml

In November 2004, Bay Area cannabis activists scored a victory with
Oakland's "Measure Z," a ballot measure that instructed the city to
make "private, adult cannabis (marijuana) use, distribution, sale,
cultivation and possession" its lowest law enforcement priority.
While activists have sparred with city hall over issues such as
whether the law applies to the cannabis clubs that marked Oaksterdam
in its heyday, it stands as an enlightened municipal approach to
marijuana.

Now, some of the people involved in the Oakland campaign are set to
expand it to other California cities, according to the
<http://www.oaksterdamnews.com/>Oaksterdam News. The political
consulting group that ran the Oakland campaign, The Next Generation,
is overseeing the California Cities project to push Z-style
initiatives. After analyzing demographics, voting records, and
polling data, the project has joined with local activists to form
exploratory committees in five cities, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara,
West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and San Francisco. Initiatives are
being drafted now, with an eye to both local sensitivities and
avoiding some of the bureaucratic obstacles that popped-up in
Oakland. "We made sure that these initiatives had teeth, and are not
simply symbolic," a campaign spokesperson told the News. "We are
especially excited to help activists advance cannabis reform in
Southern California. It is vital that the southern part of the state
gets on board and stop criminalizing good, productive members of
society who happen to be cannabis consumers, if we ever want to make
changes to our state marijuana laws -- which, of course, we do." The
Oaksterdam News is itself a manifestation of the region's thriving
cannabis culture. Published by Oakland cannabis activist and
entrepreneur Richard Lee and edited by cannabis expert witness
<http://www.chrisconrad.com/>Chris Conrad, the News is resolutely
pro-cannabis legalization and set to add its voice to the Bay Area
dialogue. Look for a Drug War Chronicle feature article on the News
and East Bay activism next week.