Prop 19

I'll start by stating the obvious: the idea of Prop 19 passing here in California makes me highly uncomfortable.

Not the idea of legalized marijuana - that I can understand, and in some sense, even support. The idea of cutting off funding to drug cartels, and taxing the living daylights out of it to assist the state economically... those seem like reasonable things to do, to me at least. Other countries have well enforced, well regulated legalized cannabis - it's not that humans are fundamentally incapable of managing it.

The part that I have a tough time with is the way that this legalization is being done - specifically that they're allowing personal private ownership of small quantities for personal consumption, rather than making the business a state run institution. How about something like a bar, where people come in, order what they want, and smoke it there? Just check their keys at the door.

It also does relatively little to address the unintended results of such legalization; it seems to me that the vast majority of people who want to legalize this are socially irresponsible, emotionally immature individuals. Allowing that maybe my sample population is off (it could be - maybe there are a ton of socially responsible, emotionally mature people that want this stuff legalized too)... Should our society, our kids, and myself personally be at effect of people who abuse the legalization of this substance? Do we really want to make a gateway drug legal? Underage drinking is a rampant issue, as is drug use by high schoolers (they buy it from dealers, or - shy of that - raid parents medicine closets, sniff glue, etc)... do we really want to make it easier for kids to be using this stuff?

It's not like we're legalizing it in a way that kids would be introduced to it in a safe and sane way - it'd be illegal for people under 21 to possess it - we're just making it legal for the adults. In making it legal for the adults, and confining it to private areas (like the home), we're now potentially legalizing the exposing of all those little babies to the second hand smoke of marijuana.

How about those people who are in recovery? All those people in rehab/drug programs/etc who are trying to get their stuff together - do we want to make it harder for them? By making it harder for them, we make it harder (and more expensive) for ourselves as a society.

What about people who don't follow the new regulations, and don't contain it to their private quarters? With law enforcement already stretched its limits with emergencies and violent crime, laying people off left and right, I find it hard to believe that they'll be responding to calls that sound like, "Excuse me, there's a gentleman toking on the corner of 7th and A Street. What? No, he's not hurting anyone, but it's illegal and it offends my olfactory senses."

I don't see this being regulated anywhere near as well as people seem to think it's going to be.

And how about the unforseen medical expenses of health issues down the line? Who's covering those? I have a hard enough time already knowing that my tax dollars pay for people's medical expenses whose diseases are self inflicted (from smoking, overeating, drinking too much, etc)... I apologize for sounding insensitive, but I'd really rather not add one more thing to the list of ways people can harm themselves at my personal expense. Illness you didn't do anything to get? Sure, no problem! When you do it yourself? ...Idiotic and irresponsible.

I love a lot of things about California.

This is most definitely NOT one of them.

I really hope it doesn't pass.

No on Prop 19.