Global Ganja Report

Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos warned Oct 25 that approval of California's Proposition 19 could force nations worldwide to rethink their anti-drug policies. He also said legalized cannabis in California would make the fight against drug cartels tougher throughout Latin America. "Tell me if there is a way to explain to a Colombian peasant that if he produces marijuana we are going to put him in jail and that the same product is legal [in California]," Santos said during a radio interview. "That's going to produce a comprehensive discussion on the approach we have taken on the fight against drug trafficking." (AHN, Oct. 25)

California's referendum on legalizing cannabis is dividing Mexico's political establishment, The Guardian reports Oct. 24. President Felipe Calderón is leading critics of Proposition 19, who see it as a dangerous experiment that would undermine efforts against the cartels. He has repeatedly accused the US of hypocrisy in pressuring Latin America to confront the cartels, while doing little to rein in stateside consumption. The Guardian fails to note that Calderón himself signed a national decriminalization bill into law last year.

US Attorney General Eric Holder stated Oct. 16 that the Department of Justice "strongly opposes Proposition 19," the pending cannabis legalization initiative in California. He wrote: "If passed, this legislation will greatly complicate federal drug enforcement efforts to the detriment of our citizens." He pledged to "vigorously enforce" the federal ban on possessing, growing or selling the drug if voters approve the ballot measure. Holder also indicated that the federal government might sue to overturn the measure if it is approved by voters on Nov. 2, writing that the DoJ "is considering all available legal and policy options."

In an exclusive interview with Global Ganja Report, leading California cannabis crusader Chris Conrad and his longtime activist wife Mikki Norris respond to the charges made by Dennis Peron and "Stoners Against Legalization" that Proposition 19 would create new felonies and overturn gains established by the state's medical marijuana statutes, Proposition 215 and SB 420. Conrad and Norris spoke with Global Ganja Report Sept. 16 at a Mexican restaurant in North Berkeley.

The Stop19.com website —self-dubbed "Cannabis Users Against Prop 19"—features the following interview with Dennis Peron, California's foremost pioneer of the medical cannabis movement, in which he propounds against Proposition 19, the state's pending legalization initiative.

The RAND Corporation has released a new study entitled "Reducing Drug Trafficking Revenues and Violence in Mexico: Would Legalizing Marijuana in California Help?" The headline for the Oct. 12 press release reads: "Legalizing Marijuana in California Will Not Dramatically Reduce Mexican Drug Trafficking Revenues." It states: "The study calculates that Mexican drug trafficking organizations generate only $1 billion to $2 billion annually from exporting marijuana to the United States and selling it to wholesalers, far below existing estimates by the government and other groups." It says the study also refutes the often-cited claim that marijuana accounts for 60% of gross drug export revenues of Mexican drug trafficking organizations, and notes that Proposition 19 would affect only one state in any case. But Jon Walker of the pro-legalization blog Just Say Now actually read the text of the study itself, and found some contrary findings:

Former administrators of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) John Bartels, Peter Bensinger, Francis Mullen, Jack Lawn, Robert Bonner, Tom Constantine, Donnie Marshall, Asa Hutchinson and Karen Tandy threw down the guantlet over Proposition 19, writing an editorial which doubled as an open letter urging Attorney General Eric Holder to bring suit against California —just as the Obama administration sued Arizona when that state passed its controversial immigration law.

Country music legend Willie Nelson has come out for Proposition 19, the California initiative that would tax and regulate cannabis. Asked by Mary Otte of High Times his opinion on the measure, Willie recently responded: