WITHOUT CO-SPONSOR, AMMIANO'S POT BILL LAGGING

California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, started a
national conversation by introducing a bill to legalize and tax
marijuana for recreational use in California. In the days afterward,
even Fox News commentator Glenn Beck said, "It is about time we
legalized marijuana."

While Ammiano's bill, introduced in February, has sparked cable and
blog chatter and supportive editorials from around the world, it
hasn't received a single co-sponsor. He pulled it from a committee
hearing scheduled for late March - he said it was scheduled without
his knowledge - and plans to hold a hearing in late fall or early
winter. The measure is now a two-year bill, giving the freshman
legislator through next year to build support.

Few doubt Ammiano's political bravery in introducing legislation that
challenges one of society's long-standing taboos - he calls it the
"wink-wink" attitude many have toward weed. But is the former
stand-up comedian and first-term legislator representing one of the
most liberal parts of the country the right person to lead the fight
for pot legalization?

Can a longtime San Francisco supervisor convince his conservative
colleagues from districts that don't have dozens of pot clubs that
they're not taking a political risk by supporting a bill the state
Board of Equalization says could raise more than $1 billion in
revenue for a cash-starved state?

"Oh, don't underestimate me, pal," Ammiano said. He isn't concerned
about not having co-sponsors so early in the process, especially for
a highly detailed bill that could be reviewed by three different
Assembly committees. Privately, he has been having conversations with
his more conservative colleagues, many of whom he said are telling
him, " 'Great idea - I don't think I can vote for it yet.' I think
they need the assurance of their constituents that they won't be
thrown out of office, which I think would be highly unlikely. They
won't be thrown out of office for this."

Economic, Social Benefits

So he hopes to appeal to them either with the economic benefits of
legalization or with the prospect of reducing drug-related violence.
When he lobbies legislators from the more rural districts, he
explains how legalization could reduce the growing operations of
international drug cartels.

The bill couldn't come at a friendlier time for pot legalization.
Days after it was introduced, the Obama administration's Justice
Department said states should make their own rules regarding medical
marijuana - a change from the previous two administrations.

While several recent polls have shown an rise in the percentage of
respondents who would support legalizing pot, GOP consultant Rob
Stutzman doesn't sense a grassroots hunger for legislation.

"People who want to use marijuana are finding it and not having that
much trouble using it," said Stutzman, who advises GOP gubernatorial
hopeful Meg Whitman (who he said opposes legalization).

But Ammiano replied, "If we're hemorrhaging money and doing this
wink-wink, nod-nod all these years, it's about time we start
harvesting this. And admit to the fact that it's going to be around
and if we regulate and tax it, and decriminalize it, we could have
not only an economic benefit but a policy benefit."

Politically, such an effort would be challenging, Stutzman said, as
Ammiano's political pedigree "does allow the issue to be
compartmentalized as a very left-wing, San Francisco idea. If there
was a legislator from Fresno or even suburban Los Angeles sponsoring
it, it might be a little different."

Vasconcellos' Early Effort

Five years ago, former state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara,
had similar legislation drafted. But Vasconcellos, one of the most
powerful legislators in Sacramento with nearly 40 years of service,
never introduced it.

He wasn't shy about taboo-shaking legislation. He sponsored "The
California Task Force to Promote Self-esteem and Personal and Social
Responsibility" and proposed that 14-year-olds be allowed to vote.
But he told The Chronicle that he pulled the pot bill because he felt
critics would revive their prediction that medical cannabis - which
he long championed - was merely a tactic to eventually legalize weed.

So the measure remained in the dark until a few months ago. When Dale
Gieringer, coordinator of California NORML (National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws) heard that Ammiano's office was
considering a similar move, he shared Vasconcellos' legislation with the staff.

Ammiano said Vasconcellos "told me to 'Just go for it.' "

"Tom has always been a courageous spokesperson for cutting-edge
issues in San Francisco," Gieringer said. As for whether that ability
translates to a statewide stage, Gieringer said, "He may be
ideologically and culturally polarizing, but personally, he's not."

Gieringer cautions that moving this bill forward will take time,
noting that medical marijuana took several years to take hold
statewide in California. Now, 13 states have legalized medical
marijuana. "This," he said, "goes deeper than Tom Ammiano."