CALIFORNIA POT INITIATIVE OPPOSED BY BEER INDUSTRY

The California Beer & Beverage Distributors is spending money in the
state to oppose a marijuana legalization proposition on the ballot in
November, according to records filed with the California Secretary of
State. The beer sellers are the first competitors of marijuana to
officially enter the debate; backers of the initiative are closely
watching liquor and wine dealers and the pharmaceutical industry to
see if they enter the debate in the remaining weeks.

The opposition to pot among beer makers, however, is not unanimous
among the CBBD's membership. Sierra Nevada and Stone Brewing Co.,
microbrews that began in California but have become popular national
brands, both lashed out at the CBBD after news of the distributor's
donation was reported on Celebstoner.com, a popular website focusing
on marijuana-related news, and Alternet.com.

"Stone is not a part of this campaign in any way. This issue has
caught us off guard," said a statement from the San Diego-based
microbrewery, calling itself "merely a non-voting Allied Member of the
CA Beer & Beverage Distributors (CBBD).As such, Stone Brewing does
not/cannot participate in the political action decisions of the CBBD."

A statement from Sierra Nevada said that the company has "requested
the CBBD to remove our name from their list of members, and also to
disassociate the brewery from this and any future political actions."

The last thing a California microbrew needs is to be associated with
the effort against legalizing marijuana. "We regret any implied
association with this action by the CBBD, and maintain our
independence and neutrality regarding matters of politics," the Sierra
statement said. "The CBBD does not represent Sierra Nevada's political
interests in any way, and does not represent the brewery's stance on
the issue."

The CBBD did not return calls for comment; it donated $10,000 to
Public Safety First, a committee organized to oppose the proposition,
on Sept. 7, 2010, though the contribution was only recently made
public. The alcohol industry has long seen illicit drugs as a threat
to sales, as consumers may substitute pot for booze. A night spent on
the couch smoking marijuana and watching television is a night not
spent at the bar.

Public Safety First is largely funded by a different industry whose
interests are threatened by the legalization of marijuana: law
enforcement. Police forces are entitled to keep property seized as
part of drug raids and the revenue stream that comes from waging the
drug war has become a significant source of support for local law
enforcement. Federal and state funding of the drug war is also a
significant supplement to local forces' budgets.

The California Narcotics Officers' Association has donated $20,500;
the California Police Chiefs Association has contributed $30,000. The
Placer County Deputy Sheriff's Association, the California Peace
Officers Association, the California District Attorney Association and
the Peace Officers Association of Los Angeles County have all
contributed, as well. Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca has been an
outspoken opponent. Earlier this months, current and former heads of
the Drug Enforcement Administration held a press conference in
Washington to oppose the proposition and urge the White House to sue
to stop it if it passes.

The pro-legalization forces, however, have caught at least one break:
The prison guards are staying neutral. One of the most potent
political forces in California is the California Correctional Peace
Officers Association. The prison guards spent more than a million
dollars in 2008 to defeat a proposition that would have sent some
nonviolent drug offenders into treatment rather than to prison -- a
law that would have cut down on overcrowding and overtime.

So far, the prison guards' bosses have gotten involved -- the
California Correctional Supervisors Organization has given $7,500 --
but the guards themselves are on the sidelines.

Advocates for Proposition 19, meanwhile, are running the campaign on a
shoestring budget. Wealthy individuals who generally bankroll the
legalization movement such as Peter Lewis, the head of Progressive
auto insurance, are sitting out.

Organized labor, however, is stepping into the breach. The Service
Employees International Union, a major presence in California, has
endorsed the proposition. The Teamsters in September made its first
successful foray into organizing pot growers. The United Food and
Commercial Workers is backing the initiative and organizing cannabis
club employees in the Bay Area. The teachers union, citing the revenue
that could be raised for the state, is also backing the initiative.

On Saturday, Roger Salazar, a spokesman for Public Safety First, was
confronted on CNN over his group's alliance with the beer
distributors. He blamed it on the forklift operators. "Let's keep in
mind the beer and beverage distributors are the folks who deliver beer
and beverage products. The truck driver, the forklift drivers, you
know, the warehouse workers. You know, these are folks who have
traffic safety and employee safety issues, first and foremost,"
Salazar said, though the beer distributors are the only distributor of
any product to oppose the proposition.

Mason Tvert, head of the organization SAFER, which makes the case that
marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, told Salazar that driving or
operating a fork lift while high would still be illegal if the
proposition becomes law -- just as alcohol is legal but it's against
the law to drive while drunk.

"With all due respect to this gentleman, he is a political consultant
being paid by the booze industry to protect their turf," said Tvert.
"We also need to consider the fact that this gentleman mentions all
the jobs that are created by the alcohol industry. These are all jobs
that can be created by the marijuana industry as well. And at the same
time, we're giving Californians the ability to use a substance like
marijuana that doesn't contribute to domestic violence and sexual
assault and overdose... and all the other problems that alcohol
contributes to."

Stephen Gutwillig, the state director for the Drug Policy Alliance in
California, noted the irony of cops working together with the beer
lobby. "Who knows better than law enforcement the violence, death and
disease booze inflicts on our society? The Feds clock it at $200
billion a year, including alcohol's direct involvement in up to 30
percent of violent crime every year. Marijuana consumption has none of
those associations. The cop-run No on 19 campaign getting in bed with
the alcohol lobby would be amusing if the implications weren't so
nauseating," he said.

UPDATE: Rhonda Stevenson, a spokesman for the CBBD, said that the
lobby does not oppose legalizing marijuana in principle, but objects
to the specific proposition. She added that Sierra Nevada and Stone do
not contribute to their Political Action Committee, so none of their
money has been invested in opposition to the initiative.

"First and foremost, we are not opposed to the legalization of
marijuana. We have no position on that...That's for the voters to
decide. Second of all, we do not think of [marijuana] as a competitive
product in the marketplace," she said. "That's not the issue. Our
issue is it's a poorly written initiative. When prohibition was
repealed, there was already a regulatory system in place to deal with
the distribution or sale of alcohol. Under this initiative, there is
not going to be anything in place state run. It's going to be 500-some
different counties and cities" involved in regulating the sale and
distribution of marijuana.

Indeed, when California legalized medical marijuana, regulation moved
in fits and starts in different parts of the state. Oakland, where
medical pot was more pervasive, moved to regulate dispensaries long
before Los Angeles did, for instance. Different communities had
different responses to legalization. If marijuana is legalized for
recreational uses, as well, it's reasonable to assume that there will
be accompanying regulatory failures and successes in various parts of
the state. Localities, however, will be able to rely to some degree on
the experience over the past 14 years with medical marijuana.