SAN DIEGANS ENGAGED IN DEBATE OVER POT MEASURE

Proposition 19 Would Legalize Marijuana Under California Law

San Diegans have pivotal roles on both sides of Proposition 19, the
battle to legalize marijuana that may prove a turning point in the
nation's decades-old war on drugs.

Polls suggest California and San Diego voters are closely divided on
the Nov. 2 ballot measure, which would allow people at least 21 years
old to grow, possess and use limited amounts of marijuana.

Backers say the measure would let law enforcement focus more on
violent crime, drain money from drug cartels and bring new revenue to
local governments by allowing them to regulate and tax marijuana.

Opponents say the measure would lead to a confusing patchwork of laws
from city to city, encourage more youngsters to light up and make
roadways more dangerous and the cartels even more deadly.

A City Heights couple, Ben Cisneros, 27, and Rachel Scoma, 25, are
regional field directors in charge of San Diego voter outreach for the
Yes on 19 campaign. In addition to the larger themes, they believe
legalization would be an overall economic benefit to the state.

"This can be like the California wine industry," said Cisneros, an
occasional pot smoker who is involved in the campaign while deciding
where to apply to law school. "It can create a huge amount of jobs."

San Diegan John Redman, 51, executive director of the nonprofit
Californians for Drug-Free Youth, argues for the No on 19 campaign at
forums statewide.

"How are kids going to say no when the adults are saying yes?" said
Redman, whose daughters are 15 and 19. "We have to understand that
drugs are not harmful because they're illegal. They're illegal because
they're harmful."

The two sides are largely counting on the power of their arguments.
Neither campaign has reported much fundraising, and both are vying for
voter attention with high-profile, heavily advertised races for
governor, U.S. Senate and other ballot initiatives.

About three-quarters of the $2.1 million supporters had raised through
Sept. 30 came from Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee,
and $1.3 million of that total was used for a signature drive to
qualify Proposition 19 for the ballot.

Opponents had raised only $210,000 through Sept. 30.

Late contribution reports filed since then show supporters continue to
out-raise opponents, $328,000 to $85,000.

A state legislative analysis estimated state and local governments
could save tens of millions of dollars a year on the costs of
incarcerating and supervising some marijuana offenders. The same
analysis also estimated government tax and fee revenues could
potentially increase by hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Any financial benefits would depend on how the U.S. government reacts
- -- marijuana would still be illegal under federal law -- and how local
governments regulate and tax marijuana activities.

Proposition 19 would make it legal for individuals to possess of up to
an ounce of pot and would allow them to grow it in a space of up to 25
square feet. People would be prohibited from possessing marijuana on
school grounds, using it in public, smoking it while minors are
present, or providing it to anyone under 21 years old.

Most of the political and law enforcement establishment across the
state opposes Proposition 19: major-party candidates for governor,
U.S. Senate and attorney general; police chiefs and sheriffs
associations, including those in San Diego County.

Civil libertarians, along with some minority groups and former law
enforcement officials, support the measure: the ACLU of Northern
California and Southern California; National Black Police Association;
former executive assistant San Diego Police Chief Norm Stamper; Alice
Huffman of California NAACP; Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. surgeon general.

The battle is being waged through mostly conventional means. Scoma,
the supporter from City Heights, has 3,000 yard signs and 2,000 fliers
to distribute citywide. Redman, the drug prevention expert, has 24
newspaper endorsements on his side.

Starting in September, Scoma, a graduate of Washington and Lee
University Law School in Virginia who declined to discuss her own drug
use, has spent Saturdays with 50 to 70 volunteers going to festivals,
grocery stores and other places where potential voters gather.

They have compiled a list of supporters they plan to call and
encourage to vote on Election Day. Scoma said supporters are old and
young, men and women, but mostly Democrats and libertarians. She said
she set up a booth at the state Republican convention in San Diego in
August and got some winks and smiles but no one signed up to support
her effort.

Scoma, who will learn whether she passed the California state bar exam
next month, said the campaign is connected to her career.

"The first thing if I'm going to help more people is to pass better
laws to make sure I have the defense I need to help future clients,"
she said.

Redman has worked in drug prevention for a decade. He's also a girls'
youth soccer coach who hears stories about how easy it is for
teenagers to get drugs.

This week, his campaign schedule includes an Asian Business
Association of San Diego forum, a Rotary Club meeting in Escondido and
a symposium at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles about the
international effects of Proposition 19.

He explains his involvement by a desire to keep kids safe. He said
Proposition 19 would increase marijuana's availability and decrease
how dangerous people perceive it to be -- a double whammy for youngsters.

"Proposition 19 will increase youth use and that's what saddens me the
most," he said. "Proponents of Proposition 19 say if we legalize,
regulate it and tax it, we can control it and keep it out of the hands
of youth. That's such hogwash."

A Sept. 26 Field Poll showed that 49 percent of likely voters surveyed
backed the measure while 42 percent did not, a reversal of a July poll
that found the initiative trailing by 4 percentage points.

In Southern California counties including San Diego but not Los
Angeles, supporters outnumbered opponents in September, 45 percent to
44 percent.

Eighty-four percent of those surveyed had heard of Proposition 19,
which is unusually large for a ballot measure.