DEFEATED POT SUPPORTERS LIVE TO SMOKE ANOTHER DAY

Postmedia News

The failure of California's marijuana Proposition 19 now raises an
inevitable question: If not in the left-leaning Golden State, then where?

Backers of legalization on both sides of the border insisted
Wednesday that the fight was far from over.

"We may be disappointed. We're not discouraged. We're certainly not
defeated," said Steve Gutwillig, California director of the
pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance.

Like it or not, Prop. 19 has placed the issue of ending prohibition
squarely in "mainstream" American politics, he said during a news
conference at the downtown Oakland Yes to Prop. 19 headquarters.

If the ballot measure had passed, California would have become the
first state to allow people 21 years and older to possess up to one
ounce of marijuana and grow up to 2.25 square metres of marijuana.

Canadian pot producers were likely watching the vote results closely.
The spectre of legalization in California had prompted speculation in
recent weeks that a "yes" vote could deal a blow to the Canadian
economy, particularly in B.C., because so much of the underground
marijuana business is reliant on demand from south of the border.

But when all the votes were tallied, 54 per cent of California voters
rejected the measure, while 46 per cent supported it.

Pro-legalization forces said there's one thing that the "no" camp
can't deny, and that is support for legalization is growing among all
segments of society, from young people to professionals.

"It's not just a bunch of hippies who want to get high," said Jodie
Emery, wife of Vancouver activist Marc Emery, who was recently jailed
in the U.S. for selling marijuana seeds online.

"There's no way to reverse this," she said.