California: Odd Bedfellows in the Pro-Pot Ballot Initiative
Organized Labor, the NAACP and Some Law Enforcement Officials Support Legalization, Taxation By BRIAN BRAIKER
April 5, 2010
An initiative to legalize marijuana in California will appear on the November ballot and both sides of the debate are wasting no time trying to smoke out the opposition.
But in an interesting wrinkle, California's pro-pot proponents are gaining support from some unlikely allies.
"We're definitely getting more support every day from people who haven't supported us in the past," says Richard Lee, the businessman and activist who led the effort that collected 690,000 signatures to get the initiative on the ballot.
A new nationwide poll by Pew Research Center suggests that opponents of legalized pot still comprise the majority (52 percent), and include the usual suspects: older Americans, conservatives and mothers of teenagers. In California, the state Republican party and the California Police Chiefs Association are just saying No to the ballot initiative.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/californias-pro-pot-movements-strange-bedfellows/story?id=10273152