June 6th – Yesterday’s election brought mixed results for medical marijuana proponents in California.
Patient advocates won an important victory in Butte Co, where voters rejected Measure A, which would have sharply restricted patients’ right to cultivate on their own property, by 55%-45. Medical cannabis supporters had sponsored a referendum to repeal the measure, which had been approved by the Board of Supervisors last year.
In Kern County, the opposite result obtained, as 69% of voters approved Measure G, an ordinance sharply limiting the location of dispensaries in the county. Medical marijuana proponents had backed a ballot referendum to repeal the measure.
In Lake County, voters trounced a grower-sponsored measure to regulate medical marijuana like an agricultural crop, by 66%-33%. The proposal, Measure D, attracted organized opposition from law enforcement, public officials, the farm bureau and the Sierra Club.
In other closely watched races, LA City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, an arch-foe of the city’s dispensaries who was strongly opposed by MMJ advocates, appears to be losing his bid for District Attorney, running third in a field of six. The front runner with 32% of the vote is Jackie Lacey, who was endorsed by the incumbent, Steve Cooley, but also believes that sales of medical marijuana are illegal.
Deputy DA Alan Jackson, who has been more open to medical marijuana,
has a slight lead on Trutanich; he has 23.7%, Trutanich 22.3%. The top two vote-getters will square off in November.Governor Jerry Brown issued a Robocall for Trutanich, who also had the support of Shaquille O’Neill.
In the San Diego Mayor’s race, rabid anti-medical-cannabis DA Bonnie Dumanis got only 13% of the vote. The November run-off will likely be a contest between councilman Carl Demaio (32.1%), another staunch opponent of MMJ, and Rep. Bob Filner (30.1%), a strong
supporter.
In the 33rd Congressional District, LA NORML Director Bruce Margolin came in fourth in the race with 4.5%, followed closely by Libertarian Steve Collett with 4.3%. Both had made marijuana reform a centerpiece of their campaigns against long-time incumbent Henry Waxman, who was leading with 45%.
In the race for US Senate, where veteran drug warrior Sen. Dianne Feinstein faced a field of 32 unknown opponents, David Levitt, who had campaigned on drug reform and other progressive issues, got 1.6% of the vote; while Libertarian Gail Lightfoot got 2%. Feinstein’s opponent in November will be Republican Elizabeth Emken.