I vote absentee because it's convenient, and so that I'm not surprised by ballot measures when I show up on election day.
I received my ballot this week, and here's a puzzler: Measure LL for the City of Berkeley: "Shall Ordinance No. 6,958-N.S., Repealing and Reenacting Berkeley Municipal Code (BMC) Chapter 3.24 (Landmarks Preservation), passed by City Council, granting the Landmarks Preservation Commission new authority to prohibit, instead of suspend, demolition of historic resources; eliminating property owners' approval in establishing historic districts; and substantially revising procedures for designating historic resources (including limiting reconsideration of properties not designated) and regulating alteration or demolition of historic resources, subject to appeal to the Council, be adopted?"
I have almost no idea what that means, but the idea of "eliminating property owners' approval in establishing historic districts" seems a bit dangerous to me.
However, I am grateful to live in a state where things like Proposition 2: Standards for Confining Farm Animals are on the ballot. It requires that "certain farm animals be allowed, for the majority of every day, to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up and turn around." Hmmm, before we kill you for our dinner, we'll let you run free. That, after all, is the humane thing to do.
Even better is local measure JJ: "Shall the City's ordinances be amended to require the City to issue a permit to medical marijuana dispensaries as a matter of right and without a public hearing, eliminate limits on the amounts of medical marijuana possessed by patients or caregivers; and establish a peer review group for medical marijuana collectives?" You had me until this "require" bit, this "without a public hearing" bit, this "eliminate limits on the amounts of marijuana possessed" bit and the "peer review group" bit. Yes, let's make the entire city one gigantic medical marijuana dispensary, with no limits on the amount dispensed, and the only oversight will be all the other people who are stoned out of their minds... Super.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
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4 comments:
Measure JJ sounds like a excellent proposal which would help make medicine more available to sick people. We don't limit the amount of aspirin you can buy at once, why should a far less toxic medicine like cannabis be treated differently?
I don't have any thing against medical marijuana for terminal illnesses, although I disagree that marijuana is less toxic than aspirin. Brain imaging has shown that regular use of marijuana damages brain function. My issue with measure JJ, however, is what I make clear in the post: 1. no public hearings on permit issuance, 2. no limits on amounts possessed (which, at the extreme could encourage people into illegal sales & distribution), and 3. peer-review groups. I believe in public hearings, limits on the amounts possessed, and external (i.e., non-peer) oversight.
If you are curious, there is some brain imaging work here: http://amenclinics.com/bp/atlas/ch15.php
(Obviously, if you have a terminal illness, brain damage may not be a big concern for you, if the trade off is significant pain relief. However, plenty of people who have prescriptions for medical marijuana do not have terminal illnesses.)
Nice to see that measure JJ passed.
Yes, it did, by a wide margin. I still disagree with it.
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