The San Mateo County Times Insider column describes the next chapter in the on-going marijuana legalization debate going on in Sacramento:
Assemblyman Jerry Hill was recently named one of the "Outstanding Legislators of 2009" by the California State Sheriffs' Association for his work in Sacramento, which included introducing a bill to crack down on multiple DUI offenders.
But then he went and cast a vote in favor of marijuana decriminalization Tuesday as a member of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, the first time in U.S. history that a bill to legalize pot has passed a legislative committee, according to Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, the bill's author.
So did Hill make the sheriffs regret their pick? To the contrary, he said. The association's lobbyist texted him afterward to say they understand Hill's position and support him in it, the San Mateo legislator said.
Hill's position is that his vote, which allowed the bill to pass out of the committee 4-3, was simply in favor of continuing the discussion on how society should handle the issue of marijuana. He wouldn't vote for that same bill on the floor of the Assembly, he said.
Besides, the vote was mostly symbolic. The bill was doomed this session for procedural reasons and may not come back until after the November election, which will likely feature a ballot measure on marijuana legalization.
The bill's symbolic nature didn't prevent San Mateo police Chief Susan Manheimer from vehemently opposing it in testimony as acting president of the state Police Chiefs Association. Manheimer told the committee that the idea that legalizing weed will eliminate criminal trafficking is "not only naive but patently dangerous."
Hill disputed the notion Friday that he and Manheimer, who know each other well, had found themselves on opposite sides of the issue.
It should be interesting to see how the restrictions are crafted. I know a variety of parents and Washington Park neighbors are concerned about the pot smoking that allegedly goes on there at all hours of the day and night.
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