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Obama's Facebook Forum Fails to Silence Marijuana Legalization Advocates
By Scott Morgan, StopTheDrugWar.org

In an apparent effort to prevent marijuana legalization from again dominating the discussion, Obama's next online townhall event will not allow participants to vote on their favorite questions for the president. But what does that say about the politics of social media? And will it even work?

It started with a simple and promising idea. The young voters who helped put Obama in office congregate on the Internet, and the best way to keep them involved in the political process is to meet them on their own turf. The incoming Obama Administration planned online forums mimicking the "thumbs up, thumbs down" voting systems that help rank the best content on popular viral sites like YouTube, Reddit and Digg. The President would solicit questions from the public and see what people cared about the most.

What no one anticipated was that the legalization of marijuana would emerge as the most popular political topic among the online public. Despite being initially chastised as "Internet trolls," supporters of marijuana reform repeatedly demonstrated their momentum in an open exercise of online democracy.

As startling as it was to see marijuana legalization taking a front row seat in mainstream politics, the outcome couldn't be ignored without defeating the purpose of the exercise entirely. Obama was forced to respond, and after an unfortunate first attempt to brush the issue aside, he eventually conceded just months ago that legalization is "an entirely legitimate topic of debate," but rejected it without explanation nevertheless.

It had become clear that as long as Obama's forums allowed the public to vote on topics for the president to address, the top-ranked questions would be about legalizing marijuana or even ending the War on Drugs altogether. Reluctant to confront the issue further, the White House recently changed its approach and announced an April 20, 2011 event on Facebook in which participants will not be allowed to vote at all. Questions can be sent in by email or posted on the Facebook page, but Obama's staff will make selections without any public input.

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Students Across California Mobilize to Control Marijuana Like Alcohol
Students for Sensible Drug Policy press release

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP),  announced plans today to mobilize student voters in support of Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010.  SSDP, the nation's largest student drug policy group with over 150 chapters nationwide, will rally an army of student canvassers at its regional conference to be held at San Francisco State University October 16-17. Many events  have been scheduled between now and the election on campuses up and down the state.  With a massive fire truck touring California, the students will 'Sound the Alarm to Vote Yes on Prop 19.' (See schedule below.)  Members of the media are invited to tour with the Yes We Cannabis Fire Truck.

"Young voters are the primary victims of the drug war and logically the largest group of supporters of Prop 19," says Aaron Houston, SSDP's Executive Director. "We plan to register thousands of students in the next 10 days and help many first time voters develop plans for Election Day.  Meshing good old fashioned one-on-one on college campuses with mobile alert technology sums up our strategy to turnout young voters," adds Houston.

SSDP already planned a massive canvass in Northern California months ago, but last week the group received a surprise $75,000 dollar donation from David Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and another $25,000 from Capitol Hemp Clothing and Accessories. "We are ramping up our outreach to even more students thanks to the surprise support," says Houston.

Dr. Bronner's is providing the company's promotional fire truck to 'sound the alarm' on college campuses across California before November's election.  A California based company, Dr. Bronner's buys 20 tons of hemp oil for their soaps from Canada each year.  For ten years the Bronner family has financially supported bringing back non-drug industrial hemp farming in the US as an environmentally sustainable crop that can be made into a wide variety of products including food, cosmetics, clothing, building materials and much more. Traditionally Dr. Bronner's has publicly supported 'hemp only' advocates; however Mr. Bronner is now publicly calling for the end of cannabis prohibition entirely in light of the bloody conflict being fueled in neighboring Mexico and the enormous waste of California taxpayer and police resources in the current budget crisis.  

Mr. Bronner stated:  "I'm calling up businesses like ours that I know are socially and environmentally conscious with a simple message, 'Just Say Now, now is the time to step up support.'  Prop 19 will free up police for fighting real crimes and stop renegade cannabis cultivation by gangs that are destroying our national parks.  Cannabis prohibition, not the herb itself, has been ruining productive and upstanding citizens' lives with courts and jails for decades."

The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, is a California ballot proposition which will be on the November 2, 2010 California statewide ballot. It legalizes various marijuana-related activities, allows local governments to regulate these activities, permits local governments to impose and collect marijuana-related fees and taxes, and authorizes various criminal and civil penalties. In March 2010 it qualified to be on the November statewide ballot. It requires a simple majority in order to pass. Yes on 19 is the official advocacy group for the initiative. SSDP is the lead student organization working with the Yes on 19 campaign.

The following is a tentative schedule for the Yes We Cannabis Fire Truck Tour and is subject to change.  To confirm exact times of events email Adam Eidinger at adam@mintwood.com

10/7/2010     San Diego State University     5500 Campanile Drive     San Diego     
10/8/2010     University of California, San Diego     9500 Gilman Dr.     La Jolla     
10/9/2010     University of California, Irvine     University of California- Irvine     Irvine     
10/10/2010     University of California, Los Angeles     405 Hilgard Ave.     Los Angeles     
10/11/2010     University of Southern California     1540 Alcazar Street     Los Angeles     
10/12/2010     California State University, Northridge     18111 Nordhoff Street     Northridge     
10/13/2010     Pitzer College     1050 North Mills Avenue     Claremont     
10/14/2010     San Bernardino Valley College     701 Mount Vernon Ave     San Bernardino     
10/15-17/2010     San Francisco SSDP Mobilization Tour     Various Locations     San Francisco     
10/18/2010     Sacramento State University     6000 J Street     Sacramento     
10/19/2010     Golden Gate University     536 Mission Street     San Francisco     
10/20/2010     University of California, Hastings     200 McAllister St.     San Francisco     
10/21/2010     San Francisco State University     1600 Holloway Avenue     San Francisco     
10/22/2010     Mills College     5000 MacArthur Blvd     Oakland     
10/23/2010     University of California, Berkeley     2198 University Avenue     Berkeley     
10/24/2010     California State University, East Bay     25800 Carlos Bee Blvd     Hayward     
10/25/2010     San Jose State University     One Washington Square     San Jose     
10/26/2010     University of California, Santa Cruz     1156 High Street     Santa Cruz     
10/27/2010     University of California, Merced     5200 Lake Road     Merced     
10/28/2010     College of the Sequoias     915 South Mooney Boulevard     Visalia     
10/29/2010     Azusa Pacific University     901 East Alosta Avenue     Azusa     
10/30/2010     Santa Ana College     1530 West 17th Street     Santa Anaa

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Missoula Marijuana Rally Falls Flat
By Maritsa Georgiou, NBCMontana.com

pitiful marijuana plantMISSOULA, Mont. -- Tuesday, women across the country rallied in support of a ballot initiative aimed at legalizing marijuana in California. But Missoula's protest fell flat.

Only the organizer showed up. She thinks marijuana should be legal and regulated, just like alcohol.

"It is easier for children to get marijuana today than it is for them to get alcohol," Heather Masterson said. "That is a strong point right there that we want to make people aware of. And we're also, as business professionals, we're tired of people going to jail for choosing a safer alternative to alcohol."

Proposition 19 will be on California's November ballot.

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