Newsom Calls For Legalizing Marijuana
With Jerry Brown in China, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom has been the “Acting Governor” for California.
Newsom was Tuesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.
On Saturday, at the California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento, Newsom called for marijuana legalization and described the war on drugs as “an abject failure.”
“It’s time to decriminalize, tax, and regulate marijuana,” Newsom said to raucous cheers and applause.
“In 2011 alone in this country, three quarters of a million people in the United States were arrested for marijuana law violations, 87% of them for simple possession. And listen to me closely on this – African-American children are ten times more likely to get arrested for drug crimes than their white counterparts even though white children are more likely to abuse drugs.”
“You can’t make this up,” Newsom said. “We send a higher percentage of African American males to prison and jail in this country than we send to colleges and universities in California. After 42 years of failure, I think it’s time we concede that if we continue to do what we’ve done, we’ll continue to get what we’ve got. I think you and we deserve better. It’s about standing up on principle, having the courage of our convictions, about saying publicly all too often what we say privately.”
Newsom’s speech was also filled with some laughter. Referring to his role as Acting Governor, Newsom said, “I’m thrilled to be here… on the sixth day of the Newsom Administration,” he said. “This is the right time and the appropriate time to reflect on our cornucopia of landmark accomplishments over these magical last six days.”
The KVML “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning on AM 1450 KVML at 6:47, 7:47 and 8:47am.
