Published 2010-10-19T17:19:00Z”/>
<img src=”http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a435/theorion_com/prop19.png”>Patty Conover
Students working with Yes on 19 campaign registered an average 200 voters per week since the beginning of school thanks to “dorm stormin’.”
The student leader for the campaign in Butte County and agricultural major Weston Mickey thinks that the dorm stormin’ tactic – going door to door in the dorms to register and educate students – was the most successful way to create awareness and persuade people, he said.
Volunteers for the campaign offered voter registration for both republicans and democrats, which he thinks is indicative of the proposition itself, as the issue has seemed to transcend party lines.
Yes on 19 isn’t the only organization on campus that offered voter registration and education about the proposition.
While the Chico State Republicans decided to neither endorse nor oppose the proposition, groups such as Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Student Democratic Club actively lobby for its passage into law.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which is an organization newly recognized this year, think that marijuana should be controlled and taxed like alcohol, said Eric Barlow, a sophomore political science major and organization member. Mickey approached the group this semester, and the two groups have worked closely on campaigning.
Having the government actively monitor marijuana growth and consumption is not something that Chico State Republicans President Ryan Fedrizzi agrees with, he said
“We’ll fight to the death for the property rights of marijuana growers,” he said regarding the proposition’s clauses that say local government can control growers’ operations. “We don’t want that kind of government regulation.”
The club’s official hands-off stance is in protest to new regulations on marijuana since Senate Bill 1449, which lowers penalties for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and was passed this month, Fedrizzi said.
The proposition has other flaws as well, he said. While the Yes on 19 campaign estimates that California will earn $1.4 billion in tax revenue, Fedrizzi doesn’t see that money effectively aiding the current $19 billion deficit because it is not earmarked for specific recipients.
The Chico State Republicans do not want to actively sway voters one way or the other on Proposition 19, as members consider it a social issue for individual discretion and not necessarily a political one, Fedrizzi said.
The Student Democratic Club is taking a different stance.
The club actively engages students at a table boasting a banner with a marijuana leaf on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays by Bell Memorial Union, said Dylan Shelters, the president of the club. The national organization Young Democrats of America has officially endorsed the proposition.
Club members try to incite a controversial discussion about the pros and cons of the proposition to help people develop their own opinions about it, Shelters said. He thinks that the government should play a protective role in marijuana usage and that the proposition will positively impact the safe use of the drug.
One of the most appealing aspects about Proposition 19 for Shelters and other club members is that it allows local governments to decide on how to handle marijuana legislation, he said.
“It’s about the right to choose,” Shelters said.
Patty Conover can be reached at [email protected]
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