California's Marijuana Proposition 19 Rejected by Voters

video/story by ABC News
written by Ray Sanchez

California voters snuffed out Proposition 19 which would have legalized recreational marijuana cultivation, according to ABC News projections, but backers said they would try again to legalize pot in 2012.

Some supporters of the defeated measure said they won despite the vote, claiming the referendum brought unprecedented attention to their cause. "Prop. 19 has elevated and legitimized the discourse around marijuana policy like nothing ever before," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, one of the nation's leading advocates for reforming drug laws.

"This is the first time major elected officials and labor unions and civil rights organizations have endorsed a marijuana legalization measure. The debate is less about whether to legalize marijuana and increasingly about how to legalize marijuana," Nadelmann said.

Of the more than $3.4 million put up to support California's Proposition 19 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, half the money came from one man, Richard Lee, the Oakland entrepreneur behind a medical marijuana dispensary, nursery and other pot-related businesses.

"It was a very bold move on his part and it was a bold move that -- win or lose -- will turn out to be the right move," Nadelmann said.

Billionaire financier George Sorosadded $1 million to proponents warchest in the last days of the campaign.

For supporters, legalization would end what they term a hypocritical ban on a drug they claim is less harmful than alcohol. They claim it would cut law enforcement costs, raise tax revenue, and make it harder for children to get marijuana. Supporters include the California branch of the NAACP, state chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, the California Young Democrats, the Republican Liberty Caucus, the California Council of Churches, and several big labor unions.

For opponents, Prop. 19 represents a threat to public safety, violates federal law and drug-free workplace rules, and wouldn't generate much tax revenue at all. Critics include Mothers Against Drunk Driving, most law enforcement groups, all the state's major party candidates for governor and U.S. Senate, and the California League of Cities.

The White House drug policy director Gil Kerlikowske applauded the vote today.

"The Obama Administration has been clear in its opposition to marijuana legalization because research shows that marijuana use is associated with voluntary treatment admissions for addiction, fatal drugged driving accidents, mental illness, and emergency room admissions," Kerlikowske said.