OntheWilderSide

The Green Party of California (GPCA) this week disclosed its positions on the state propositions on the ballot Nov. 2, revealing it has endorsed less than half of the measures based on a poll of Green Party County Councils (central committees) at the party’s state convention here.

Greens reserved their biggest support for Prop. 19, the marijuana legalization measure,and also endorsed

• Prop. 21 (vehicle fee of $18 for helps parks/wildlife),
• Prop. 24 (cut corporate tax breaks) and
• Prop. 25 (lowering requirement to pass state budget to majority, from the present two-thirds in the Legislature).

The GPCA overwhelmingly opposed Prop. 23 (suspension of air pollution laws) and Prop. 26 (increases to two-thirds from majority to adopt new state taxes).

The Greens took no position on Prop. 20 (moves redistricting to a citizen commission from the Legislature), largely because the party believes proportional representation, practiced by virtually all of the world’s democracies, should be instituted not an incremental system that new redistricting would provide.

And, the Greens remained neutral as well on Prop. 22 (prohibits the state from raiding local government coffers) and Prop. 27 (repeal of the citizen redistricting commission).

The Green Party said approving Prop. 19 is a social justice issue, noting that three times as many Blacks are arrested on marijuana charges than Whites, who use marijuana much more frequently.

“This is a long overdue correction of years of unjust prohibition of a drug far less harmful than alcohol or nicotine,” said Joan Strasser, in her analysis for the GPCA.

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