On November 2, Californians will vote on Proposition 19 which would allow anyone over 21 years of age to have 1 ounce of marijuana for personal consumption. The issue splits both parties. Democrats normally favor total government control over, for example, your retirement savings, your use of tobacco, and even the light bulbs you use to light your home. However, for marijuana, many on the left, such Rep. Pete Stark, Rep. Barbara Lee, and the NAACP, suddenly favor less government control. This makes sense once you understand, as the Gunslinger pointed out to me, that the left is not in favor of liberty but it is in favor of libertinism.
On the right side, conservatives see the social problems with drug addiction (marijuana may or may not fall in that category) but temper that with the reality that the current policy, prohibition, is not working well. Thus, Wm. F. Buckley Jr. and Milton Friedman have been supporters of drug legalization. As this clip shows, current conservative talking heads Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin also are favoring pot legalization:
Both of California's gubernatorial candidates, Meg Whitman and Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown, oppose legalization. Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Boxer (D-CA) also oppose. Public Policy Polling says that, among the public, Proposition 19 is currently leading by 52% to 36%.
RELATED to the distinction between being pro-liberty and pro-libertinism: The Spearhead discusses a feminist, Jaclyn Friedman, who writes in support of, in her word, "sluthood."
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