Marijuana.com

CheebaMonkey

Candidate Stakes Race on Legalizing Pot
Freedom To Exhale | May 30, 2004

Newport Beach -- If any other U.S. Senate candidate proposed legalizing marijuana, voters might question what that politician had been smoking. But the California hopeful making that pitch doesn't get those questions - at least not very often.

He is Jim Gray, a Republican-appointed Superior Court judge from conservative Orange County who said he's never used illegal drugs. The 59-year-old former Republican became a Libertarian last year and is now that party's nominee to unseat Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.

http://www.marijuana.com/420/attachm...tid=2674&stc=1

"Every vote I get will be a vote to get the federal government out of the marijuana business," he tells audiences.

[CheebaMonkey: OORAH!]

Gray addresses other issues, but his call for an end to federal prohibitions on marijuana is generating more buzz for the Libertarian Party than it's received in years.

"He adds a lot of gravitas to the party because of his position," said Mark Selzer, California Libertarian Party southern vice chairman.

Eliminating drug laws, along with other "victimless" crimes, has long been part of the Libertarian Party's advocacy for personal freedom.

In California, its platform has attracted less than 1 percent of registered voters to join the party. But a handful of its candidates have won local elections, including Mendocino County District Attorney Norm Vroman and Calaveras County Supervisor Tom Tryon.

With so little support, spokesmen for the state's two leading Senate candidates said Gray's candidacy would have little effect on the race.

"If anything, it hurts Boxer a little bit with those that might be on the left side regarding the legalization of marijuana," said Sean Walsh, spokesman for Republican Senate nominee Bill Jones.

In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, legalizing the cultivation and use of marijuana for medical treatment of qualified patients. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration didn't recognize the law and has raided cannabis clubs in the state.

Jones and Boxer agree with Gray that Californians should be allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes.

But Jones wants the federal Food and Drug Administration to regulate the pot and the physicians who prescribe it for patients. Without that federal oversight, Walsh said Jones opposes the operation of marijuana clubs and supports the DEA raids of those establishments.

Roy Behr, Boxer's longtime campaign spokesman, said he didn't know if the senator supports the DEA raids and couldn't reach her last week for comment.

Jones and Boxer disagree with Gray's call for ending all federal sanctions for the illicit weed.

As a result, Behr said Gray's campaign would have to focus on positions that are "ridiculously far out of the mainstream."

The judge, who's taken a leave from the bench to run, maintains his views are indeed "mainstream." He said his goal is to make Democratic and GOP leaders understand that by winning enough votes to force the parties to adopt his views on marijuana.

But the $100,000 he's raised for his campaign is far behind the $11 million that Boxer has collected and the $1.8 million raised by Jones.

Gray said he first decided to campaign against what he calls the nation's "failed" drug war after an incident in his courtroom reminded him of how money and manpower spent on fighting illegal drugs could be better spent on violent crime. A 17-year-old who robbed and beat prostitutes emitted a whoop of celebration when Gray - going along with the terms of a plea bargain approved by another judge - sentenced him to jail for just a few more weeks than the defendant already had served while awaiting trial.

Gray denounced the war on drugs in an April 8, 1992, press conference on the courthouse steps that set off a political brouhaha. The Orange County sheriff vowed to keep his cases out of the judge's court.

Gray focused on civil cases in which his views couldn't be cited as affecting the outcome, and published a book in 2001 that made him a nationally recognized advocate for repealing drug laws. He has appeared on dozens of television and radio news and talk shows, where his colorful quotes play well.

"I go home every day and take a mind-altering, dangerous drug," he said. "I have a glass of wine with dinner."

[CheebaMonkey: Drink all the alcohol you want, hell, drink yourself to death if you'd like, but don't smoke pot!]

Gray also brings an unusual résumé to the cause. He's been a Peace Corps volunteer, a Navy officer who served briefly in Vietnam and a federal prosecutor who once held the record for the biggest heroin conviction.

Former Gov. George Deukmejian first appointed Gray to the bench in 1983, and he's earned praise for overseeing a 2001 legal settlement of a molestation case in which the Catholic Church paid the victim $5.2 million and agreed to significant reforms.

Since entering the Senate race, Gray has shifted his views to accommodate public opposition to drug legalization. Where he once advocated an end to the war on all illegal drugs, he now focuses on federal pot prohibitions.

He said states should decide whether marijuana is grown and sold within their boundaries and at what age a person could buy it.

In California, he said legal marijuana sales would produce $3 billion in tax revenues and savings by eliminating all pot-related law enforcement activities.

His platform is a hit among medical marijuana advocates, who made him a star attraction at a Merced County "Weedstock" rally in April.

In recent weeks, Gray has tried to expand his campaign to other issues by vowing to gut the USA Patriot Act and calling for U.N. troops to replace all American soldiers in Iraq by Christmas.

He has endorsed labeling for all foods with genetically modified organisms, gradually privatizing Social Security, and Palestinian calls for "justice" in their war with Israel. In some circles, these views are as controversial as his opposition to the war on drugs. But none gets as much attention as his marijuana views.

"It is the most critical issue facing our country today," Gray said. " ... It affects everything."

[CheebaMonkey: I think that's quite a bit of hyperbole, but it shows that he's really dedicated to reforming the marijuana laws.

http://www.judgejimgray.com

From his website:

"End the war on marijuana. We should be treating this substance in precisely the same way as we handle alcohol."]

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SevenLeafs

Hey, sounds like a stand up guy! I think Americans should support him all the way, I think he has good views about what to do and how to do it, but he obviousky needs support.

Peace.7L

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"A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit"
- Pink Floyd -

Just say KNOW!

Yana Usdi

He is a good guy, I've followed his career for a couple of years now. CRRH has a series of interviews with him in a playlist about 1/3 the way down the page http://www.crrh.org/hemptv/video_misc.html that has an annoying high pitched noise through it but if you can ignore that is worth a listen. There's also a debate between him and someone else in the news clips archive there.

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LEAP Current and former members of law enforcement who support drug regulation rather than prohibition.
Drug Policy Alliance Alternatives to Marijuana Prohibition and the Drug War

StewScum

Well, this guy sounds great, but how do we support him to put him into a position to have enough infuence to legalize in congress.

Suetaz

I think this is the heart of it right here. The "mainstream" is WRONG and needs to be changed. The 'mainstream' should be more honest and compassionate and with true equality. Equal rights is not included in the current mainstream for cannabis users. Alcohol users are not persecuted the way marijuana users are. 'Mainstream' is currently driven by people like John Walters who creates a 'mainstream' of lies. I hope Jim Gray can help change the mainstream in California if he gets elected.

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andbythat

This is the internet. Here everyone has a voice and the whole world is listening. Just go to every form, chatroom, etc. you can and spread the good word. I don't think it's so much that people think legalization would be that terrible, it's that they don't realize how good it would be.

B4ckInTheDaze

One candidate who is in favor of decriminalization is great and can hopefully have and influence on other politians but we still need much more support to get anywhere. I hope I get to see legalization before my future children do.

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"America is an insane asylum" - Dr. Timothy Leary

Yana Usdi

Most candidates are afraid to touch the issue, even if they agree in principle. I've had conversations myself with every one of my representatives who would answer a letter and with a few candidates as well and a common response is one like the following which I got from someone running against a drug warrior incumbent.

The political problem is if one starts a thoughtful conversation on the subject, those on the other-side use the bumper sticker/sound bite that one is "soft on crime." As we live in a sound bite world, people such as yourself must stage engaged, talks with media, and elected officials. In order to affect change, thoughtful people must come forward and work to change the public view so such sound bites will not automatically stop the conversation.

It seems a copout, but they are afraid to risk their careers, and in some districts maybe with good reason. According to a Zogby poll in a couple of Northeast states the vast majority of voters support marijuana law reform but when asked if they thought their neighbors felt the same way most didn't think so. We've got a perception problem even among ourselves, so it's no wonder the politicians are wary. We've got to get more active, write more letters and let them know a large group of voters do care.

smoking_joe_lee

OK, on drug law, Grey is a "stand up guy" but you , and all others have failed to mention one of his decisions mentioned in the article. The 17 year old that ROBBED AND BEAT prostitutes. Going allong with another judge he just added a few weeks to the time the young man was incarcerated awaiting trial. While the article did not specify how long this was, his whoop of joy says it was not very long. This is violent crime, people. All to often, prostitutes are treated as less than human in today's society and is just ain't right. Now that I've got that off my chest, this guy Grey just might be OK. Hey! I'm a poet and didn't know it!

Yana Usdi

Actually that wasn't his decision as such. It was a plea bargain approved by another judge and we'd have to assume arraigned by the prosecuting District Attorney, plea bargains are almost always carried through otherwise the system would stop working because criminals wouldn't trust deals they were offered.

Unless he had a real good reason to do otherwise he pretty much had to go along with it, and it wasn't his deal to start with. He had less freedom than the article made it sound like, he was just the one stuck with it in the end.