Beer Distributors Oppose Prop 19

[vta]

Pick Your Poison: Beer Distributors Oppose Prop 19


cannabis California -- The folks who deliver beer and other beverages to liquor stores have joined the fight against legalizing marijuana in California. On Sept. 7, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors gave $10,000 to a committee opposing Proposition 19, the measure that would change state law to legalize pot and allow it to be taxed and regulated.

The California Police Chiefs Association has given the most to the Proposition 19 opposition with a contribution of $30,000, according to Cal-Access, a website operated by the secretary of state’s office.

Rhonda Stevenson, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors political action committee’s coordinator, was out of the office on Wednesday.

Nobody else from the group was available to comment.

“Unless the beer distributors in California have suddenly developed a philosophical opposition to the use of intoxicating substances, the motivation behind this contribution is clear,” Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in statement. “Plain and simple, the alcohol industry is trying to kill the competition. Their mission is to drive people to drink.”

North state beer and beverage distributors reached for comment on Wednesday were not aware of the $10,000 contribution made by their trade group. Nor did they have an opinion on Proposition 19 or how its passage would affect the liquor industry.

“We pay a small yearly membership, so we are a member; but we don’t really have a say or input on anything like that,” Mt. Shasta Bottling & Distributing General Manger Emerson Bryan said.

David Jensen, president of Redding Distributing Co., said his business had not been solicited for funds by the California Beer & Beverage Distributors to help fight Proposition 19.

“That might have come out of their PAC (political action committee),” Jensen said of the $10,000 contribution.

Area liquor stores reached Wednesday also said they had not heard about the beverage group’s effort to defeat Proposition 19.



Source: Redding Record Searchlight (CA)
Author: David Benda, Record Searchlight

 

[yortbogey]

just........sick........ alcoholism is the Biggest disease in the world.....

corrupt little bastard......sneaky ...even......

 

[Big Country]

Dirty Beer distributers
This is a good reason to make home brew
Self sufficient is my goal

 

[HillBillMt]

true colors are showin here, very bright, very distinct

 

[soulfly22583]

This saddened me but upon some more research and some searching online I am glad to know the breweries are not behind this, it is the majority distribution trade group in CA that is behind it.

Stone Brewery CEO Greg Koch chimed in personally over at RateBeer -

http://www.ratebeer.com/forums/say-...distributors-support-prohibition_151946_2.htm

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Ahh Capitalism.. I mean Democracy...

 

[bentom187]

fuck alcahol,im done

 

[GrowBox420]

Everyone needs to vote get the word out, golfed with someone that flew for the DEA today asked him what he thought about prop 19 he said fuck it let them smoke people dont die from smoking pot. Everyone just needs to vote

 

[vta]

ALCHOHOL LOBBY NOW OPENLY SPENDING AGAINST CA's LEGAL POT INITIATIVE IN ALLIANCE WITH POLICE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Big Alcohol's Decision to Squash Marijuana Law Reform to Protect Its Bottom Line Is Simply Politics As Usual.

It is said that politics makes strange bedfellows, but there are arguably few stranger than the emerging alliance between two of California's most powerful political players: the police industrial complex and 'Big Alcohol.' Campaign finance reports from the Golden State disclose that the California Beer and Beverage Distributors -- a trade organization that represents over 100 beer distributors statewide -- is one of the primary backers of the lobby group Public Safety First, sponsors of the 'No on Prop. 19' campaign.

According to the California Secretary of State's office, the beer lobby donated $10,000 to Public Safety First on September 7, 2010. The donation came just days before PSF issued an online mailing alleging that the passage of Prop. 19 -- which would legalize the private adult use and cultivation of limited amounts of cannabis, and allow local governments the option of regulating its commercial production and retail distribution -- would inevitably lead to stoned school bus drivers and crossing guards, and will cause California public schools to "lose as much as $9.4 billion in federal funding." ( Needless to say, passage of the measure would do none of these things. )

While it's hardly astonishing that the corporate beer lobby would oppose efforts to legalize marijuana, a non-toxic, ostensibly safer alternative to alcohol, it is surprising to see how quickly the law enforcement lobby -- to date the largest supporters of PSF -- is willing to get into bed with big booze.

So far, the Cal Beer and Beverage Distributors $10,000 appropriation is one of the largest monetary donations received by Public Safety First, third only to the $30,000 donated by the California Police Chief's Association and the $20,500 donated by the California Narcotics Officers Association. ( Overall, PSF has had a notoriously difficult time raising money for their effort.

Last month, the East Bay Express newspaper reported that total financial contributions to the Prop. 19 campaign were well ahead of those reported for Public Safety First, which at that time had only raised $61,000, with just one citizen donor. )

There's no doubt that police officers know first hand the social toll caused by alcohol.

Federal government estimates indicate that alcohol consumption costs the nation some $200 billion annually in hospitalizations, criminal expenditures, and lost productivity. ( Ironically, the nation's top drug cop, Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, has specifically highlighted the staggering social costs of alcohol abuse in his rhetoric against Prop. 19. ) Government figures further indicate that alcohol is a contributing factor in at least 25 to 30 percent of all violent crime in America, including between 30 to 60 percent of homicides and perhaps as many as half of all sexual assaults.

On college campuses alone, an estimated 700,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by peers who have been drinking, and close to 100,000 students are reported victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape. Nationally, some 41,000 people per year die as a result of drunk driving or other alcohol-related accidents.

Conversely, cannabis use is associated with decreased aggression, reduced risk of injury, and is assumed to play, at best, only a nominal role in traffic accidents. ( In fact, the total national number of marijuana-related auto accidents is so small that the federal government doesn't even compile the statistic. )

Locally in California, the Marin Institute, a self-proclaimed 'alcohol industry watchdog' group, claims that alcohol abuse costs taxpayers some $38 billion per year in social costs, which includes more than 109,000 alcohol-related injuries, and over 70,000 alcohol-related hospitalizations annually.

By contrast, a 2010 report released by the RAND Corporation concluded that fewer than 200 Californians sought emergency-room treatment for marijuana-related events, despite more than 400,000 Californians using it daily.

Nevertheless, it appears that many in law enforcement are willing to set aside their own first hand experience with the horrors of alcohol for the sake of the drug war's 'political correctness.' For the higher-ups at the California Police Chief's Association and the California Narcotics Officers Association, the old adage rings true, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'

Of course, Big Alcohol's decision to squash marijuana law reform to protect their bottom line is simply politics as usual.

Their recent union with Public Safety First isn't the first time that the California Beer and Beverage Distributors have oppose drug law reform in the Golden State. In 2008, the booze lobby donated a much larger amount -- $100,000 -- to defeat Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, which among other things would have reduced criminal marijuana possession penalties from a misdemeanor to a non-criminal infraction. ( The measure failed 40 percent to 60 percent. ) Given that the alcohol industry now has influence groups in all 50 states and that its federal lobbying arm, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, ranks among the top financial donators on Capitol Hill, it's clear that this latest political salvo won't be the last time either.


Source: AlterNet (US Web)
Author: Paul Armentano
Note: Paul Armentano is the deputy director of NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), and is the co-author of the book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink (2009, Chelsea Green).
Cited: Proposition 19 http://yeson19.com/
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Of course, Big Alcohol's decision to squash marijuana law reform to protect their bottom line is simply politics as usual.

 

[WeedWizard]

Found on the net, not all are equally bad

Howdy!
Thank you so much for being a Stone fan. We hope that these unfortunate circumstances have not permanently soured that fandom. We’ve been getting a lot of questions about California's Proposition 19 and the role a beer trade organization is playing in the campaign to oppose it. For the record, here's our official statement on the matter:
"Stone is not a part of this campaign in any way. This issue has caught us off guard. We are merely a non-voting Allied Member of the CA Beer & Beverage Distributors (CBBD). As such, Stone Brewing does not / cannot participate in the political action decisions of the CBBD.
The organization that most directly represents the political interests of the Stone Brewing Co. is the California Small Brewers Association (CSBA), and the CSBA organization does not make a habit of chiming in, one way or the other, on non-beer related political issues. Same for the Stone Brewing Co...we’re not political animals and we prefer to keep it that way.
We regret that it has been inferred that Stone is associated with this decision of the CBBD, as quite simply, we are not."
So as you can see, we are neither for nor against Prop 19 and we certainly did not sign off on CBBD’s decision to donate money to the campaign opposing it. Hopefully, this statement clarifies matters for you. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to let us know.
Cheers!
Stone Brewing Co.
Dear Stone,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. It speaks very highly of Stone's character.
I hope that Stone critically analyzes its position in the CBBD. Even if it is only a non-voting position.
A membership of any form, to an organization with negatively perceived political motives, will ultimately reflect poorly upon Stone.
Thanks you again for your valuable time. I understand that it is impossible to please all your customers and I appreciate that my voice has been heard. I hope to quaff a fresh Stone someday soon.
Cheers,
Stone Drinker

 

[vta]

What Pot Legalization Campaign Really Threatens

cannabis California -- Here's a fact that even drug policy reform advocates can acknowledge: California's 2010 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana does, indeed, pose a real threat, as conservative culture warriors insist. But not to public health, as those conservatives claim.

According to most physicians, pot is less toxic -- and has more medicinal applications -- than a legal and more pervasive drug like alcohol. Whereas alcohol causes hundreds of annual overdose deaths, contributes to untold numbers of illnesses and is a major factor in violent crime, marijuana has never resulted in a fatal overdose and has not been systemically linked to major illness or violent crime.

So this ballot measure is no public health threat. If anything, it would give the millions of citizens who want to use inebriating substances a safer alternative to alcohol. Which, of course, gets to what this ballot initiative really endangers: alcohol industry profits.

That truth is underscored by news this week that the California Beer and Beverage Distributors is financing the campaign against the legalization initiative. This is the same group that bankrolled opposition to a 2008 ballot measure, which would have reduced penalties for marijuana possession.

By these actions, alcohol companies are admitting that more sensible drug policies could cut into their government-created monopoly on mind-altering substances.

Thus, they are fighting back -- and not just defensively. Unsatisfied with protecting turf in California, the alcohol industry is going on offense, as evidenced by a recent article inadvertently highlighting America’s inane double standards.

Apparently oblivious to the issues the California campaign is now raising, Businessweek just published an elated puff piece headlined "Keeping Pabst Blue Ribbon Cool." Touting the beer’s loyal following, the magazine quoted one PBR executive effusively praising a rate of alcohol consumption that would pickle the average liver.

"A lot of blue-collar workers I've talked to say 'I've been drinking a six-pack of Pabst, every single day, seven days a week, for 25 years,’" he gushed, while another executive added "It's, like, habitual -- it's part of their life. It's their lifestyle."

Discussing possible plans to "develop a whole beer brand around troops" -- one that devotes some proceeds to military organizations -- the executives said their vision is "that when you see Red White & Blue (beer) at your barbecue, you know that money's supporting people who have died for our country."

Imagine marijuana substituted for alcohol in this story. The article would be presented as a scary expose about workers smoking a daily dime-bag and marijuana growers' linking pot with the Army. Undoubtedly, such an article would be on the front page of every newspaper as cause for outrage. Yet, because this was about alcohol -- remember, a substance more toxic than marijuana -- it was buried in a financial magazine and depicted as something to extol.

Couple that absurd hypocrisy with the vociferous opposition to California's initiative, and we see the meta-message.

We are asked to believe that people drinking a daily six-pack for a quarter-century is not a lamentable sign of a health crisis, but instead a "lifestyle" triumph worthy of flag-colored celebration -- and we are expected to think that legalizing a safer alternative to this "lifestyle" is dangerous. Likewise, as laws obstruct veterans from obtaining doctor-prescribed marijuana for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, we are asked to believe that shotgunning cans of lager is the real way to "support our troops."

These are the delusions that a liquor-drenched culture prevents us from reconsidering. In a society drunk off of alcohol propaganda -- a society of presidential "beer summits" and sports stadiums named after beer companies -- we've had trouble separating fact from fiction. Should California pass its ballot initiative, perhaps a more sober and productive drug policy might finally become a reality.

David Sirota is the author of the best-selling books Hostile Takeover and The Uprising.

He hosts the morning show on AM760 in Colorado and blogs at: http://www.OpenLeft.com/

Source: AlterNet (US)
Author: David Sirota, Creators Syndicate

 

[HomerSimpson]

Who is really surprised?

 

[Hydrosun]

Found on the net, not all are equally bad

Good to see Stone standing by smokers!

They've always been good in my book.