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.
“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.”
No one from the Beer Pac was available for comment.
This isn't the first time the Beer lobbyists have worked to continue prohibition (irony duly noted... or rather, hypocrisy, or rather, the truth that prohibition is a financial fight, not only for the petrol and forestry industries, but for the alcoholic beverage industry as well.)
In 2008, "the California Beer and Beverage Distributors contributed $100,000 to the campaign against Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA). This initiative proposed to, among other things, reduce the penalty for cannabis possession in California from a misdemeanor to an infraction, similar to a traffic ticket."
"...The original bill authorizing the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign specifically banned the use of campaign funds to address underage drinking. In fact, when lawmakers attempted to amend the bill so that anti-alcohol messages could be included, the NBWA (National Beer Wholesalers Association) strongly opposed the amendment. To this day, the national Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has remained almost entirely alcohol-free."
Oh, btw, the NBWA gave more than $8 million to federal candidates between 2003 and 2008 "and ranked among the top five most generous PACs each cycle, reaching the no. 2 slot in 2005-6."
(From the book, Marijuana is Safer, pp. 90-91.)
hmmmm.
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