CA: Pot Legalization More Popular Than Governor Candidates

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Graphic: CBS/AP

​If popular online social network Facebook is any measure of things, marijuana legalization is way more popular than all three of the major California gubernatorial candidates combined, even with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger thrown in for good measure (take him, please).

Tax Cannabis 2010 has 57,244 Facebook fans as of early Wednesday afternoon, April 14, with another large influx of pot enthusiasts expected around the 4-20 marijuana holiday on April 20.
As pointed out by David Downs at East Bay Express, that’s more than all three major candidates for California governor — Jerry Brown, Meg Whitman, and Steve Poizner — combined, plus Schwarzenegger.

Interestingly, all three gubernatorial candidates, as well as the Governator, have pretty much wimped out on the issue of marijuana legalization. Is it any surprise their combined popularity is below that of weed?
Tax Cannabis 2010 is in the midst of a fund-raising drive, with a goal of $42,000 by April 20. Downs points out that anti-pot legalization opposition groups like CALM and NipItInTheBud2010 enjoy neither the Facebook fan base nor the financial support of the legalization initiative.
That might be bad news for the anti-pot crowd, according to veteran Oakland political advisor Larry Tramutola, reports Downs.
According to Tramutola, Facebook, Twitter and other online social networks are fast replacing more traditional media outlets, who often seem really challenged and sometimes downright incompetent when it comes to accurately reporting the medical, legal and civil liberties issues surrounding marijuana.
“We’re seeing a rapid decline in the influence of straight media on electoral campaigns,” Tramutola said. “We have the partisan press now. It may be decided in the blogosphere. It may be decided on informal networks. People just have more options today.”
Downs reports that California users of Google have been searching in roughly equal numbers of “Meg Whitman,” “Jerry Brown,” and “legalization” over the past year.
But far surpassing all of those numbers in sheer volume are the hemp-hungry hordes of Californians who are just searching for “marijuana.” No surprise there!
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