I'm going to come out and say it: Prop 19 didn't pass because it was shoddy.

As a CA resident and some-time ent, I'm disappointed that prop 19 didn't pass. But I'm not surprised. The initiative was a hastily-constructed mishmash of three separate marijuana props that were all vying for space on the ballot last Spring, and suffered from a lack of direction, sponsorship, and PR.

I'm a former transit driver. As part of the federal regulations regarding my position, I was required to assent to random drug testing, as well as immediate post-accident testing should a major incident occur. Prop 19 would have made the random testing irrelevant re: MJ, as the initiative would have eliminated an employer's ability to take action against use outside and not affecting the workplace. Now, I'm not saying that MJ affects driving, and I don't approve of random drug tests. But my transit organization would have been unable to comply with federal safety standards as the result of CA law. I'd love to say "fuck 'em", but the company receives federal dollars to remain in service. Would the fed keep ponying up cash for an organization which openly flouts its safety standards? I'm not certain. Would out-of-state corporations accept bids from CA construction companies that can't pass federal OSHA inspections? I'm not certain. Yes, the rhetoric from the opposition was mostly bullshit "MJ WILL EAT YOUR CHILDREN!" garbage, but this is a valid economically-important point.

Even without the loophole, I think the initiative would have failed due to the complete lack of PR. There were no public faces for the bill; the governor, the president, both (major) senatorial candidates AND both gubernatorial candidates expressed opposition before and during the election. I heard radio and TV ads talking about the many (largely untrue) deleterious effects of the creepy reefer, but it was dead air on the other side. Primarily, the campaign was grass-roots word-of-mouth. That's cool in theory, but in practice we tend to discus matters with like-minded individuals, usually right after we pass the bong over. If we really cared, wouldn't we have organized an ad campaign? Door-to-door canvassing? Phone banking? We were the public face of the initiative, and it's not a friendly face to the family-values crowds in the Valley.

All of this would have been forgivable if we gave our all on election day. Normal voter turnout in CA elections is around 50%, with youth turnout hovering around 25%. We swung that around two years ago, energized by a black dude with a incredible smile. In 2008, under-30 voters comprised 20% of the voting population. Yesterday we were only 10%. Where did we all go?

I think our apathy and laziness got the better of us. I know people who genuinely had no idea the election was yesterday, they were all jazzed up to vote 'Yes on 19' this Saturday. Some of these people have advanced degrees in physics. They know the Higgs boson's middle name, but can't be bothered to google for election day.

TL;DR - I'm sad that I can't go to Safeway this afternoon to buy a joint, but I'm not surprised. It was a poorly thought-out bill (based on a GREAT idea) with a weak campaign. I take my solace with the knowledge that 45% (45%!!) of voters genuinely thought it would be a good idea to flagrantly disregard federal drug policy so we could smoke a bowl together. That's change I can believe in.