Former San Jose Chief of Police Joseph McNamara said Friday that "Californians are not going to let politicians in Washington, DC tell them how to vote."
McNamara's statement, released by "Yes on 19," comes in response to Attorney General Eric Holder's comments that the DOJ will "vigorously enforce" federal drug laws even if Proposition 19 passes in California on November 2.
"As we saw with the repeal of alcohol prohibition, it takes action from the states to push the federal government to change its policies," said McNamara.
"Passing Proposition 19 in California will undoubtedly kick start a national conversation about changing our country's obviously failed marijuana prohibition policies," he added. "If the federal government wants to keep fighting the nation's failed 'war on marijuana' while we're in the midst of a sagging economic recovery and two wars, it just proves that the establishment politicians' priorities are wrongly focused on maintaining the status quo."
McNamara, now a research fellow in drug policy at Stanford University, has argued that the 60 percent of the cash that supports violent drug cartels comes from the sale of illegal marijuana.
A recent Field Poll of 599 likely voters found that 49 percent support the ballot measure while just 42 percent opposed it.
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