The fearmongering no on Measure O “hit piece” makes me think that perhaps Harry Anslinger has been reincarnated in Lake County as a political consultant.

Anslinger was a former Prohibition agent who spread lies about cannabis as America’s first drug czar, creating the reefer madness of the 1930s and leading to the federal criminalization of marijuana in 1937. 

In his own words, he went after “[N]egroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers [with] their Satanic music, jazz and swing [which] result from marijuana use.” 

Revered jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong were thrown in jail for smoking cannabis, and millions of cannabis arrests followed.

I know that Lake County’s voters are much too smart to fall for the outrageous scare tactics of the No on O campaign and the modern day prohibitionists. 

Smart voters deal in facts, not fear. And the fact is that Measure O effectively balances patient rights with the right of neighbors to be free of nuisances caused by cultivation.

Measure O protects patient access, our neighborhoods, the environment and the economy, and is self-funded by fees charged for collective cultivation on large rural acreage parcels.

Please don’t be fooled by the No on O “liar flyer.” It is nothing but outright lies, innuendos and fearmongering. 

On November 4, vote yes on Measure O.

Ron Green is an attorney. He lives in Lower Lake, Calif., and has been active in advocating for Measure O.