Los Angeles Mayor-Elect Eric Garcetti Will Not Oppose Casual Marijuana Use
Los Angeles' Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti has held his title for less than a week, but he is already letting the public in on some of the plans he has for the city. In an interview he gave Sunday, Garcetti let it be known that he would not stand in the way of pro-marijuana legislation.
Garcetti made the comment during an interview he held with Univision's Jorge Ramos. It was the first interview Garcetti held after beating out Wendy Greuel during last Tuesday's runoff to replace Antonio Villaraigosa as Los Angeles' next mayor.
When asked about his stance on casual marijuana use, Garcetti stated that he believed that medical marijuana was legitimate and that moving forward, he had no personal problems with casual use of the substance either.
"I want to use the police department's resources for more serious crimes, but they are usually tied up in these crimes that aren't as important," Garcetti said. "Still, it would need to be decided by a state-wide vote."
He made it clear that he is aligned with the progresive culture in Los Angeles. During last week's election, Measure D was approved that would provide more clear-cut regulation on medical marijuana. Though Measure D made the regulations more strict, many in the medical marijuana community viewed the outcome as a victory because it legitimized pot in the city.
"Everything that I want to do [as mayor] will be possible when we have a strong and prosperous economy," Garcetti said. "Los Angeles has all the ingredients of success ... but we need to start with our education system."
The fact that Garcetti fielded his first interview on Univision, and did so speaking Spanish the whole time, speaks to his continued strategy to appeal to Los Angeles' large Hispanic demographic.
"He and future winning citywide candidates will need a coalition that includes many of those cultures, ethnicities and races," said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. "He showed some moxie here -- political and cultural."
Garcetti will have plenty of issues on his plate once he takes over Jul. 1. There are whispers of a potentially huge city deficit in the coming years, and he faces opposition from unions and city departments that had largely supported his opponent, Greuel.
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