Ban Proponents Admit That Ballot Argument Claiming “Billions” Available From The Feds Is Unsupported; Hearing On Challenge To Other Ballot Arguments Set For Tuesday

San Andreas, CA…Faced with a legal challenge from longtime Calaveras County resident, Bob Bowerman, supporters of Measure B, Bill McManus and David Tunno, conceded that they do not have sufficient facts to back their claim that “Billions of extra dollars to fight marijuana are available from the feds.”

In a document filed with the Superior Court on Wednesday, McManus and Tunno stated under penalty of perjury that their original ballot argument was based on a review of “various programs and websites,” but, after revisiting the issue in light of Bowerman’s challenge, they “have not been able to duplicate all the findings of their previous findings.” Given this lack of evidence, McManus and Tunno offered to change their ballot argument to read “millions of extra dollars”–1,000 times less than the amount originally claimed.

Reached for comment, attorney Jasun Molinelli, whose law firm, Archer Norris, represents Bowerman, stated, “Mr. Bowerman appreciates the ban supporters’ offer to remove this false assertion from their ballot arguments, but their new claim that Calaveras County has access to ‘millions of extra dollars’ in federal funding for eradication is still misleading. Furthermore, we have identified seven other inaccurate ballot arguments that should be corrected to ensure that voters to have reliable information when they return their ballots on May 2nd.”

The corrections sought by Molinelli and his client could come as early as Tuesday, when Bowerman’s challenge will be heard at 1:30 p.m. in Department 3 of the Calaveras County Superior Court. Said Molinelli, “We hope to convince the Court that the disputed ballot arguments are false and, at very least, we will have helped draw the public’s attention to the misleading statements that are being advanced in support of Measure B.”