Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

If she was truly aware of your videotaping her, which she may very well deny, then she had no expectation of privacy and you probably could post it on youtube. Sending it to others might become a question of whether it is in fact an event that is news worthy. Since your reason for sending it is to force her out of political activity and she probably is not important enough to qualify as a public figure, you might be subject to liability. Certainly there is enough doubt that if she sues you, you probably could not get the case dismissed and would have to spend a great deal on lawyer's fees. My guess is that the local DA would not charge you with any criminal activity, but if the person you wish to embarrass is well connected with the ploitical party that the DA is active in, you might run the risk of an overly political DA taking some action against you,

If the woman is active in Democratic Party politics the video likely will have no major effect on her ability to continue her role. If it does, there is a fair chance that she would sue you. Except for some people with very conservative political viewpoints, smoking weed is not a big deal. Bill Clinton did, I think Obama has said he did, I know of Deputy DA's who do, my friends at UC Berkeley considered me an oddity that I refused to do so [and still never have used illegal substances]. When you consider what crimes and questionable behavior many politicans engage in, smoking marijuana is not very significant.

There is a very good chance that you will not be able to embarrass or harm the person by showing the video to others. Frankly, I think it is very mean spirited to attempt to do so. Who has she harmed by intaking a substance less harmful than alcohol? How is she more of acting more against the party's political beliefs then the average party functionary who lies, opposes what they feel is worthwhile legislation merely because the other party brought it up, approves wasteful programs to gather votes, etc. We have seen a large amount of "dirty politics" from both of the two major parties, why engage in more of it?