Beco
I'm Not Your Guru
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2002
- Posts
- 57,795
California Puts Legalizing Marijuana on BallotUpdated: 2 hours 27 minutes ago
Richard C. Paddock
San Francisco Correspondent
AOL News SAN FRANCISCO (March 25) -- California voters will decide in November whether to legalize personal use of marijuana and impose a tax that could raise more than $1 billion for financially struggling state and local governments.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced Wednesday that an initiative known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 has qualified for the ballot. Sponsors of the measure submitted 694,248 signatures, far more than the 433,971 they needed to win a place on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The initiative would allow anyone 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and cultivate plants in an area up to 25 square feet. It also would allow local governments to regulate and tax the cultivation, distribution and sale of marijuana in their jurisdictions.
At the same time, the measure would prohibit the possession of marijuana on school grounds; outlaw providing marijuana to anyone under 21; and ban smoking marijuana in public or in front of a minor. It would not overturn the conviction of anyone who violated marijuana laws before the initiative's passage.
"It takes the cannabis industry out of the black market, out of the back alleys, and brings it into retail establishments," campaign spokeswoman Dale Sky Clare said. "We can have safer communities by controlling and taxing cannabis."
The measure is sponsored by activist Richard Lee, who contributed more than $1 million to the signature-gathering drive. Lee operates a medical marijuana dispensary and other marijuana-related businesses in Oakland. He is the founder and president of Oaksterdam University, which teaches students how to cultivate the plant and operate medical marijuana dispensaries.
The university, which is closely connected to the initiative campaign, is growing rapidly and recently moved its main campus into a 30,000-square-foot building in downtown Oakland.
California has long been in the forefront of the marijuana legalization movement. In 1996, voters approved Proposition 215, which authorized the use of marijuana for medical purposes and inspired similar measures in other states.
Since the proposition's passage, hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries have sprung up around California. They have contributed to economic growth in some communities -- most notably downtown Oakland -- but also have posed regulatory problems in others, particularly the city of Los Angeles.
The campaign over the legalization initiative is certain to be hard-fought and costly.
No formal campaign opposition has emerged, but opponents can be expected to argue that legalizing marijuana would result in greater consumption, exposure to second-hand smoke, increased automobile and industrial accidents and reduced academic achievement.
There may also be some who argue that the initiative does not go far enough because it limits legal use to adults, doesn't free those now in jail for marijuana offenses, and could create a system of patchwork regulation by cities and counties.
Richard C. Paddock
San Francisco Correspondent
AOL News SAN FRANCISCO (March 25) -- California voters will decide in November whether to legalize personal use of marijuana and impose a tax that could raise more than $1 billion for financially struggling state and local governments.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced Wednesday that an initiative known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 has qualified for the ballot. Sponsors of the measure submitted 694,248 signatures, far more than the 433,971 they needed to win a place on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The initiative would allow anyone 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and cultivate plants in an area up to 25 square feet. It also would allow local governments to regulate and tax the cultivation, distribution and sale of marijuana in their jurisdictions.
At the same time, the measure would prohibit the possession of marijuana on school grounds; outlaw providing marijuana to anyone under 21; and ban smoking marijuana in public or in front of a minor. It would not overturn the conviction of anyone who violated marijuana laws before the initiative's passage.
"It takes the cannabis industry out of the black market, out of the back alleys, and brings it into retail establishments," campaign spokeswoman Dale Sky Clare said. "We can have safer communities by controlling and taxing cannabis."
The measure is sponsored by activist Richard Lee, who contributed more than $1 million to the signature-gathering drive. Lee operates a medical marijuana dispensary and other marijuana-related businesses in Oakland. He is the founder and president of Oaksterdam University, which teaches students how to cultivate the plant and operate medical marijuana dispensaries.
The university, which is closely connected to the initiative campaign, is growing rapidly and recently moved its main campus into a 30,000-square-foot building in downtown Oakland.
California has long been in the forefront of the marijuana legalization movement. In 1996, voters approved Proposition 215, which authorized the use of marijuana for medical purposes and inspired similar measures in other states.
Since the proposition's passage, hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries have sprung up around California. They have contributed to economic growth in some communities -- most notably downtown Oakland -- but also have posed regulatory problems in others, particularly the city of Los Angeles.
The campaign over the legalization initiative is certain to be hard-fought and costly.
No formal campaign opposition has emerged, but opponents can be expected to argue that legalizing marijuana would result in greater consumption, exposure to second-hand smoke, increased automobile and industrial accidents and reduced academic achievement.
There may also be some who argue that the initiative does not go far enough because it limits legal use to adults, doesn't free those now in jail for marijuana offenses, and could create a system of patchwork regulation by cities and counties.
