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  1. #1
    Senior Member ShockedinCalifornia's Avatar
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    CA: voters - consider recreational marijuana in Nov election

    Now here's the latest one....the decadence of CA goes on and on.....Good luck driving on the freeway....

    California voters could legalize marijuana for recreational use by adults in Nov. election

    In this photo taken May 13, 2009 marijuana for medical purposes is shown inside a greenhouse at a farm in Potter Valley, Calif. In the mountain forests along California's North Coast, refugees from San Francisco's Summer of Love have spent four decades hiding from the law as they tended some of the world's most fabled marijuana gardens. After all those years, several statewide efforts to legalize marijuana could finally let those growers come out into the light. But at a community meeting in the heart of Northern California pot country on Tuesday, many growers said they were more worried about the cost of legalization to their bottom lines than about any federal raid. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) (Eric Risberg, AP / May 13, 2009)


    CATHY BUSSEWITZ

    Associated Press Writer

    March 25, 2010 | 6:28 a.m.

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When California voters head to the polls in November, they will decide whether the state will make history again — this time by legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults.

    The state was the first to legalize medicinal marijuana use, with voters passing it in 1996. Since then, 14 states have followed California's lead, even though marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

    "This is a watershed moment in the decades-long struggle to end failed marijuana prohibition in this country," said Stephen Gutwillig, California director for the Drug Policy Alliance. "We really can't overstate the significance of Californians being the first to have the opportunity to end this public policy disaster."

    California is not alone in the push to expand legal use of marijuana. Legislators in Rhode Island, another state hit hard by the economic downturn, are considering a plan to decriminalize possession of an ounce or less by anyone 18 or older.

    A proposal to legalize the sale and use of marijuana in Washington was recently defeated in that state's legislature, though lawmakers there did expand the pool of medical professionals that could prescribe the drug for medicinal use.

    And a group in Nevada is pushing an initiative that marks the state's fourth attempt in a decade to legalize the drug.

    The California secretary of state's office certified the initiative for the general election ballot Wednesday after it was determined that supporters had gathered enough valid signatures.

    The initiative would allow those 21 years and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, enough to roll dozens of marijuana cigarettes. Residents also could grow their own crop of the plant in gardens measuring up to 25 square feet.

    The proposal would ban users from ingesting marijuana in public or smoking it while minors are present. It also would make it illegal to possess the drug on school grounds or drive while under its influence.

    Local governments would decide whether to permit and tax marijuana sales.

    Proponents of the measure say legalizing marijuana could save the state $200 million a year by reducing public safety costs. At the same time, it could generate tax revenue for local governments.

    A Field Poll taken in April found a slim majority of California voters supported legalizing and taxing marijuana to help bridge the state budget deficit.

    Those who grow and sell it illegally fear legalization would drive down the price and force them to compete against corporate marijuana cultivators.

    Other opponents view marijuana as a "gateway drug" that, when used by young people, could lead them to try other, harder drugs. They worry that legalization would persuade more people to try it, worsening the nation's drug culture.

    "We are quite concerned that by legalizing marijuana, it will definitely lower the perception of risk, and we will see youth use go through the roof," said Aimee Hendle, a spokeswoman for Californians for Drug Free Youth.

    The initiative is the second proposal to qualify for the November ballot. The other is an $11.1 billion water bond measure championed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature.

    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 6429.story

  2. #2
    Senior Member ShockedinCalifornia's Avatar
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    Initiative to legalize marijuana qualifies for November ballot

    March 24, 2010 | 5:22 pm

    State election officials announced Wednesday that an initiative to legalize marijuana will be on the November ballot, triggering what will likely be an expensive, divisive and much-watched campaign to decide whether California will again lead the nation in softening drug laws.

    Los Angeles County election officials Wednesday turned in their official estimate of the number of valid signatures, putting the statewide figure above the 433,971 needed for the measure to make the ballot. The county, where one-fifth of the signatures were collected, was the last to report its count, filing just before 5 p.m.

    Polls have indicated that a majority of voters in California want marijuana legalized, but the margin is not enough to ensure the initiative will win. Two years ago, opponents defeated an attempt to relax the state's drug laws despite being outspent. "It's always easier for people to say no than to say yes for an initiative," said Mark Baldassare, the pollster for the Public Policy Institute of California. "Generally, all it takes is for people to find one reason to say no."

    The initiative would allow adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce for personal use. Possession of an ounce or less has been a misdemeanor with a $100 fine since 1975, when Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who was then governor, signed a law that reduced tough marijuana penalties that had allowed judges to impose 10-year sentences. Legalization supporters note that misdemeanor arrests have risen dramatically in California in the last two decades. The initiative would also allow adults to grow up to 25 square feet of marijuana per residence or parcel.


    But the measure, known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, goes further, allowing cities and counties to adopt ordinances that would authorize the cultivation, transportation and sale of marijuana, which could be taxed to raise revenues. It's this feature of the initiative that supporters hope will draw support from voters who are watching their local governments jettison employees and programs in the midst of a severe budget crisis.

    The measure's main proponent, Richard Lee, savored the chance to press his case that the nation's decades-old ban on marijuana is a failed policy. "We're one step close to ending cannabis prohibition and the unjust laws that lock people up for cannabis while alcohol is not only sold openly but advertised on television to kids every day," he said. He said the measure would allow police to focus on serious crime, undercut Mexican drug cartels and make it harder for teenagers to buy marijuana.

    Lee, who owns several marijuana businesses in Oakland, has already spent at least $1.3 million on the campaign, primarily on a professional signature-gathering operation. He has also recruited a team of accomplished political advisors, including Chris Lehane, a veteran operative who has worked in the White House and on presidential campaigns.

    "There's all kind of big professional politicos who are coming on board now to take it to the next level," he said.

    Lee has said that he hopes to raise as much as $20 million for the campaign, 10 times the amount that proponents spent in 1996 to pass Proposition 215, the state's medical marijuana initiative.

    Opponents have also begun organizing. "There's going to be a very broad coalition opposing this that will include law enforcement," promised John Lovell, a Sacramento lobbyist who represents several law enforcement organizations. "We'll educate people as to what this measure really entails." Lovell said legalizing marijuana would lead to increased use, cause the same kind of social ills as alcohol and tobacco, and put more demands on law enforcement.

    -- John Hoeffel

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... allot.html

  3. #3
    sdbrit68's Avatar
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    .

    The reality, its about tax revenue.....and needed money. It is easier to add more taxes, than actually figure out how to balance the budget.

    my opinion, with alcohol legal, I am not sure if pot is that big a deal, and with all the prescription medicene abuse, we already have issues

    so not sure where I stand on this one

  4. #4
    Senior Member roundabout's Avatar
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    Want to make tobacco illegal and marijuana legal. That makes sense.

    Some people out there in CA believe people should not be allowed to smoke cigarettes in their home, yet they want to make smoking dope legal? Where will these dopers smoke their dope?

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