Pompo

Let's Vote On It -- Marijuana Legalization May Be On 2010 Ballot
6/12/09|SF Weekly Blogs| by Steve Elliott in Chronic City, Politics



To put a new twist on an old saw, desperation is often the mother of invention. When a person, or a state, is in dire straits, it's often an opportunity for the kind of epochal change that, at other times, might not be considered.

That's where we are right now with marijuana law reform in California, thanks to the state budget crisis and its attendant desperate search for tax revenue. Backers of the Control, Regulate and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, the first major statewide initiative designed to legalize marijuana for personal use, say they are preparing to get the issue on the November 2010 ballot.

According to Richard Lee, founder of TaxCannabis2010.org, sponsors of the initiative, the tide has turned. Lee (who's also executive director of medical marijuana dispensary and teaching center Oaksterdam University in Oakland) said polls showing majority support for legalization and taxation of marijuana, along with the recession, mean that the initiative could be viewed as a watershed, and even a first step in changing federal marijuana laws.

The initiative backed by Lee's group would legalize up to one ounce for personal possession by adults 21 and older, and would allow cities and counties the option of regulating and taxing the herb. Adults would be allowed to grow marijuana in a space no larger than 5 feet by 5 feet.

Lee's group plans to send the initiative to California Attorney General Jerry Brown in July for the summary and title oversight required by law. Signature-gathering will begin in August, with 650,000 signatures required by January to make the November 2010 ballot.

The ballot initiative isn't the only chance for more realistic pot laws in California. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's (D-San Francisco) bill in the state legislature would regulate marijuana much like alcohol. Under Ammiano's plan, marijuana would taxed at $50 per ounce and bring an estimated $1 billion annually into state coffers.

Lee, however, said a ballot initiative is faster than waiting for the legislature to act. "We believe that the people lead the politicians on this issue," he told the San Jose Mercury News. "We can't waste money enforcing laws that over 50 percent of the people don't think should be in place."

BudSmoker92

This sounds to good to be true...I thought we were going to have to wait years for this to pass...Is there plans of it being veto'd or anything?

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Frylok

BudSmoker, I don't think the governor has the power to veto a straght ballot vote. Most likely the law would be attacked in the legal system after it passed.

Larkins

this might be a good way to get the legislature to consider the bill faster --

if they believe that majority support for an initiative exists, they may be more interested in refining and passing a law that they see as more manageable and doable by the state. they give up control if they refuse to consider and pass a bill themselves.

4Blunts2Jays0nlyCron

I hope to god they legalize it. Someone just needs to slap America and explain that weed isn't actually that bad.