Pot advocates want Calif to vote on legalization
By MARCUS WOHLSEN Associated Press Writer
Updated: 06/11/2009 01:00:08 PM PDT
SAN FRANCISCO—Californians could legally possess up to one ounce of pot and cities could sell and tax the drug under an initiative marijuana advocates want to place on the state's 2010 ballot.
The Control, Regulate and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 is being pushed by pot activists who sense a positive shift in public sentiment toward the federally banned substance. A recent Field Poll found that 56 percent of California voters supported legalizing marijuana for recreational use and taxing its proceeds.
Backers of the ballot proposal include entrepreneurs in the state's medical marijuana industry, which has become lucrative since California voters legalized marijuana for medical use in 1996.
One of the leading proponents is Richard Lee, an Oakland pot dispensary owner and founder of Oaksterdam University, a medical marijuana trade school. As California cities confront plummeting revenues and the state's massive budget crisis, Lee said voters will be open to new ways to fill public coffers.
"We can't waste money enforcing laws that over 50 percent of people don't think should be in place," Lee said.
Supporters expect to finalize the proposal's language by the end of the month. The latest draft gives anyone age 21 or older the right to possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use. Local and state authorities could raise that amount.
Residents would also have the right to cultivate up to 25-square-foot plots of marijuana on private
property, but only for personal consumption.
At the same time, cities that did not want marijuana within their limits could continue to bar sales, though they would still have to permit possession.
For the initiative to reach the November 2010 ballot, supporters must gather more than 433,000 valid signatures from registered voters. Lee said he believes they could complete that process by January.
The would-be ballot initiative is not the only effort under way to liberalize pot laws. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, is pushing a bill in the state legislature that would regulate marijuana much like alcohol.
Under Ammiano's proposal, pot would be taxed at a rate of $50 per ounce and bring an estimated $1 billion in tax proceeds. The legislation would only allow taxes on pot to be collected once the federal government lifts its restrictions on marijuana.
Some critics have said they do not anticipate the federal government will budge anytime soon. Under federal law, any possession of marijuana is illegal.
Lee said a ballot initiative is quicker than waiting for any bill on the contentious issue of marijuana legalization to grind through the legislative process.
By MARCUS WOHLSEN Associated Press Writer
Updated: 06/11/2009 01:00:08 PM PDT
SAN FRANCISCO—Californians could legally possess up to one ounce of pot and cities could sell and tax the drug under an initiative marijuana advocates want to place on the state's 2010 ballot.
The Control, Regulate and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 is being pushed by pot activists who sense a positive shift in public sentiment toward the federally banned substance. A recent Field Poll found that 56 percent of California voters supported legalizing marijuana for recreational use and taxing its proceeds.
Backers of the ballot proposal include entrepreneurs in the state's medical marijuana industry, which has become lucrative since California voters legalized marijuana for medical use in 1996.
One of the leading proponents is Richard Lee, an Oakland pot dispensary owner and founder of Oaksterdam University, a medical marijuana trade school. As California cities confront plummeting revenues and the state's massive budget crisis, Lee said voters will be open to new ways to fill public coffers.
"We can't waste money enforcing laws that over 50 percent of people don't think should be in place," Lee said.
Supporters expect to finalize the proposal's language by the end of the month. The latest draft gives anyone age 21 or older the right to possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use. Local and state authorities could raise that amount.
Residents would also have the right to cultivate up to 25-square-foot plots of marijuana on private
property, but only for personal consumption.
At the same time, cities that did not want marijuana within their limits could continue to bar sales, though they would still have to permit possession.
For the initiative to reach the November 2010 ballot, supporters must gather more than 433,000 valid signatures from registered voters. Lee said he believes they could complete that process by January.
The would-be ballot initiative is not the only effort under way to liberalize pot laws. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, is pushing a bill in the state legislature that would regulate marijuana much like alcohol.
Under Ammiano's proposal, pot would be taxed at a rate of $50 per ounce and bring an estimated $1 billion in tax proceeds. The legislation would only allow taxes on pot to be collected once the federal government lifts its restrictions on marijuana.
Some critics have said they do not anticipate the federal government will budge anytime soon. Under federal law, any possession of marijuana is illegal.
Lee said a ballot initiative is quicker than waiting for any bill on the contentious issue of marijuana legalization to grind through the legislative process.
