Marijuana Legalization In California Moves To November Ballot: Do You Agree?

SACRAMENTO - Come November, California voters could put a severe dent in the yearly incomes of more than a few Humboldt County farmers who illegally grow a certain highly-sought green herb.

On Tuesday, a group that includes Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom and former Facebook President Sean Parker said it has collected more than 600,000 signatures in support of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), enough to qualify the measure as a November 8 ballot issue, according to the LA Times.

A factsheet posted on the AUMA website states the measure would allow adults 21 and older to possess, transport and use up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational purposes and grow up to six plants. The plants would have to be out of public view and secure from children.

The measure would allow local governments to ban outdoor home cultivation. The use of marijuana in public would remain illegal.

Employers would be given broad latitude to ban nonmedical marijuana use by employees. Counties would be required to develop protocols in line with the measure by January 1, 2018.

The measure proposed is extremely specific: It would imposes a tax on licensed marijuana growers, based on the weight of the plants grown. The rates being considered are $9.25 per ounce of marijuana flowers and $2.75 per ounce of marijuana leaves.

Retail sales of marijuana would be taxed 15 percent.

The amount of money raised if the measure passes could be substantial.

Supporters of the measure say combined taxes on sales of legalized marijuana could raise over $1 billion annually for California if the new system is fully implemented.

Speaking in San Francisco on Wednesday, Newsom said "We're not doing this lightly, we're doing it very thoughtfully," according to Bay City News.

"You do not have to be pro-marijuana to be pro-legalization, that's not what this is about," he said, noting that he personally was not a fan, according to BCN.

A previous measure in California seeking to legalize marijuana, Proposition 19, was defeated by nearly 700,000 votes, 53.5 percent to 46.5 percent, in 2010.

Opposition organized by Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALM), originally created in 2010 to defeat Prop 19, say the use of marijuana as a form of tax revenue is "terrible policy that doesn't hold weight in reality."

"Marijuana is a very dangerous drug," said Scott Chipman, Southern California chairman of the group told the LA Times. "The state has not proven it has the capacity or the will to properly regulate marijuana and so they won't."

The CALM website claims:

A research study that followed children from birth up to age 38 has found that people who smoked cannabis four or more days of the week over many years ended up in a lower social class than their parents, with lower-paying, less skilled and less prestigious jobs than those who were not regular cannabis smokers. These regular and persistent users also experienced more financial, work-related and relationship difficulties, which worsened as the number of years of regular cannabis use progressed.

Despite the defeat of Prop 19 in 2010, a poll last year by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 56% of likely voters in California favor full legalization.

California would join Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Alaska as states that allow recreational use of marijuana if the measure passes.

You can read the full text of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act here.

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