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Legalize It: California Gears Up To Vote On Legal Pot In November, Adult Marijuana Use Qualifies For Ballot

By Coburn Palmer
Published on: 07:26 PST, May 5, 2016

California, the first state to approve prescription marijuana for medical patients, is set to consider legalizing recreational cannabis in November now that a voter initiative has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

The Adult Use of Marijuana Act is being promoted by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, law enforcement leaders, public health officials, and social justice advocates who hope 2016 will be the year California finally legalizes pot.

Newsom told a crowd of supporters that legalizing cannabis would help end the war on drugs that is bankrupting the country, failing our children, and impoverishing minority communities, reports the USA Today.

“This is a game changer. We have a chance to lead a national dialogue, a national debate.”

Supporters of the initiative successfully collected 600,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot, they announced Wednesday.

The ballot measure, similar to initiatives in Colorado and Washington, would make it legal for adults 21 and older to possess an ounce of cannabis and to grow up to six plants for personal use.

It would also expand the power of California’s new marijuana czar, create regulations for pot farmers, enact advertising limits and labeling requirements, and levy a 15 percent sales tax on retailers.

Newsom told supporters that legalizing marijuana would finally give Californians the opportunity to pass smart cannabis regulations built on the experiences of other states, according to the SFGate.

“This has been a 2½-year process of inclusion. We’re not doing this lightly. We’re doing this thoughtfully.”

Marijuana legalization is sweeping the nation, and already four states and the District of Columbia have decriminalized recreational cannabis while 23 other states have eased restrictions.

The green revolution is generating big money for cannabis entrepreneurs; last year, California’s medical marijuana industry generated some $2.7 billion and the emerging industry is expected to grow sales to reach $6.4 billion by 2020.

Last week, a San Francisco Bay Area career fair drew 2,500 job seekers as cannabis companies looked to hire everything from budtenders to marketing professionals and computer programmers.

Not everyone in California supports legalizing recreational marijuana, however. Proponents, including the California Police Chiefs Association, sheriff’s deputies, and teamsters, are preparing to fight the initiative.

Roger Morgan and his StopPot2016 campaign have been fighting cannabis legalization, arguing pot use permanently damages the brain of smokers under the age of 25 and is a causal factor in mental illness.

“Almost all of the mass murderers we’ve had in recent years, the person has been a heavy marijuana user because it changes the brain.”

Although California was the first state to legalize prescription marijuana for medical patients, the golden state has failed to okay recreational marijuana in the past. A similar initiative didn’t qualify for the ballot in 2014 when supporters failed to gather enough signatures.

In 2010, a marijuana legalization initiative made it to the ballot but was rejected by voters in the golden state. Supporters of the adult marijuana initiative believe attitudes toward pot have changed and now is the time to push for cannabis legalization in California, Ata Gonzalez, founder of G FarmaLabs, told the USA Today.

“Today, it’s a different world. You have seen what recreational has done in Denver, in Washington. You see it works. You can come to Cali, land, buy your cannabis. I think it’s going to bring our revenues up tremendously.”

Although the Adult Use of Marijuana Act has collected enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, it still must be formally certified by state election officials.

What do you think? Should California legalize recreational marijuana?

[Photo by Rich Pedroncelli/AP Images]

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