Ballot-measure backers collected more than 600,000 signatures to put the initiative before voters, who are widely expected to approve it, especially given Parker’s apparent willingness to fund advertising.
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Voters in four states – Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska – plus the District of Columbia, have gone a step further since 2012 in permitting recreational use for adults.
As of now it seems that The Adult Use of Marijuana Act in California has more than enough signatures to make the statewide ballot this November. But the Golden State is only now confronting the full complexity of regulating consumer safety and business practices in an industry that’s ballooned to an estimated $2.7 billion annually.
On Wednesday, the Bay Area Council announced that a new poll of Bay Area residents found that 50 percent support legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in California as called for in the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which would require a simple majority to pass. The Bay Area Council Poll was conducted by Oakland-based public opinion research firm EMC Research from February 12 to March 9, and surveyed more than 1,000 residents online about a range of issues.
But supporters of the California initiative said the measure included a number of provisions aimed at keeping marijuana out of the hands of minors, including a ban on marketing to children, explicit warning labels on cannabis products and safe-packaging restrictions. As we all recall, back in 2010 California – and famously Humboldt County – voted against Prop 19’s brand of weed legalization.
An official campaign for the initiative is being launched.
If the measure is passed in November, California would become the fifth state nationwide to okay recreational use of marijuana. People can also grow as many as six plants.
“These results demonstrate the widespread endorsement of medical marijuana among Louisiana voters”, said Jesse McCormick of the Louisiana Cannabis Association.
Although some observers will be surprised by these sharp price declines – perhaps particularly some investors in the emerging legal marijuana industry – seasoned drug policy analysts have long predicted this effect … prohibition imposes many costs on drug producers.
“You do not have to be pro-marijuana to be pro-legalization”. The dispensary, which also operates a facility in San Jose, brings in about $25 million a year from medical marijuana sales and was able to hire the finest legal talent in attorney Henry Wykowski.
Initiatives allowing for casual use already have qualified for November ballots in Nevada and Maine.
Yesterday, employers got some much needed help, with an amended HB 523 [pdf], which significantly expands the rights of employers in regard to employees legally using marijuana.
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The group, which includes police, unions, elected officials, small growers and hospital officials, said it will lay out legal loopholes that should concern even those generally supportive of legalization.
