Legal Commentary

California Initiative to Legalize Marijuana Poised to Make Ballot

By Jeralyn

Tomorrow the votes will be counted on a California ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana:

The 10-page California initiative would allow anyone 21 or older to possess, share and transport up to an ounce for personal use and to grow up to 25 square feet per residence or parcel. It would allow local governments, but not the state, to authorize the cultivation, transportation and sale of marijuana and to impose taxes to raise revenues.

To make the ballot, the measure needs 433,971 valid signatures. By Tuesday, it was just 15,000 short. Los Angeles County, where supporters collected 142,246 signatures, is expected to put it over the top.

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Check out TaxCannibis.Org. As more states face budget crises, it's an idea whose time may have finally arrived. And in the Wall St. Journal today, The War on Drugs is Doomed. Why? "Strong demand and the high profits that are the result of prohibition make illegal trafficking unstoppable."

Democrats in New York submitted a proposal to legalize and tax sales of medical marijuana as part of their budget.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 23, 2010 (boomark / email).