Another Marijuana Legalization Measure Qualifies For Signature Gathering In California 420Times / Joe / 11,25,2011 A new marijuana legalization measure – at least the fourth this year – has qualified to begin the long process of signature gathering in California. This most recent measure needs more than 504,000 valid signatures from registered voters by April 19, 2012 to qualify for the ballot. It would decriminalize the use, possession, cultivation, distribution and transport of cannabis for those 19 years of age and older. Beyond that it would create a commission to oversee the regulation of the cannabis industry and exempt up to three pounds of personal possession from taxation. According to the Legislative Analyst and the governor's Director of Finance the state could see considerable law enforcement savings from marijuana legalization, not to mention the potential of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues. The harder the federal government pushes in California, the harder advocates in the state are going to push back. Marijuana legalization is inevitable in CA and one has to wonder how the federal government will react to that turn of events. Will they continue to try to hide behind their “these businesses aren't following state law†defense of their actions – even though state authorities didn't see a reason to intervene in the state's medical cannabis industry? Or will they simply come out in the open and assert federal law over state law? Or will they just back off? 2012 is a pivotal year for California and for the marijuana law reform movement as a whole. It remains to be seen whether it's a good year or not. - Joe Klare And be sure to check out our Open Letter on Behalf of 30 Million Cannabis Users and join us in our fight! I wonder if medical marijuana users/providers have realized yet that the only way to get the Feds off their back is legalization? No more should have,could have would have,,,please!
I would expect this, because of many different factors. Personally I think it's a bit naive to think that one state legalizing is going to be successful. Cali has already proven they haven't and can't regulate properly...so what makes you think the Feds aren't going to kill this right away? That's why the Feds are going after them. There has to be some crazy regulation system already in place, that already proves it works...and can be maintained.
It was the same ending for alcohol prohibition we are seeing in marijuana prohibition,,except that the federal government has built up layers of support for prohibition this time. One city refused to enforce the Halstead Act,,then another,,then a state,,then several states. The road is long,,but now large forces are moving towards legalization.,,countries are defying the US drug war tactics and starting to make their own drug policies. It is happening,,but damn these layers are tough to peel off.
Bullshit - nothing's been proven about what "can" be done. Cali was the first and there was no plan in place to effectively regulate dick. In case you didn't know, the majority of all legal decisions regarding regulating dispensaires within cities is coming out of Cali. In fact, a major decision saying cities could ban dispensaries came out in the past two months, right before the Fed raids. Anyhow, to say Cali or any other state can't regulate weed like alcohol or tobacco is ridiculous.
What are you talking about? Cali has never presented a system there where they can regulate marijuana from seed to sale. Period. In case you didn't know, they've had this program for well over a DECADE and have never once tried to regulate it. It was a free, open market that people could do whatever the fuck they wanted to with crappy guidelines. As far as legal decisions go, Cali is way behind other states such as CO. That major decision saying cities can ban dispensaries has already been in place in CO since last year. CO is the first and only state to create a regulated model, do all the legislative shit Cali should have been doing a long time ago. Now they're slowly applying the model that we have here, but it might be too little too late, too soon. I'm not saying that no state can regulate, here we already do. I'm just saying that the most irresponsible state clearly has been Cali and that's why the Feds have jumped all over them. My point is I would imagine a state would have to prove to the Feds that this regulatory system works before they let anything such as legalization "fly". I'll give Cali their credit for doing what they have done for the industry, but Cali doesn't set the precedent for everything, especially this issue. They've been careless and irresponsible for not taking the proper steps earlier, (implementing different laws and/or rules) or else they wouldn't be in this mess. Other states in the country have basically looked at Cali and did the EXACT opposite of what they did because they've been doing it WRONG. In a way, they created an easy target on their back. The Feds are watching them very closely compared to all other mmj states. No matter what, we are all in this together, and we can all learn and grow from mistakes. It's only a matter of time, and educating people, I believe we will get there...but Cali has some catching up to do. There's a lot of work ahead of them, a lot more issues and obstacles. So we'll see...we'll see where the industry goes. However, I do agree that 2012 is a big year for the future of mmj across the board.