California Marijuana Legalization Intiative On The Ballot!

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla pleased at least 60% of the state this morning with the news that an initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use has qualified for the November 8th general election ballot.Here is the official summary of the proposed legislation as it will appear in the ballot:

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Legalizes marijuana and hemp under state law. Designates state agencies to license and regulate marijuana industry. Imposes state excise tax on retail sales of marijuana equal to 15% of sales price, and state cultivation taxes on marijuana of $9.25 per ounce of flowers and $2.75 per ounce of leaves. Exempts medical marijuana from some taxation. Establishes packaging, labeling, advertising, and marketing standards and restrictions for marijuana products. Allows local regulation and taxation of marijuana. Prohibits marketing and advertising marijuana to minors. Authorizes resentencing and destruction of records for prior marijuana convictions. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Net reduced costs ranging from tens of millions of dollars to potentially exceeding $100 million annually to state and local governments related to enforcing certain marijuana-related offenses, handling the related criminal cases in the court system, and incarcerating and supervising certain marijuana offenders. Net additional state and local tax revenues potentially ranging from the high hundreds of millions of dollars to over $1 billion annually related to the production and sale of marijuana. Most of these funds would be required to be spent for specific purposes such as substance use disorder education, prevention, and treatment. (15-0103.)

Millions of joints were sparked up and the day began in a celebratory haze for most of these happy people.
They say the fog is extraordinarily thick in San Francisco this morning.

 

The measure will make possession of more than a few grams of non taxed pot a felony. That means home grown gets you jail.

I voted against this. It can be done better. Let's wait and get a good law.

Things that need to be worked out:
What's driving under the influence? How do you measure that without violating rights? I'm not peeing in a cup for a cop on a roadside.
What zoning laws will be used? This law allows entire municipalities to diasallow pot sales and cultivation.
Will smoke free now apply to pot? (Typically it gets ignored at say, concerts. A cigarette is booted, a pot pipe ignored)
Will people be allowed to smoke in public, as in walking down the street? Do you legislate as alcohol or tobacco?

The fine print makes this measure a travesty.

 

Well, two years later we have legalization... and commercialization to be exact. Prices for 'retail' are sky high as the system sorts itself out... it's only been four months since the new system went into full force.

The only benefit I can see from all this is cleaner product that has been tested to be pesticide free, and organic products are becoming much more available than before.

Lots of stupid restrictions like not being able to consume anywhere is a problem, but these will get addressed over time I think.

 

This, together with Schumer's push to remove marijuana from the DEA's banned substance list, prove that politicians are at least having an open mind in 2018.

I imagine prices will come down as grower competition increases, although everything great in life comes at a price.