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California Will Vote on Legalizing Marijuana With Proposition 64

Proposition 64 would legalize recreational marijuana use and minor possession of less than a gram for adults 21 and older.
Eaze mobile app is one of the on-demand options within California for medical cannabis. Image: Eaze

California could follow in Colorado's footsteps and make marijuana legal for all adults, not just those with a prescription and a medical condition.

Proposition 64 would legalize recreational marijuana use and minor possession of less than a gram for adults 21 and older. Sales, distribution, agriculture and other facets of the recreational marijuana industry would be regulated and taxed. The ballot measure would also allow for past convictions of low-level marijuana crimes to be resentenced or expunged under the new law, according to the official state voter's guide.

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The tax revenue is estimated to reach $1 billion a year, according to the state guide. And the state's comptroller's office lays out the plan for where that tax revenue would go: Up to 4 percent could be used for costs related to collecting the tax, and some money would go to state departments such as the agriculture, consumer affairs, public health and wildlife agencies to reimburse "reasonable costs" associated with enforcing the new law.

From there, $10 million would go to California public universities to study the effect of the new law and make recommendations to the state legislature on ways to make it more effective, among other allocations. Additional disbursements are noted in the plan, including $3 million to go to California's highway patrol to establish protocol and to obtain resources for determining if a driver is under the influence of marijuana.

A majority of California voters are in favor of the measure. But public opinion around the amendment has wavered around the 50 percent mark for much of the summer and fall. A poll released this month by Sacramento State University opinion research center CALSPEAKS found 60 percent of voters approved of the amendment and 21 percent opposed it as of Oct. 13.

Those for the measure state it will provide legal parameters and safety regulations for an already-existent industry, and it will provide a boost in tax revenue. These supporters include California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sacramento mayor-elect Darrell Steinberg, the California Nurses Association, Napster founder Sean Parker and hip-hop artist Jay Z.

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"Reforming our marijuana laws is an important civil rights issue. The current system is counterproductive, financially wasteful and racially biased—and the people of California want it to be fixed," said Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP, at an event supporting the measure.

But opponents say the measure will lead to more vehicle accidents where the driver is under the influence of marijuana, and it will cause more children to be exposed to the drug.

Opponents of the proposition include U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, four California county district attorneys, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon and the California Hospital Association.

"The proponents have titled their initiative campaign 'Let's Get it Right,' which announces that the debate is not about whether to legalize recreational marijuana, but how," the anti-proposition campaign No on 64 stated. "In other words, they are asking voters not just to endorse an idea, but a specific business model that creates winners and losers. The money behind Prop 64 has nothing to do with good public policy, and everything to do with making some obscenely rich people even richer."

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