After receiving over 600,000 signatures, California’s Secretary of State recently announced that California residents (who are registered to vote) will finally make the decision on whether or not to legalize Marijuana for recreational use. The push for legalization of Marijuana has gained significant momentum over the past past year with supporters of the drug raising over $3 million dollars to fund the initiative and to gather the necessary number of resident signatures to be placed on the official ballot in November. The proposed initiative would allow adults 21 and over to legally have an ounce of Marijuana to purchase & have in their possession. This initiative would also enable residents to grow up to 6 plants of Cannabis Sativa for recreational use.
It is estimated that if this initiative were to pass that the State of California could generate well over a billion dollars in revenue annually, which shouldn’t be a surprise seeing as that the State of California is the most populated state in the Country. Not only will this generate a significant amount of revenue, but it will also save (and take) a significant amount of money thats used by local & state governments to enforce marijuana-related crimes & the large amount of money generated by incarcerated individuals who are currently serving time in prisons all across the state.
This is not the first time marijuana legalization has been discussed in California. As a matter of fact the state voted against it back in 2010 under a different initiative called “Proposition 19” back in 2010. However marijuana advocates argue that this time there will be a different outcome because of other states on the west coast being able to successfully pass legalization of marijuana & also giving the state more power over regulation as it relates to growing, transporting & selling of marijuana. But just as with any other thing to be voted on in America, there is still a significant amount of opposition to the legalization of marijuana & not surprisingly, the majority of the people opposed to this initiative are either in law enforcement in some capacity 0r groups that support police departments & private prison industrialization.
Per npr.org, polls have shown that 60% of Californians think marijuana use should be legal and only 37% say it should not be legal. What’s you’re take?
Product Of Society 