Cannabis Legalization Initiative Approved for Circulation in California
California’s Secretary of State’s office announced today that the California
Cannabis Hemp Initiative has passed through its initial hurdle, and proponents may now begin collecting the 504,760 valid signatures required to put the proposal to a vote of the people in 2014; the group will have 150 days. This announcement comes just a day after the Public Policy Institute of California announced that 60% of likely voters in the state support the legalization of cannabis.
This initiative – which has been given the initiative number of 1604 – would legalize the possession (and transfer) of up to 12 pounds of cannabis, as well as the private cultivation of up to 99 plants (the limit was set for purposes of separating personal from industrial cultivation), for those 21 and older. The proposal would task the state’s legislature with determining taxes and regulations for cannabis retail outlets.
Proponents of the measure aren’t currently backed by a large amount of funding, so they plan to rely heavily – at least at first – on volunteers; “What we need right now is volunteers who are ready and willing to organize statewide and to go out and collect the signatures we’ll need to qualify this ballot proposition”, Coordinator Buddy Duzy wrote in a guest article we published earlier this year, “We need activists, environmentalists, health advocates, third world advocates, and racial equality advocates. We need entrepreneurs and innovators willing to step forward and seize this opportunity. We need police officers and judges who are tired of wasting their time enforcing a policy that they know is a farce.”
Those wanting to get involved or learn more about this initiative should visit the website for the California Cannabis Hemp Initiative (also called the Jack Herer Initiative) by clicking here.
– TheJointBlog
Enver
Here in South Africa we had the”dagga couple”activists for the legalisation of cannibis. They also had a petition for the legalisation of our herb on web,and we were able to sign the petition via internet. The outcome was? our government was forced to re-open the case and do further research on the study of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
So at the end,the fact should speak for itself.
~bhutlekes enver(marijuana activist)
Fester
Even with 60 percent of Californian’s being in favor of legalization this initiative has no chance at all. Washington and Colorado struggled to get an ounce legalized so what do these fools do they go for 12 lbs and 99 plants assuring that no one but smokers would support it. They have no money, no support from the cannabis movement and to date their biggest achievement is getting a 1000 likes on facebook after having their page up for a long time. The worst part is that when this fails and it will in a big way the prohibitionists will simply claim that the people in California are against legalization which is wrong. These people learned nothing from failing in 2012. I hate that we have to wait till 2016 for a real effort in California but that’s where it’s at.
P.S. I hate the fact that I can walk into any liquor store and buy as much booze as I can and then I’ll have to live with only being able to buy small amounts of cannabis when it finally becomes legal but that is one of the hurdles we will have to jump through. Over time when people see that the sky did not fall because of legalization the limits will go away, but for now suggesting 12 lbs and 99 plants will only piss off the feds and give our opponents ammunition.