‘Legalize and tax,’ say marijuana supporters
October 1, 2009, 2:17 pm
By Marcus Wohlsen
The Associated Press
SAN
FRANCISCO — Pot advocates started their push Friday to get a marijuana
legalization measure on California's 2010 ballot with backing from a
prominent state politician.
Former state Senate president Don
Perata announced his support for the Tax Cannabis 2010 campaign, which
began gathering signatures for the proposal at the annual meeting of
the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Supporters need nearly 434,000 signatures to make the November 2010 ballot.
Though Perata did not appear as scheduled at a news conference
launching the signature drive, he said in a statement that taxing legal
marijuana was key to easing California's financial woes.
"In this time of economic
uncertainty, it's time we thought outside the box and brought in
revenue we need to restore the California dream," he said.
Term limits forced Perata from the
Legislature in 2008. He announced in March that he planned to run next
year for mayor of Oakland, where voters in July overwhelmingly passed a
first-of-its-kind tax on city medical marijuana dispensaries.
Pot dispensary owners who supported
the tax as a way to show their commitment to the city included Richard
Lee, the ballot measure's main backer.
Under the proposal, adults 21 and older could legally possess up to an
ounce of pot. Homeowners could grow limited amounts, and local
governments would decide whether to allow pot sales.
Supporters argue taxes levied on
marijuana sales could help strapped cities weather revenue shortfalls
caused by the recession and California's budget crisis.
Lee said he believed the cost of obtaining the needed signatures would run about a dollar per name.
"We've raised a good portion of the
amount that we need, so we feel real confident that we're going to get
it on the ballot," he said.
The measure is the most conservative
of three pot legalization proposals certified for signature-gathering
by California's Secretary of State.
A group of Northern California
criminal defense lawyers is promoting a measure that would set no
specific limits on the amount of pot adults could possess or grow for
personal use.
The measure would repeal all local
and state marijuana laws and clear the criminal record of anyone
convicted of a pot-related offense.
The third measure, proposed by a
Long Beach pot activist, would repeal state marijuana prohibitions and
give the Legislature a year to adopt new laws regulating and taxing the
drug.
The state Legislative Analyst's
Office said all three measures could bring potentially major new
revenue to the state from taxing marijuana. The office also predicts
the measures would result in tens of millions of dollars in savings of
law enforcement costs to state and local governments.
The cost of running California
ballot measure campaigns often climbs to eight figures, so supporters
of the pot initiatives will need to focus on fundraising.
Some pot activists believe it's too
soon to reach for full-fledged marijuana legalization, a goal the
pro-marijuana movement has worked toward for decades.
Backers of the measures hope to tap
into what they see as pro-legalization momentum spurred in part by the
Obama administration's hands-off attitude toward states that allow
medical marijuana.
If any of the proposals do make the
ballot, a Field Poll earlier this year found that a slight majority of
state voters supported legalizing and taxing pot.
Mark Kleiman, a professor of public
policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in
drug issues, said he believes Californians may be ready to lift the ban.
"I wouldn't be stunned. I could see it going either way," he said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.