03/06/2010

California will vote on the legalization of marijuana in November

 Los Angeles (USA), March 24 (EFE) .- The Secretary of State of California announced today that the citizens' initiative to legalize marijuana was the number of enough support to be voted by referendum in November as part of the gubernatorial election.

The group advocates for the proposal to decriminalize the consumption of this substance was able to submit more than the 433,971 signatures required by the authorities to bring the "Cannabis Act to popular approval.

If successful, the new law would lift restrictions on personal use and enjoyment of marijuana for those over 21 years in California.

The proposal establishes the legal limit for possession of 30 grams per person and the private cultivation of these plants, provided that the parcel does not exceed 2.3 square meters.

If approved, cannabis would become a licit drug in that state, such as snuff and alcohol, and would be an important source of revenue in trade and production taxes for local governments and state.

It is estimated that public funds could lead to over 1,300 million dollars a year in fees for this substance.

Proponents of the measure, led by Richard Lee, a prominent figure in the field of selling medical marijuana in California, reported that they had obtained 700,000 signatures, 300,000 more than necessary, to get them to bring the citizen petition the polls.

"It's a historic first step towards the completion of cannabis prohibition. I have always believed that cannabis should be regulated and subject to taxes and that our current laws do not work," said Lee, who is behind the financial support of this campaign .

Lee has already invested more than $ 1 million to promote his proposal and hire a team of experts to get through and deliver the documentation to be included among the subjects to vote in the California general election Nov. 2, from which will the name of the new governor.

Last April, an Oakland EMC Research poll showed that 54% of voters favored the legalization of this substance, although a margin of votes is too small to provide a victory for the proposal in the referendum.

If you succeed, the initiative would conflict with federal laws that prohibit the sale of marijuana.

In 2009, Obama said the government would not pursue the commercialization of cannabis dispensaries prescription, although positions contrary to convert the drug into a commodity.

Since 1996, this state is legal in the marketing of medical marijuana and this month the California Supreme Court lifted the restrictions on the amounts of the drug that a patient can have in his possession, and the number of plants that can grow .

The ruling overturned a law in force since 2003 which imposed limits on possession of cannabis despite having authorization optional.