Politics

It’s official: California voters will decide in November whether they want to legalize marijuana. State election officials cleared a legalization petition for the Nov. 8 election, declaring in June that the initiative was backed by enough valid voter signatures to make the statewide ballot. Support for the idea is high, meaning legal cannabis is now highly likely in the Golden ...

The push to legalize marijuana in California gained an important ally in June, as a Marin County congressman endorsed a public initiative that will likely appear on the ballot in November. U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a San Rafael Democrat, announced June 9 that he would back the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, a proposed law that would allow cannabis for ...

The California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union has endorsed a push to legalize marijuana statewide. The ACLU of California announced in June that it is backing the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), a public initiative that would make cannabis legal for recreational use. The law would create, regulate, and tax a legal marijuana industry while allowing adults ...

All signs point to victory for marijuana policy reformers in November. A public referendum to legalize the drug will probably appear on the statewide ballot, and recent polls suggest voters are likely to pass it if it does. Many industry insiders agree, but with a note of caution. Don’t be too surprised, they say, if the tables flip and legalization ...

California Democrats threw their support behind a public referendum that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. The state’s Democratic Party voted in June to endorse the ballot initiative, which would make it legal for adults over 21 to buy, possess, and use up to an ounce of marijuana per person. They could also grow up to four plants at home, ...

Voters in Sacramento rejected a plan to tax marijuana cultivation, even though the proposal won a majority at the ballot box. Voters in the city strongly backed the initiative to tax retail cannabis cultivation and use the revenue to pay for youth programs. The plan won 65.2 percent of the vote, but the initiative needed more than 66 percent to ...

Proponents of marijuana reform in California have come out with a new pro-legalization ad, and it includes endorsements from some well-known entertainers. Snoop Dogg joined Quincy Jones and Too $hort in the video pushing for the Adult Use of Marijuana Act in California. The campaign to enact that initiative has gathered enough signatures to guarantee a spot on the ballot ...

Local officials in the San Joaquin Valley are cracking down on medical marijuana, but a pair of local cannabis “nuns” say they won’t cave to the pressure. Actually, they’re not nuns, at least not in the religious sense. They have no affiliation with the Vatican or any other church. Their purpose is growing pot, not spreading the Gospel. But they’re ...

Medical marijuana patients in California may soon find themselves paying more for the healthcare they need. The state Senate voted in June to approve a new sales tax on legal medicinal cannabis. At 15 percent, the tax is projected to generate roughly $250 million per year, money that would go toward public park projects, drug treatment programs, and general state ...

You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the man leading the drive to stop marijuana legalization in California is a cop. But you may not know much more than that. Meet Ken Corney, chief of police in Ventura and president of the California Police Chiefs Association. He is in charge of the largest statewide campaign to keep cannabis criminal. ...