Another group has decided to shoot for pot legalization in California by 2014. According to San Jose dispensary operator Dave Hodges, his group submitted to the State of California for review the Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act of 2014 on Friday. Now the Secretary of State must review the ballot language and if it’s approved for circulation, allow the group to begin gathering signatures to put the initiative before California voters in November 2014.
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The Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act of 2014 comes from John Lee, Dege Coutee, Bob Bowerman, and Hodges and is the culmination of a year-long “open source” effort to include thousands of Californians in the law’s drafting. Calling themselves “Americans for Policy Reform (AFPR)”, the group’s members state, “By using a public, open-source document, we were given great insight into what the real issues were and how to solve them.”
To view the submitted language, click here.
In summary, the initiative would:
– shield medical marijuana rights in California
– eliminate sales taxes on medical marijuana
– legalize the use, sale, growth and processing of cannabis by adults over 21, subject to restrictions
– allow for 100 square-feet of pot-growing per individual on private property, indoors or out
– establish a Cannabis Control Commission to regulate and tax commercial pot growing, wholesale and retail
– set zoning rules for pot shops
– shield pot users from discrimination by utilities, banks and insurers
– shield parents who grow pot
– treat second hand pot smoke like tobacco smoke
– prevent federal pot law enforcement by state officials, except for out-of-state trafficking cases
– divvies up cannabis taxes among police, schools, drug abuse treatment, and other groups