Articles Posted in California marijuana legalization

The Los Angeles Times reports a new poll out regarding the marijuana legalization measure on the California ballot in November, shows a slight lead by those opposed to the measure.

As our Los Angeles marijuana defense attorneys reported last month on our Marijuana Lawyer Blog, an earlier poll found a slim measure of support for the issue.

Known as Proposition 19, the measure would make it legal for those over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. The Field Poll found 48 percent of likely voters oppose the measure, while 44 percent support it. Traditionally, Propositions that trail in early polls have a tough time passing.

“History suggests that chances aren’t good when you start out behind,” said Mark DiCamillo, the director of the poll. But he said the results were close enough that the measure has a chance to win. “It depends on the quality of the campaign.”

Our Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary lawyers continue to fight on behalf of collectives and dispensaries being forced to close throughout Southern California. We question how legal marijuana will be sold if businesses operating legally under California law are permitted to be closed by a patchwork of local legislation. The City of Los Angeles is attempting to force 400 marijuana dispensaries to close, while Los Angeles County is hashing out a tough new ordinance that would prohibit the businesses from relocating into unincorporated areas.

Good news for supporters: Three-quarters of potential voters had heard about the measure and those voters supported it 48 percent to 44 percent. It was the 2 to 1 opposition by the 25 percent who were not familiar with the measure that tipped the scales toward defeat in November.

The measure is being touted as a money-maker for local governments, which would be permitted to regulate and tax commercial sales.

“The folks that are familiar with the proposition itself, that have educated themselves on the proposition, find that they like it,” said Dale Sky Clare, a spokeswoman for the Proposition 19 campaign. “This is going to be a nail-biter to the very end.”

The poll found white voters support the measure, while Latino, black and Asian American voters heavily oppose it. We recently reported that the California branch of the NAACP voiced support for the measure, citing the disproportionate number of minorities who face marijuana-related criminal charges.
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The California NAACP announced on Monday that it is backing the California initiative to legalize marijuana, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Citing the disproportionate toll marijuana arrests take on African-Americans, the group said it supports the November ballot issue aimed at legalizing marijuana in California. As our Los Angeles medical marijuana attorneys recently reported, the California initiative to legalize marijuana had a slim margin of support in a recent poll of voters.

The NAACP said the Center on Juvenile Crime and Criminal Justice showed that non-whites accounted for 62 percent of California arrests involving marijuana charges in 2009. In 42 percent of those cases, the nonwhite suspects were under the age of 20. The organization said that, despite the fact that blacks use marijuana at lower rates than whites, they were up to four-times more likely to be charged in California’s 25 largest counties.

“We are joining a growing number of medical professionals, labor organizations, law enforcement authorities, local municipalities and approximately 56% of the public in saying that it is time to decriminalize the use of marijuana,” California NAACP President Alice Huffman said in a statement.

If approved in November, the measure would allow people over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. And marijuana sales would be taxed, potentially raising billions of dollars for cash-starved governments.

Opponents contend that legalization would increase crime and drug dependency.
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