California Recreational Marijuana Measure qualifies for November Ballot

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on June 30, 2016.

The voters of California are set to decide whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. The Secretary of State's office on Tuesday said the issue could be put to voters in the November ballot since enough signatures had been gathered in support of the initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

"An initiative can qualify via random sampling of petition signatures if the sampling projects a number of valid signatures greater than 110 percent of the required number," the Secretary of State's office released a statement. "The initiative needed at least 402,468 projected valid signatures to qualify by random sampling, and it exceeded that threshold today."

Notably, the proposed so-called "Adult Use of Marijuana Act," would allow people aged 21 and older to possess as much as an ounce of marijuana for private recreational use and permit personal cultivation of as many as six marijuana plants.

The measure would also establish a system to license, regulate and tax sales of marijuana, while allowing city governments to exercise local control over or disallow commercial distribution within their borders.

While noted personalities like Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the ACLU of California and former Facebook President Sean Parker are advocating for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use, the main opposition to the proposal is led by the Coalition for Responsible Drug Policies.

If the proposed measure is approved, California will join Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia in legalizing marijuana for recreational use. However, Ohio has rejected such measure in recent past.

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