Major shift: CA Democrats’ proposed platform plank calls for full legalization of pot

With proponents arguing that it could put billions into state coffers and provide crucial jobs, California Democrats on Sunday will move to insert a plank in their party platform calling to “support the legalization, regulation and taxation of pot in a manner similar to that of tobacco or alcohol,” the Chronicle has learned.

The proposed platform change comes as 3,000 California Democrats met this weekend at a 3-day convention in Los Angeles, where they heard an appeal Saturday by Califonria Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom on the issue. The former San Francisco mayor argued to Democrats that — as with same sex marriage — the state should be leading, and not following, on a key issue which polls show now has gained marked support among Americans.

Newsom noted that while California lead the nation in 1996 in passing voter-approved Prop. 215 to support medical marijuana, it has now fallen behind other states, including Washington and Colorado, in moving to legalize the drug. He said that legalization would have a myriad of benefits that include boosting state revenue, diverting needed law enforcement resources and funding away from unnecessary incarceration.

“This is not a debate about stoners,” said Newsom. “You can be pro-regulation without being an advocate for drug use.”

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2014/03/09/major-shift-ca-democrats-proposed-platform-plank-calls-for-full-legalization-of-pot/