San Francisco Chronicle: Backers of legal marijuana eye 2010 ballot

Backers of legal pot eye ballot
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Thursday, June 11, 2009

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(06-10) 20:40 PDT -- With polls showing the legalization of marijuana gaining public support, and a state budget crisis fueling an ever-more-desperate search for revenue, backers of the first major statewide initiative to legalize marijuana for personal use - and allow counties to tax and regulate the drug - say they're preparing to get the matter on the November 2010 ballot.

"We think the tides have turned," said Richard Lee, the executive director of Oaksterdam University, a major medical marijuana dispensary and advocacy group in Oakland, and a founder of TaxCannabis2010.org, sponsor of the initiative.

He said polls showing voters' support for legalization and taxation of the drug, combined with the financial strains of a recession, mean that "this will be a landmark opportunity that will generate interest and funds nationwide." If successful, Lee said, the initiative will be viewed as a watershed - "a first step in changing federal law."

The initiative that Lee's group is preparing to circulate calls for legalization of small amounts of marijuana for personal possession by adults 21 and older, and allows cities and counties the option of regulating sales and cultivation. The legal amount would be 1 ounce for personal possession, with cultivation allowed in a space no larger than 5 feet by 5 feet. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/11/MNER184D84.DTL

Other than that strange request I'm all for this. It's basically already the law in Denver, and we've seen no uptick in Cannabis related deaths. The Cannabis death toll is still at zero as it has been for thousands of years of human history.