Californians Back Legalization
Californians time appears to be coming in terms of legalizing marijuana in the wake of the precedence set by Colorado and Washington. A new poll out now shows that a majority of voters in the state once again support legalizing marijuana by 54%, to 43% which still support prohibition of pot.
Not surprisingly the vast majority of voters under 65 support legalizing the herb, while those still clinging on to prohibition tend to be senior citizens. Without being too grim it is fairly easy to see where marijuana legalization will be going in the years to come in California as those opposed are literally dying off. That is not without noting however that in the 65 and over demographic only 55% support continuing prohibition while 43% would like to see legalization and regulation.
California almost legalized weed just a few years ago with Proposition 19, but the vote failed after growers and workers in the marijuana trade in the North voted against legalization as they thought that corporations and large factory farms would wipe out the small marijuana businesses that many had set up in the state. Another huge factor which is often never cited is also the fact that Senator Diane Feinstein campaigned against Prop 19 and swayed a large portion of the Latino vote to come out against legalization. She was mainly worried about having to deal with a complex states rights showdown with President Obama’s Justice Department that she wanted to avoid. Ironically this shows that one of the main things holding back legalization in the state are Democrats and people working in the underground marijuana markets. However as the older demographic begin to fade away it seems inevitable that California will be the next state to fully legalize and regulate the herb as Democrats will be unable to stop the tide of younger voters in support of legalization. Those working in the marijuana trade will also have their fears qualmed by looking to Colorado and Washington to see that those states didn’t let in a huge commercial market dominated by Philip Morris (who were rumored to be buying up large portions of Humbolt County with the intent on setting up large farms there) .
The polls now show that marijuana is now in a position to most likely be legalized in the state the next time it appears on the ballot as long as legislators carefully make their new legislation to cover a variety of factors such as quality assurance, keeping marijuana out of the hands of those under 18, and an open system of controls to check on who is growing weed.
However don’t get too excited, it was just two years ago that legalizing and regulating marijuana was also polling ahead of the desire to keep it as a schedule I drug which demands a high priority status from police enforcement. It isn’t too surprising that many police departments are opposed to legalization as much of their funding comes from the continued prohibition of the herb. Maybe the video below is correct and marijuana is actually legal in the state according to feinstein 😀
