Pubdate: Thu, 11 Jun 2009
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Page: A - 1, Front Page
Copyright: 2009 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Cited: Oaksterdam University http://www.oaksterdamuniversity.com/
Cited: Tax Cannabis 2010 http://www.taxcannabis2010.org/
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

BACKERS OF LEGAL POT EYE BALLOT

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.

The move comes as other legislative efforts to legalize marijuana are 
beginning to gain traction, including a special July election in 
Oakland to create a category for cannabis taxes, and hearings this 
fall on a bill by state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano to decriminalize the substance.

With California counties and cities facing huge cuts in critical 
programs because of the state's $24.3 billion budget deficit - 
supporters of efforts to legalize and tax marijuana have seized on a 
new and potentially potent financial argument to take a new look at the issue.

Billions for California

Lee's group argues that legalization could generate billions of 
dollars in annual sales tax revenues for California, "so we can 
finally start funding what matters most: jobs, health care, 
education," while putting dwindling law enforcement dollars to work 
on high-priority violent crime and anti-gang offensives.

TaxCannabis2010.org, which also will have a political action 
committee arm to raise money, plans to submit the initiative to 
Attorney General Jerry Brown next month for the summary and title 
oversight required by law. Lee said the group plans to begin 
gathering signatures in August and fully expects to get the required 
650,000 signatures by January to qualify for the November 2010 ballot.

Already, he said, the group has ambitious plans to hire paid 
signature gatherers, and to use Internet organizing and fundraising - 
lessons he said learned from the Obama presidential campaign - as 
well as its PAC to seize on what appears to be a recent shift in 
public opinion on legalization.

Even if the initiative is successful in California, marijuana would 
still be illegal under federal law, although backers hope a change 
here would lead to a change in federal law.

The move to go before voters underscores how the state's budget 
crisis could help drive what political observers say is an 
increasingly sophisticated, Internet-savvy and business-oriented 
approach to the effort to legalize pot.

"It's not the complete answer to the state budget crisis - but it's a 
piece of the puzzle that could be put into place relatively easily," 
said Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project, which studies 
legalization issues. "That said, there's an ongoing discussion about 
how to get that done as quickly as possible - and whether a ballot 
initiative is the way to go."

Oakland Ballot Measure

Other marijuana-related legislation is making its way before state 
voters. Oakland voters will in weeks begin voting on a July special 
election mail-in ballot that includes Measure F, which would make 
their city the first in the nation to establish a new tax rate for 
"cannabis businesses." If the measure is approved, Oakland medical 
marijuana businesses, which generate an estimated $20 million 
annually in sales - and are now charged at the general tax rate of 
$1.20 per $1,000 gross receipts - would see that rate raised to $18 
per $1,000, a 15-fold increase.

The measure was supported enthusiastically by Lee and overseers of 
other city medical marijuana dispensaries as one that could 
contribute more than $400,000 a year to city coffers while also 
giving the medical marijuana businesses an increasingly mainstream 
profile in a major city.

Their efforts have won the support of Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, 
who sponsored Oakland's Measure D, which mandates that arrests for 
personal possession of marijuana be given the lowest priority in law 
enforcement matters.

While an increasing number of public officials, including Gov. Arnold 
Schwarzenegger, have urged study of legalization, there remains deep 
opposition among groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which 
argues it would multiply problems related to substance use and come 
with heavy health concerns.

Opposition and Progress

Even proponents of decriminalization warn that taking an initiative 
before state voters probably will face huge and expensive opposition.

Quintin Mecke, communications director for state Sen. Tom Ammiano, 
D-San Francisco, said the legislator's bill, AB390, calling for 
decriminalization of marijuana and taxation and regulation of the 
drug, is expected to be up for hearings later this year. "The general 
consensus is that we're making a lot of progress," he said.

But a ballot initiative has the potential to be more polarizing, 
because it will "limit the ability to craft (a measure) through 
legislative process" and doesn't allow for as much flexibility, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake