Pubdate: Thu, 23 Sep 2010
Source: West Coast Leaf (CA)
Page: Front Page, top of the page, continued on page 21
Copyright: 2010 West Coast Leaf and Creative Xpressions
Contact:  http://www.westcoastleaf.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4715
Author: Mary Jane Borden, Media Awareness Project
Bookmark:  http://www.mapinc.org/find?272 (Proposition 19)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?273 (Proposition 203)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?276 (Measure 74)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?277 (Cannabis - Medicinal - Colorado)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?271 (Cannabis - Medicinal -  Wisconsin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.)

ALL EYES ON CALIFORNIA VOTERS

Important Measures on State and Local Ballots Across USA

Voters will be deciding on a number of ground-breaking initiatives 
this Nov. 2. The most prominent is Proposition 19, to allow 
Californians 21 and over to tend a small cannabis garden, possess up 
to one ounce, and give state and local governments the authority to 
control its sale.

Other states and communities are considering cannabis initiatives.

Similarly to Prop 19, voters in Detroit, Michigan may decide whether 
to allow those 21 and older to legally possess less than an ounce on 
private property. However, as of this writing, the Detroit Election 
Commission has rejected this proposal, and the matter is back in Court.

By approving Measure 74, Oregon state voters could authorize opening 
statelicensed cannabis dispensaries.

Arizona (Prop 203) and South Dakota (Measure 13) have 
medical-marijuana initiatives on their ballots.

At the local level, proposals to permit or ban dispensaries will be 
voted on in the Colorado cities of Fraser, Granby, Loveland and 
Paonia, as well as Colorado counties of Alamosa, Garfield, Grand and Windsor.

An advisory referendum will ask Dane County, WI voters whether they 
think thestate should legalize medical marijuana.

In anticipation of Prop 19's passage, voters in several California 
cities will also consider measures to tax the sale of cannabis. The 
Sacramento City Council has placed a companion measure on the 
November ballot for a 5 10 percent local tax on retail marijuana 
sales. Sacramento is asking voters to decide whether to impose a 2 4 
percent tax on gross receipts at existing medical marijuana 
dispensaries. Similarly, Long Beach voters will consider whether to 
charge medical cannabis collectives a 5 percent gross receipts tax. 
The Long Beach measure would also permit the city to levy a tax of 
0.75 cents per square foot on sites used exclusively to cultivate 
cannabis. The Richmond City Council also placed a 5 percent marijuana 
tax proposal on the ballot.

Two Berkeley ballot proposals will allow up to 11 large-scale growing 
facilities in the city's manufacturing zone. The measures would also 
reduce the buffer zone between dispensaries and schools from 1,000 
feet to 600 feet. If approved, the new law would permit growers to 
bake cannabis brownies, cookies and cakes.

DrugSense and its Media Awareness Project have established a number 
of ways to track these initiatives right up to election day. The best 
place to start is at the "Ballot Initiative" Focal Point on the MAP 
homepage, mapinc.org, that leads to numerous initiative-focused 
articles at mapinc.org/props.htm. At the Media Activism Center, 
mapinc.org/resource/, there is even more information and a list of 
ways to get involved.

Please remember to vote Nov. 2 or vote absentee in advance, 
particularly if you reside in one of the cities or states fielding 
ballot initiatives. That's the best way to initiate the end of 
cannabis prohibition and the beginning of legal regulation. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake