Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jul 2015
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Melanie Mason

PANEL LOOKS AHEAD TO LEGAL POT

A Group Headed by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom Recommends Ways to Implement 
Marijuana Legalization.

SACRAMENTO - A panel chaired by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom hopes to guide 
the debate on the legalization of marijuana in California with an 
emphasis on limiting children's access to cannabis, reducing illegal 
activity and tightly regulating the drug's growth and sales.

In a report released Wednesday, the group lays out 58 recommendations 
and goals for implementing general legalization - an issue expected 
to go before state voters next year.

The document offers broad principles - "protecting California's 
youth" - as well as nitty-gritty suggestions for collecting data and 
limiting advertising.

Newsom said in an interview that he hopes the report offers guidance 
to proponents of a legalization initiative aimed at the November 2016 
ballot, and will help lawmakers and officials who would have to 
implement it if it passed.

The report does not explicitly endorse or oppose legalization of 
recreational marijuana, although Newsom, who is running for governor 
in 2018, has been outspoken in support of legalization and is the 
highest ranking California official to take that position.

However, Newsom said, the drafting of the report "tempered ... 
significantly" his enthusiasm for unfettered legalization.

"I'm more cautious as a parent, more cautious as a policymaker," 
Newsom said. "We don't want this to be the next Gold Rush."

The report calls for strong regulation of the marijuana market from 
the outset. It suggests establishing licensing and training 
standards, and designating a central entity to oversee legalization.

"We're not arguing for a free market. We're arguing for a very 
regulated market that has real oversight, that is flexible," Newsom said.

That regulation should extend to retail stores, the report says, 
including requiring identification and age limits to enter stores and 
limitations on what types of products, such as edible forms of 
marijuana, could be sold.

Taxes on legal marijuana should be used for education, public health 
programs and public safety, according to the commission. But the 
report cautions that maximizing revenue - "which would depend on 
higher levels of consumption," it notes - should not be the goal of 
cannabis taxes.

Six ballot measures to legalize marijuana have been submitted to the 
California secretary of state's office. A survey by the Public Policy 
Institute in California found last month that 54% of residents favor 
legalization, with 44% against it.

Law enforcement groups oppose legalization, arguing that it would not 
stamp out illegal sales and would increase risks to public safety.

"If, in fact, we legalize a psychoactive drug, that's certainly going 
to increase the number of impaired drivers on the road," said Chula 
Vista Police Chief David Bejarano, president of the California Police 
Chiefs Assn.

Joining Newsom in crafting the report, called "Pathways Report: 
Policy Options for Regulating Marijuana in California," were Abdi 
Soltani, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of 
Northern California, and Keith Humphreys, a professor at the Stanford 
University School of Medicine.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom