Posted on 11/07/2016 9:52:38 PM PST by nickcarraway
Proposition 64 opponents fear the measure, if passed, would harm those who rely on medical cannabis
The proposition that would legalize recreational marijuana in California has been one of the most talked about ballot initiatives in this election season.
Big names including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and tech billionare Sean Parker have thrown their support behind Proposition 64.
On Monday, some medical marijuana advocates said the initiative is the wrong way to go and were urging people to vote no during a rally outside San Francisco City Hall.
Those opponents fear Prop. 64 will end up hurting people who use marijuana for medical reasons.
Shona Gochenaur wants marijuana to be legal, but she believes Prop. 64 misses the mark.
"We’re really looking at a crisis of compassionate care," she said. "We’re fine with slowing down and working out the kinks in the state law to protect patients' access."
About a dozen people attended Monday morning's rally. They're worried if Prop. 64 passes, medical marijuana providers will face stricter regulations, and in turn patients who depend on marijuana for care will have less access. They believe those new restrictions would lead to small medical marijuana farms and businesses shutting down.
But Yes on 64 spokesperson Tenoch Flores said the initiative in no way alters Proposition 215, which established the medical marijuana system in California. Flores reminded voters that even if the measure passes Tuesday, it doesn't take effect until January 2018, allowing time for state and local governments to set up a commercial system.
"The licensing, the listening process," Flores said. "To determine how many dispensaries they want to have, and that’s very important. Local control is a part of this measure."
If Proposition 64 passes, recreational marijuana will be legalized for adults ages 21 and older. It will also establish sales and cultivation taxes resulting in tens of millions of dollars in state revenue that would go toward drug research, treatment and enforcement.
Let them pass it. It will screw CA over even more and will likely prove to not generate revenue like they think it will. Moreover, it *will* generate problems.
The biggest opponents to this are the current legal and illegal growers. Growing it isn’t very difficult and legalized recreationally a lot of folks will just have a couple growing in the yard.
That will give gangs incentive to sell untaxed marijuana.
That way California will get all the deficits of an increasingly drug addicted populace with none of the benefits of eliminating the Drug War.
Just another Cali twofer!
Hooray for us. /sarc
Yes, but a stoned populace doesn’t vote...
Yep that’s what happened to Colorado. What a mess! Happening right on the street where we have our house. There’s loopholes that people are using claiming they’re disabled in order to to plant and grow more than the law allows. Now there’s People moving into the state with all sorts of “health conditions”. I have a neighbor who was perfectly healthy two years ago and suddenly he has this lung condition and now has this grow house and you can’t believe the riff raff that comes to his house all hours of the day and night. Used to peaceful on that mountain top.
You make a salient point.
I would not oppose legalization except for all the losers that come out of the woodwork.
I do not want my community to resemble the parking lot of a Greatful Dead concert!
That sort of thing is already happening in Cali. A friend of mine has a son-in-law that wants to grow more than the allotted quota on her land. She rents a little house to him at the back of her property but he seems to think the whole property is his. He’s no doubt growing to sell, which is illegal, but who’s going to enforce it?
They are worried about the price, lol.
“Who’s going to enforce it....”
Exactly!! A good friend who is a probation officer just kinda wrings his hands over the whole thing. It’s monumental. His complaint is the heroin, I guess weed isn’t good enough anymore.
The medical dispensaries are just trying to protect their turf. Good business choice.
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