That only works if the courts will hear the case. There are a few other constitutional issues that the federal courts refuse to hear. What should people do then? Can a state court declare a federal law unconstitutional?
The wheels of justice turn slowly. The problem I have with the California proposition and similar propositions is they almost dare the Federal government to assert itself, which of course it will, all the while leaving the Constitutional question alone. It seems like such a loser strategy.
IMO, they should forget about the Constituional question. Unless California wants to argue that the DEA, the FDA and the Dept. of HHS, plus the FBI, the CIA, and the Justice Dept. are ALL engaged in unconstitutional activity, all so they can let some cancer patients smoke weed, they'd best just leave that one alone. I would. The state, and the country, is so astronomically far from that view of things, it would only make things worse. And as I said, it almost taunts the Feds to pass laws clearly in violation of Federal law.
What they ought to put on the ballot is a resolution saying that the people of California desire the Attorney General to initiate an inquiry into the removal of marijuana from Schedule 1 as per the CSA of 1970. They should further resolve that California desires that the other 9 states would hold similar ballot refereda, so that the will of the people of the several states could be known.
I don't think they would get large numbers. But they should go that way. If a majority of states agreed with California, it might become a Presidential issue (and it wil have to be, because the Executive branch controls the CSA. Of course, if folks elected Senators who all favor the change, they could make it a litmus test issue for confirming the next Attorney General or Sec. of HHS.
See? There are actually quite a few approaches that could be followed. I suspect the strategy that NORML is using here is just to "raise awareness" and get publicity. It has to be. They knew they would fail. And if you look at the suggestions I have put forward, and imagine how this issue might play out, you'll see there really isn't much public support out there. Not enough to move on it.
And one last thing: priorities. We have a war on terror to fight. The Attorney General and the Sec. of HHS are heavily involved in that. Can you imagine what it would look like if they allocated resources right now to researching the medical efficacy of marijuana? It would look pretty bad. It ain't gonna happen any time soon.