California Legalizes Marijuana!!!

California voters approved the Prop 64 marijuana legalization initiative Tuesday, more than tripling the number of Americans who live in weed-legal states. Although four other states had legalized marijuana before this year's election, legalization in the nation's most populous state will provide momentum for nationwide legalization like never before.

"This is the most important moment in the history of the marijuana legalization movement," said Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority. "California is the sixth-largest economy in the world and is hugely culturally influential. Most importantly, this vote will dramatically accelerate the end of federal marijuana prohibition."

Only 13% of the votes had been counted by 8:30 p.m PST, but the measure never trailed and the trend is clear. As of now, Prop 64 is cruising toward victory with 55% of the vote. The Associated Press called the race at 8:13 p.m., less than a quarter-hour after the polls closed.  

The victory in California, along with other marijuana victories Tuesday, will greatly increase the pressure on Congress to consider repealing pot prohibition, Angell said.

"California alone has just added 53 more U.S. House members to the list of federal lawmakers who represent places where marijuana is legal. Last year we came only nine votes shy of winning an amendment to stop federal interference with state marijuana laws. Do the math," he said.

"With California’s huge vote and other results tonight, our movement is in perfect position to increase our already strong momentum," Angell continued. "Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have repeatedly pledged to respect state marijuana laws. And in an interview last week, President Obama said federal marijuana prohibition would be ‘untenable’ if California legalized marijuana. He was right, and it’s time for Congress to get to work passing legislation to get the DEA out of the way of full and effective implementation of these state laws."

Under Prop 64, people 21 and over can possess up to an ounce of weed and grow up to six plants at home and keep the harvest. The new law also creates a system of state-regulated and –licensed marijuana cultivation, processing, manufacturing, testing, transporting, and retail licenses, and includes provisions designed to protect small ma-and-pa cultivators—the people who made California the marijuana mecca it is today. The new law also sets a 15% excise tax on retail marijuana sales.

State-regulated marijuana commerce won't go into effect until January 1, 2018, but the personal possession and cultivation provisions go into effect now. Forty million people just got legal weed.

Twenty years after California opened up the contemporary marijuana revolution with the passage of the Prop 215 medical marijuana initiative in 1996, the Golden State is now prepared to take legal marijuana to a whole new level.