Press Release: Historic Marijuana Reform Measure Qualifies for California’s November 2010 Ballot

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                 

MARCH 24, 2010

Historic Marijuana Reform Measure Qualifies for California’s November 2010 Ballot

Voters Will Decide If California Becomes First State in the Nation to End Marijuana Prohibition

CONTACT: Aaron Smith, MPP California policy director …………… 707-291-0076 or [email protected]

SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, a proposal that would tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in the state of California secured a place on the November 2010 ballot. Organizers of the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 had submitted nearly 700,000 signatures to state authorities in January, far exceeding the 433,971 required to place the question on this year’s election ballot. Election officials validated the signatures today.

         The ballot initiative would make it legal for adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and allow cities and counties to impose a tax on the sale of marijuana.  

         “If passed, this initiative would offer a welcome change to California’s miserable status quo marijuana policy,” said Aaron Smith, California policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project, which recently endorsed the initiative. “Our current marijuana laws are failing California. Year after year, prohibition forces police to spend time chasing down non-violent marijuana offenders while tens of thousands of violent crimes go unsolved – all while marijuana use and availability remain unchanged.”

         An April 2009 Field Poll showed that 56% of California support taxing and regulating marijuana. A 2009 report published by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice showed that arrests for every criminal offense decreased between 1990 and 2008 in California except for simple marijuana possession, which skyrocketed by 127%. In 2008, more than 78,000 Californians were arrested on marijuana charges – more than for any other offense. During the same year, the FBI reported that almost 60,000 violent crimes went unsolved.

         With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

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