Marijuana
As a medical marijuana patient, Ryan Landers relies on the drug to stomach a single meal each day. Despite his support of previous landmark legislation, Landers has taken a stand against Proposition 19, on the state ballot next Tuesday, which would legalize several marijuana related activities.
Oakland North reporters Abby Baird and Teresa Chin asked a former Bay Area police officer, a smoke shop employee, a retired emergency physician, and a Berkeley parent to share their best guesses about what will happen if California passes Proposition 19, the measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
Proposition 19, on the ballot this coming Tuesday would legalize several marijuana-related activities statewide, allowing for taxation and regulation of the drug. To better understand where the law would fit in California history, scroll over some dates from the timeline below for a short history of cannabis, locally and nationally.
Following California’s lead after 1996’s Proposition 215, medical marijuana is now legal in 14 states plus Washington, DC. On November 2, three more states will vote on medical marijuana. In California, voters will consider legalizing growing or possessing pot for recreational use, and many cities will vote on pot taxes and dispensary regulations. Our interactive map explains what’s legal where, and who will be voting on new pot laws next week.
These marijuana numbers and statistics can provide an important general overview of what our country is facing with pot and Proposition 19, the California measure to legalize marijuana on the November 2nd ballot. To take you through trivia about drug arrests, marijuana use, and our attitudes about legalization, Oakland North built this interactive overview of doobie data.
In addition to being a health, economic and legal issue, Proposition 19 has now become a civil rights issue. According to two reports released within the last week by the Drug Policy Alliance and partnering civil rights organizations, blacks and Latinos are arrested anywhere from 2 to 13 times as often as whites for personal possession of marijuana.
The largest medical marijuana store in California, previously named iGrow, re-opened on Sunday as a national enterprise called weGrow, attracting dozens of reporters and hundreds of visitors. Watch this video for glimpse of the megastore some wags have nicknamed the Walmart of Weed.
Oakland City Attorney John Russo joined other law enforcement officials in front of Oakland City Hall today to declare support for the marijuana legalization initiative Proposition 19, which Russo argued would give Californians “a chance to take drugs off the street corners and out of the hands of children.”
On Monday night the Oakland City Council approved the addition of four initiatives to the city’s November ballot, all geared towards bringing revenue into the cash-strapped city.