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What would legalized marijuana mean for California?

Max Groso, budtender at P.S.A. Organica in Palm Springs, discusses the concerns and hopes for Proposition 64, or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act on the November ballot. (July 21, 2016) Lauren Hernandez/The Desert Sun

Pot plant
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/10/21/what-would-legalized-marijuana-mean-california/92421508/

Citing likely Prop 64 passage, Coachella puts pot tax on ballot

The text of Proposition 64 which all California voters will see on the ballot

“Legalizes marijuana and hemp under state law. Designates state agencies to license and regulate marijuana industry. Imposes state excise tax on retail sales of marijuana equal to 15% of sales price, and state cultivation taxes on marijuana of $9.25 per ounce of flowers and $2.75 per ounce of leaves. Exempts medical marijuana from some taxation. Establishes packaging, labeling, advertising, and marketing standards and restrictions for marijuana products. Allows local regulation and taxation of marijuana. Prohibits marketing and advertising marijuana to minors. Authorizes resentencing and destruction of records for prior marijuana convictions.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/coachella/2016/07/27/citing-likely-prop-64-passage-coachella-puts-pot-tax-ballot/87624034/

Marijuana among crowded California ballot measures

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/07/21/marijuana-among-crowded-california-ballot-measures/87338302/


When voters step up to the polls Nov. 8, they'll determine the future of recreational marijuana statewide. There are strong feelings from those on both sides of the aisle, but while some see legalization as a step forward for California, others say it could be the beginning of the end.

If passed, adults over age 21 would be able to possess and use marijuana recreationally within a private home or licensed business and would be able to grow six plants within their home. Smoking pot while driving and in public would remain illegal, as would possessing more than 28.5 grams of marijuana or 8 grams of concentrated pot products. Having marijuana in locations such as a school, day care or other places children are present would also continue to be illegal.

Because the push for legalization follows in the footsteps of states such as Oregon, Colorado and Washington, Proposition 64 is the most comprehensive legislation of its kind, said Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML, an organization that lobbies for legalization across the country.

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"One of the reasons Proposition 64 is significantly more comprehensive than these jurisdictions is because individuals involved have been able to learn from examples elsewhere," Armentano said. "There are a number of issues that Proposition 64 tries to address based on the lessons learned in other jurisdictions."

Two of these lessons include limiting the production and sale of edible marijuana products that have packaging that appeals to children after a number of kids were sickened after accidentally eating them, Armentano said, as well as limiting large corporate involvement in the marijuana industry for five years to avoid squeezing out small businesses and farmers.

"This is based on having the luxury of hindsight," Armentano added.

READ MORE: Marijuana among crowded ballot this November

Opponents of marijuana legalization say Proposition 64 would be "dangerous."

Scott Chipman with the Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana Political Action Committee said that legalizing marijuana would lead to a spike in children and young people who suffer brain damage and addiction after being introduced to pot at a young age.

"It's the worst of tobacco and alcohol combined," Chipman said. "No one ever had a psychotic break while smoking a cigarette."

One of Chipman's main concerns is the provision in Proposition 64 that would allow advertisements for marijuana products to play on television.

"We haven't had advertisements for cigarettes on television for 40 years," he said. "It will send the wrong message to our young people. ... We know that kids look to what adults focus on because they all want to grow up too early. So for adults to say we're OK with marijuana use as long as we can get some tax money ... it's a very dangerous direction to go."

Canndescent, a newly opened production plant in Desert
Canndescent, a newly opened production plant in Desert Hot Springs, will be able to produce 2500 pounds of product monthly for the medicinal market. The high end product could also be destine for recreational use if Proposition 64 passes in the November presidential elections. (Photo: Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun)
At this point, polls show the proposition will pass, with market researchers measuring its support between 51 and 71 percent since August, according to the nonpartisan nonprofit Ballotpedia. In mid-September, the Public Policy Institute of California reported that about 60 percent of voters supported the measure, and Gallup polls have shown support for the measure leading two to one as recently as early October. Nationwide, the Pew Research Center has measured that support for recreational marijuana legalization at 57 percent among registered voters.

Legalization is especially popular among Democrats, Independents and Latinos, according to these polls, which Armentano said are the groups you need to carry California.

"The public is there," he said. "This is the majority opinion and has been for some time. It's high time that state, local and ultimately federal laws come into line."

Pro-marijuana advocates have also vastly outraised their opponents in the months preceding the election, with the Yes on 64 campaign raising $18.1 million in contributions as of Oct. 17 and the No on 64 campaign raising only $2 million, according to campaign finance statements.

Chipman, however, is convinced the proposition will fail, citing successful efforts to defeat various marijuana legalization in cities such as Yucca Valley, Riverside, La Mesa and Encinitas since recreational marijuana was shot down in 2010 statewide.

In Ohio, which voted on legalized marijuana last November, Chipman cites polls showing the proposition would pass well before it was shot down by 64 percent of the vote.

"We're optimistic," he said.

Too high to drive?

Those who oppose the measure have serious concerns about public safety issues they believe legalized marijuana will bring with it, such as an influx of intoxicated drivers on the roadways.

Determining the level at which marijuana impairs the ability to drive is "arbitrary and unsupported by science," according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which has publicly opposed Proposition 64.

Unlike alcohol, there is no consensus on how much THC, the principal cannabinoid in marijuana, constitutes intoxication when found in a driver's bloodstream.

Colorado and Washington have both set a legal THC limit of 5 nanograms per milliliter for drivers, while Oregon considers any level of THC in the bloodstream to be intoxication as current California laws do.

READ MORE: Palm Springs area cities, tribe vie for marijuana wealth

Opponents to legalization such as the National Highway and Traffic Administration point out that despite these limits, tests for determining if a person is under the influence of marijuana are unreliable and cannot yet establish how much marijuana was consumed and how recently.

"It is difficult to establish a relationship between a person's THC blood or plasma concentration and performance impairing effects," the NHTA notes on its website. "Concentrations of parent drug and metabolite are very dependent on pattern of use as well as dose."

A report published by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in May showed that even with these uncertain limits, the number of Washington drivers with any kind of THC measured in their blood who were involved in a fatal crash doubled from 8.3 percent in 2013 to 17 percent in 2014 -- the first full year after legalization went into effect.

"These findings serve as an eye-opening case study for what other states may experience with road safety after legalizing the drug," the study says.

Armentano, however, said the focus on intoxicated drivers is a "red herring," as laws in California will continue to consider any level of THC in the bloodstream an arrestable offence regardless of whether the proposition passes.

In 20 years of dealing with legalized medical marijuana, Armentano said California law enforcement should be more than prepared to recognize the signs of marijuana intoxication in drivers and continue to patrol the roadways the same way they do now.

Part of the lure for proponents of Proposition 64 is the $1 billion a year in additional tax revenue estimated to come into the state every year, according to the state's legislative analyst and director of finance. Cities would also be allowed to levy their own taxes.

In 2015, Washington brought in $250 million in marijuana taxes and Colorado brought in $113 million, while Oregon brought in $25 million between Jan. 1 and July 31, according to state financial statements.

The additional revenue would first be used to cover the cost of administrating and enforcing new regulations, according to the legislation, while the remainder would be distributed as such:

$2 million to the University of California San Diego Center for Medical Cannabis Research to study medical marijuana.
$10 million annually for 11 years for public state universities to research the implementation and impact of Proposition 64.
$3 million annually for five years to the California Highway Patrol for "developing protocols to determine whether a vehicle driver is impaired due to marijuana consumption."
$10 million, increasing annually by $10 million until 2022, for grants to local health departments and community-based nonprofits supporting "job placement, mental health treatment, substance use disorder treatment, system navigation services, legal services to address barriers to reentry, and linkages to medical care for communities disproportionately affected by past federal and state drug policies."
Of the remainder, 60 percent will be donated to youth programs, 20 percent to prevent and alleviate the environmental effects of illegal cannabis producers and 20 percent to programs designed to reduce driving under the influence of marijuana.

READ MORE: First marijuana cultivation facility in Southern California opens in Desert Hot Springs

For desert cities currently embracing medical marijuana businesses, Proposition 64 could be a windfall -- the real start of the "green rush" experts have long mentioned.

A budtender at P.S.A. Organica of Palm Springs sprays
A budtender at P.S.A. Organica of Palm Springs sprays the cannabis plants. (Photo: Lauren Hernandez/The Desert Sun)
None of the cities currently permitting the cultivation, manufacturing or sales of medical marijuana have publicly released estimates on the financial impact of the passage of Proposition 64, but inferences can be drawn based on the amount of money currently being brought in by medical marijuana businesses.

Palm Springs, which has six medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits, brought in more than $1 million during its first year after a special cannabis tax was approved by voters in 2013. Currently, the city is considering expanding its medical marijuana zoning regulations, which would allow cultivation and manufacturing facilities, dispensaries and testing facilities to operate within the city. Currently, the city's zoning only allows nonprofit collectives or cooperatives and not-for-profit facilities despite having legalized for-profit marijuana businesses last year.

Palm Springs Councilman Geoff Kors said this change would allow the city to get out ahead of Proposition 64 in the likelihood of its passage.

Cathedral City is still in the process of accepting applications from businesses and growers interested in developing the industrial area along Perez Road into medical marijuana land and passed a 10 percent tax on all medical marijuana sales in 2014, but has yet to approve any project with finality. City officials say they have discussed instituting a per-square-foot tax for growers, but deny having calculated any estimate on how much money either tax structure would bring into the city.

Cathedral City voters will also have the chance to influence their city's pot industry in November with Measure P, which would expand the city’s current tax on medical marijuana dispensaries to all pot businesses, whether they are medical or recreational.

Also citing the likelihood of the proposition passing directly, Coachella officials unanimously agreed to put a Measure II on their November ballot that would codify a maximum 6 percent tax on a business' gross receipts as well as $15 per square foot of cultivation and manufacturing space every quarter. With one manufacturing and cultivation project fully approved at this point, city officials expect they could bring in $5.4 million every year to its $22 million budget.

READ MORE: Citing likely Prop 64 passage, Coachella puts pot tax on ballot

Desert Hot Springs, which recently opened Southern California's first medical marijuana cultivation center in September, could to take in $30 million in tax revenue every year if all of its permitted projects open. The city currently operates on a $15 million budget.

Chipman said the public officials that allowed for these businesses to open should be "ashamed" and that the young people who have psychotic breaks and commit suicide will be "on their heads" when they take in tax dollars gained by exploiting "the young, impressionable, addicted mind."

"We will spend 10 times more in the social costs than we will ever bring in in tax dollars," he said.

Armentano believes it's not the windfall that should entice voters, it's the social justice issues that he believes Proposition 64 can rectify, such as the mass incarceration and racial discrimination brought on by the country's War on Drugs.

"The general public is aware this is not a policy based on science, public health or morality," he said. "They know it doesn't make sense and they know criminalization never achieved its goals."

Armentano said it's important to see passing Proposition 64 as a starting point for legislation, not an endpoint. This can be seen in Washington, where new legislation regarding legal possession amounts, a licensing system, regulation and taxation were introduced just one month after recreational marijuana was legalized.

He makes the comparison to alcohol, which was decriminalized when prohibition ended in 1933, but is still having its regulation tweaked to this day.

“To think it would be any different with marijuana is delusional," he said. "In order to get to a place where we can have a serious conversation with how to regulate and tax the commercial marijuana industry, we first have to be in an environment where marijuana is no longer contraband … so we can have a rational conversation.”

The Proposition 64 ballot label summary reads as such:

"Legalizes marijuana under state law, for use by adults 21 or older. Imposes state taxes on sales and cultivation. Provides for industry licensing and establishes standards for marijuana products. Allows local regulation and taxation. Fiscal Impact: Additional tax revenues ranging from high hundreds of millions of dollars to over $1 billion annually, mostly dedicated to specific purposes. Reduced criminal justice costs of tens of millions of dollars annually."

Anna Rumer is a reporter covering the eastern Coachella Valley for The Desert Sun. She can be reached at [phone], [e-mail] or on Twitter @AnnaRumer.