When California voters head to the voting booths in November, they will be deciding whether or not to make recreational marijuana use legal.
The Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Tuesday that initiative proponents turned in enough signatures to qualify the measure for voting on the Nov. 8 ballot.
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The well-funded initiative, backed by a coalition that includes former Facebook President Sean Parker and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, has drawn support from California NAACP, the California Medical Association and the California Democratic Party.
According to the LA Times, more than $3.7 million has been raised so far by Californians to Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana While Protecting Children, the initiative’s leading campaign.
“Today marks a fresh start for California as we prepare to replace the costly, harmful and ineffective system of prohibition with a safe, legal and responsible adult-use marijuana system that gets it right and completely pays for itself,” Jason Kinney, a spokesman for California’s Adult Use of Marijuana Act, said in a statement.
The initiative would allow adults ages 21 and older to possess, transport and use up to an ounce of cannabis for recreational purposes. It would also allow individuals to grow as many as six plants, per the LA Times.
California joins eight other states that also have marijuana measures on their ballots this fall, including Nevada and Maine. Should California voters approve the measure, the state would join Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon as states that have legalized recreational use of marijuana.
The Coalition for Responsible Drug Policies, which is against the initiative, is made up of law enforcement and health groups, including the California Police Chiefs Association, the California Hospital Association and the California State Sheriffs’ Association. It has raised about $125,000 so far and calls itself very similar to the coalition that helped defeat the last legalization measure in California six years ago.
The California Republican Party also opposes this year’s initiative.
In 2010, Proposition 19 was defeated, with 53 percent of voters casting “no” when asked to legalize various marijuana-related activities in California.
