[Calif.] Major marijuana legalization measure off the table for 2014

[alp227]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

Despite polls indicating that Californians are poised to legalize pot, the state's best shot for a marijuana measure has suddenly gone up in smoke -- and that likely means the Golden State will have to wait until at least 2016 to catch up with other pot-friendly Western states.

Backers of the Control, Regulate and Tax Marijuana Act -- including the Drug Policy Alliance, bankrolled by billionaires such as financier George Soros and the late Peter Lewis -- said Tuesday they will stop gathering signatures to put the measure on the ballot this year.

"We decided it was more important to do it right than to do it fast," Stephen Gutwillig, the Drug Policy Alliance's deputy executive director, said Tuesday. "We ultimately came quite close but just decided we didn't have enough of the pieces in place right now."

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_25174969/major-marijuana-legalization-2014

[silverweb]

1. That's okay.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]"We decided it was more important to do it right than to do it fast...."

Mr. Gutwillig of the DPA is a wise man. Better to wait a little while and do it right.

[Peace Patriot]

2. Monsanto, et al, don't have their patents firmed up yet?

Or...the DOJ hasn't busted enough of the small businesses, confiscated their property and ruined their lives and the lives of their families, yet?

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. They are moving with an abundance of caution.

There are three other legalization initiatives in California, but none of them have the money to come up with half a million signatures by April. And Ed Rosenthal just announced he was putting his in hibernation once DPA said they weren't going this year.

The big money guys always wanted to wait for 2016; they only put out this initiative as a place marker after good polls surprised them, and because they wanted something in place if it looked like one of the others would actually qualify.

Alaska is the only place with an initiative that is actually on the ballot already this year. They vote in August.

Oregon should be set to go, the big money guys are ready to back them, but they're being held up by a legal challenge to their initiative. Still, the Oregon legislature may just pass a bill to send the question to the voters. It just passed one house today; I forget which.