Group: Enough Votes For Pot Measure In 2010 (Calif)

[Kadie]

Dec 14, 2009 6:20 pm US/Pacific
Group: Enough Votes For Pot Measure In 2010

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― A group campaigning to put a marijuana legalization measure before California voters said Monday it has enough signatures to qualify for the 2010 ballot.

The measure has far more than the nearly 434,000 signatures needed to make the statewide November 2010 ballot, said Richard Lee, an Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur and the initiative's main backer.

"We'll keep our organizers on the street to keep the momentum going strong, but today we're declaring an overwhelming victory," Lee said.

The proposal would legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Residents could cultivate marijuana gardens up to 25 square feet. City and county governments would determine whether to permit and tax marijuana sales within their boundaries.

County election officials across the state must still validate and count the signatures before the California Secretary of State places the measure on the ballot. Campaign organizers say they will submit more than 650,000 signatures of registered voters next month.

more...
http://cbs13.com/local/marijuana.legalization.california.2.1369610.html

[Hekate]

1. Good. Our national forests are suffering degradation and wildfire from Mexican Mafia plantations...

I'd much rather see people growing the stuff in their own backyards, and put the drug cartels out of business for pot.

As to wildfires -- the 88,000 acre La Brea Fire in the Los Padres National Forest this summer was caused by a drug cartel employees' campsite fire. That was in Santa Barbara County, where I live.

There have been an increasing number of such fires in national forests as the Mexican drug cartels move their operations northward to avoid having to cross the border.

http://www.independent.com/news/2009/aug/21/pot-farmers-spark-blaze/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/huge-santa-barbara-wildfire-caused-by-marijuana-farm-suspects-at-large-in-forest.html

Hekate