Most residents of California voted against the bill on the legalization of marijuana in this state. Thus, according to the “CNN” of the ECZ-Pols, the new bill, which is also known as “Proposition 19” (which translates as “Proposal 19”) was not supported by 57% of voters, as for supporters of the law, there were 43% of them.
The Los Angeles Times notes that, according to preliminary data, most of the voting Californians negatively reacted to the idea of legalizing this drug. When making such a withdrawal, the newspaper relied on the results of a pre -conducted survey, in which 2200 respondents participated in fifty polling stations, as well as another 600 people interviewed by phone.
It should be noted that in California the question of the absolute legalization of marijuana was issued by local authorities to vote on the second of November – simultaneously with the elections of the Governor of the state and the elections to the American Congress throughout the country.
Today in California, the use of marijuana is allowed only for medical purposes. It can only be purchased only according to the prescription prescribed by a doctor. In March of this year, the public was informed that one initiative group led by an American entrepreneur named Richard Lee, who specializes in the cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes, was able to collect approximately five hundred thousand signatures of citizens who support the legalization of this drug. Such a number of votes made it possible to make this issue for consideration to a referendum.
Supporters of legalization explained their position by the fact that, in their opinion, it is unfair to condemn people for smoking marijuana, when alcohol can be acquired in unlimited quantities. In addition, members of the Richard Lee group stated that the cultivation for the sale of marijuana should bring considerable profit to the state budget (in California, annual income from marijuana is estimated at about fourteen billion dollars). Also, supporters of the bill claim that the introduction of legalization will eliminate the damage that is caused by constant arrests for the storage of marijuana (every year in California, about sixty -one thousand people are arrested for storage of “grass”).
At the same time, law enforcement officers and most local politicians are opposed to the legalization of this drug, including both Republicans and Democrats.
In conclusion, we note that, the Barack Obama administration stated that it would follow how federal drugs on the territory of the state of California are respected if the bill on the legalization of marijuana will receive the approval of the state residents.
