Calif pot backers submit petitions for Nov. ballot

By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 1:49 p.m.

SAN FRANCISCO — Backers of a California initiative to legalize marijuana said they would submit far more signatures Thursday than needed to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

Volunteers intended to submit about 700,000 signatures collected across all 58 California counties, campaign spokesman Dan Newman said.

The initiative needs about 434,000 signatures from registered voters to make the ballot.

The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 would legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults. It also would allow limited growing on private property and permit local governments to decide whether to legalize and tax pot sales.

"Our current laws aren't working. We should have learned from alcohol prohibition," said Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee, the measure's main backer.

The signature were filed as a 15,000-square-foot store stocked with marijuana growing supplies prepared to open in Oakland - another sign of the mainstreaming of pot in some parts of California.

Members of the Oakland City Council were scheduled to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday.

No pot is sold at the store, but it has an onsite doctor to provide medical marijuana recommendations to customers and technicians who will install growing equipment such as lights and fans in the homes of customers.

Customers can see "Ikea-style grow room demonstrations with live plants," according to the store. Owner Dhar Mann, 25, said he was "thrilled to see the strong support that the city of Oakland and the community has shown us."

Lee has marshaled manpower and financial support for the initiative through Oaksterdam University, an Oakland-based school he founded to train growers and distributors of medical marijuana. Under current state law, Californians can legally grow and possess pot for medical purposes.

The drive to put a broader legalization measure on the ballot got a boost in April when a Field Poll found that 56 percent of California voters supported legalizing and taxing marijuana to help bridge the state budget deficit. The campaign's internal polling showed similar support, Newman said.

"This initiative was very carefully crafted to win at the ballot box. It contains specific safeguards and controls," he said.

Standing in the way will be a coalition of religious and law enforcement groups that argue marijuana is harmful and an immoral approach to fixing the state's financial problems.

"We're going to talk about blood money, about trying to raise taxes on the backs of our youth," said Bishop Ron Allen, a pastor and head of the International Faith Based Coalition, an anti-drug religious group.

Potential revenue from legal pot sales would encourage young people to use the drug, Allen said.

The ballot measure would require jail time for anyone who sells or gives marijuana to children. It also forbids smoking pot in front of minors.

Opponents also point to the lopsided defeat of a 2008 ballot measure to reduce criminal penalties for drug offenders as a sign that Californians will ultimately decide against loosening drug laws.

"Voters are not going to be comfortable making another mind-altering substance legally available," said John Lovell, a spokesman for several law enforcement groups lining up to oppose the initiative.

The Associated Press