Marijuana Policy

Proposition 19 would make California the first state to legalize marijuana, and plenty of celebrities have voiced their support.

Lee, the pot entrepreneur behind Oaksterdam University -- and the driving fiscal force behind Proposition 19 -- was decidedly noncommittal when queried about electoral success. "We did a side-by-side robo poll vs. a live one. And the robo showed it winning and the live didn't," he said.

Prop. 19 organizers are hoping that under-polled one-issue voters — like the college kids at Berkeley — will push them over the top. At a press conference in Oakland Tuesday morning, Aaron Houston, who heads up the group Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said it would be a "historic election" in which the youth turnout would push the marijuana measure over the top. The Bay Citizen headed to Berkeley to see what students are thinking about Prop. 19 and whether they are turning out to vote because of it.

Conventional wisdom says tea party conservatives would vote against marijuana legalization in California. Yet Prop. 19 could test how serious tea partyers are about states' rights. Instead of opposing Prop. 19, parts of the tea party – including some of its stalwarts like Tom Tancredo in Colorado and Rand Paul in Kentucky – have hailed drug legalization as an ideological linchpin in the fight between progressivism (a broader role for government) and the ideals of states' rights (get the government out of living rooms).

It is a rare day when Hip Hip star, Snoop Dogg and the former chief of police for San Jose, Joseph McNamara agree - especially when they agree on reforming California's marijuana laws.

More Americans than not would welcome a vote by Californians to legalize marijuana, a poll released Monday says.

As Californians go to the polls Tuesday night, they won't just be deciding the future of marijuana in their state - the vote may also rattle the booming B.C. bud industry. If the law passes, B.C.'s illegal pot industry - which generates between $3 billion and $7 billion a year - could take a big hit, says Darryl Plecas, a criminology professor at B.C.'s University of the Fraser Valley.

Californians are set to vote on Proposition 19 today, which would essentially legalize recreational marijuana use in the Golden State.

The marijuana legalization campaign said volunteers had made more than 188,500 calls to voters and hoped to hook 125,000 "Yes on 19" door-hangers on the homes of likely supporters, including young male Democrats and members of the Green and Libertarian parties. The campaign's message is, win or lose, the initiative has stimulated widespread debate and shown that the nation's ban on marijuana is destined to fall.