Ballot Measures

Voters in Kalamazoo, MI are one step closer to deciding the way law enforcement deals with the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the city. The Kalamazoo Coalition for Pragmatic Cannabis Laws turned in 4,776 signatures to the City Clerk’s Office — 2,000 more than required — seeking to amend the city charter to state that the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana by those 21 and older should be the “lowest possible priority” for law enforcement.

A survey making the rounds among strategists, which has yet to be made public, indicates that pot could be just the enticement many reluctant voters need to get to the polls. Support for marijuana legalization has been ticking up over the past decade as residents of states with legal medical marijuana realize that the sky hasn't fallen. And backing has surged more recently amid deficit hysteria and a declining economy, as voters are less inclined to spend tax dollars on a drug war when instead marijuana could itself be taxed and used to create jobs.

Proposition 19 on California's November ballot would legalize marijuana possession and allow regulated sales of marijuana to adults. It would be the first such law in the country. Listen in to a debate between Stephen Gutwillig, California State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, and Roger Morgan, chairman and executive director, Coalition For A Drug-Free California.

L.A.-based attorney Hanna Liebman Dershowitz, feels that inconsistencies in federal and state law wouldn't stop California from legalizing, regulating, and taxing marijuana if Proposition 19 passes this November.