Passage of Prop. 64, Adult Use of Marijuana Act
Nov. 8, 2016
Question: What do Bill Murray, Macaulay Culkin and James Brown have in common? Answer: All have been charged for possession of marijuana. But locally, those days are over. Last November, California became the eighth state (plus the District of Columbia) to legalize recreational marijuana. Individuals 21 years of age and up can legally grow and use marijuana for personal use. The state will start issuing permits for the sale and subsequent taxation of recreational marijuana by January. Pressures on jails will decrease since more than half of drug arrests have been for marijuana, 88 percent for simple possession. Prop. 64 will change all that and solve another social wrong: African-Americans were nearly four times more likely than whites to be arrested on marijuana-related charges. Since 1996, medical marijuana has been a hit in California. The old way of thinking has gone up in smoke – out of the shadows, into the light. Californians, you’ve got a new best bud.