California: AG Says Marijuana Legalization Could Mean ‘Hundreds of Millions’

Photo of California Attorney General Kamala Harris: Wikipedia

A California ballot initiative to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana got a positive review from state Attorney General Kamala Harris, who last week released a summary saying legalization could save the state “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Harris’s summary of the Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act (MCLR) explained that it would legalize under California law the use, cultivation, possession, transportation, storage and sale of cannabis, reports Robin Wilkey at The Huffington Post.

“Reduced costs in the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually to state and local governments related to enforcing certain marijuana-related offenses, handling the related criminal cases in the court system, and incarcerating and supervising certain marijuana offenders,” the fiscal analysis reads. “Potential net additional tax revenues in the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually related to the production and sale of marijuana, a portion of which is required to be spent on education, health care, public safety, drug abuse education and treatment, and the regulation of commercial marijuana activities.”

There’s one complication in the language of the initiative, reports Dennis Romero at the LA Weekly. The measure originally read that the law “could” protect people under age 21 from using marijuana, instead of “shall” protect them. An amended version now awaits a title and summar from the attorney general, expected to be released on January 31.

“We’re expecting a title and summary nearly identical to the one that was just released, if not even more supportive,” said Dave Hodges, a primary backer of MCLR. “There isn’t any change that would affect the title and summary that was released.”

California: AG Says Marijuana Legalization Could Mean ‘Hundreds of Millions’ 

Article by Steve Elliott for Hemp News

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