On the heels of Colorado and Washington in 2012 and Oregon and Alaska in 2014, Nevada and California may be added to the list of states who vote to end marijuana prohibition.
In California, a loose coalition of groups is forming to argue for the amendment. Some of these groups are left over from 2010 when Proposition 19 was on the ballot but failed to get over the top. Groups include the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and other state groups like Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and the Emerald Growers Association.
If voters in California approve the measure, it will be the biggest state to end prohibition to date – over 5.5 times the population of Washington State.
In Nevada, state officials certified that the question received enough signatures to be put toward voters in 2016. The Nevada Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted almost 200,000 signatures, well beyond the required 102k.
“The voters in Nevada clearly want a new approach to regulating marijuana. They see that taxing and regulating marijuana…makes more sense than the failed policy of marijuana prohibition.”
Joe Brenzy – former Nevada Republican party official and current head of Nevada Cannabis Industry Association