Global Ganja Report

A coalition of cannabis advocates led by Americans for Safe Access and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) has proposed a 2012  California ballot initiative that would create a Board of Medical Marijuana Enforcement to oversee a statewide system for licensing, regulating and taxing the industry.

The measure is intended to persuade federal officials to ease their crackdown on California's dispensaries and growers. It was submitted to the secretary of state last week and still must be cleared by the attorney general before supporters can begin gathering signatures. Backers hope that a state body to oversee the industry will show the federal government California is serious about keeping medical cannabis in the hands of residents who are authorized to use it. The measure also would target local governments that have banned cannabis businesses by requiring counties and cities to authorize at least one dispensary for every 50,000 residents. Local governments would be allowed to enact dispensary bans only with voter approval.

"We think that this initiative will create a level playing ground that law enforcement will embrace because it creates a sensible process," said Dan Rush, national director of the UFCW's medical cannabis division, which represents dispensary workers. "The US attorneys became hostile to medical marijuana in California and what we are doing is offering a responsible, dignified and sincere approach to the citizens of California." (AP, Dec. 20)