Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
It looks like California may soon give recreational marijuana the green light.
On Tuesday, the California secretary of state's office said it would add a question to the November ballot about whether to legalize the drug for recreational purposes. With a yes vote in the fall, California would join Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia as the only areas of the country where recreational use of marijuana is legal.
California's "Adult Use of Marijuana" act would allow those who are 21 or older to have no more than 1 ounce of marijuana for recreational use and for people to grow as many as six marijuana plants on their own, according to The Huffington Post. The bill would also tax, license and regulate the product.
"Today marks a fresh start for California, as we prepare to replace the costly, harmful and ineffective system of prohibition with a safe, legal and responsible adult-use marijuana system that gets it right and completely pays for itself," initiative spokesman Jason Kinney said in a statement.
Though the measure received more than 402,000 signatures - the required amount to get a proposal on the November ballot - there are still many out there who have been critical of recreational marijuana, as it not only exposes adults to potentially harmful substances, but also puts youth at risk, too, according to The Huffington Post.
And if Colorado's recent issues with marijuana consumption and crime are to be considered, California may have a potential problem when it comes to minorities and recreational marijuana.
In Colorado there has been a rise in marijuana possession arrests among young black and Latino minority groups, according to NPR. Arrest rates for those between the ages of 10 and 17 years old jumped more than 20 percent for Latino youths, with a 50 percent jump among black youths, according to NPR.
NPR says this is likely due to some sort of systemic racism. A survey from the Colorado Health Department found that there are no differences between races when it comes to smoking marijuana. But, as NPR reported, white kids are less likely to get arrested.
"That was evident that morning at the courthouse, where about a dozen cases were heard before noon. Only one involved a white kid," according to NPR.
This is something that could impact California, too. According to The Sacramento Bee, Hispanics make up the majority of the California population, with 15 million living in the state. In fact, California has six times as many Hispanics as it did in 1970.
While it's unclear if California will follow in the footsteps of Colorado, it seems possible that minority children could be arrested in much the same way. As NPR reported, police officers who make marijuana arrests mostly do so because they hear complaints from outsiders. Police are also more likely to patrol neighborhoods with minority residents.
The marijuana industry may also favor white people, too, which may be why minorities have such problems, according to NPR.
"The emerging legal marijuana industry is overwhelmingly white-owned and white-dominated and provides good access to white customers," he says. "So one possibility is that that leaves the illegal market disproportionately composed of people of color, both the buyers and the sellers."
Still, it is possible that like Colorado, marijuana use may drop among California kids, meaning there would be fewer arrests for illegal marijuana consumption, including among minority groups. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment found that Colorado teens don't smoke as much marijuana as they did back in 2009.
It's a similar case across the nation. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the number of teens who have tried marijuana has dropped from 38.6 percent in 2015 to 21.7 percent just last month. This comes in spite of the fact that states have begun to legalize recreational use.
Experts agree that this drop can be linked to states having more influence about how marijuana is presented throughout the state.
Raising teen awareness of the drug could help cut those numbers even more.
"The drop in teen use reflects the fact that state and local authorities have far more control over marijuana than ever before," Mason Tvert, the Marijuana Policy Project Communication director, told U.S. News. "Our goal should not be increasing teens' perception of risk surrounding marijuana. It should be increasing teens' knowledge of the actual relative harms of marijuana, alcohol, and other substances so that they can make smart decisions."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: California May Legalize Recreational Marijuana, But There's An Issue If That Happens
Author: Herb Scribner
Contact: Desert News National
Photo Credit: Richard Vogel
Website: Desert News National
On Tuesday, the California secretary of state's office said it would add a question to the November ballot about whether to legalize the drug for recreational purposes. With a yes vote in the fall, California would join Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia as the only areas of the country where recreational use of marijuana is legal.
California's "Adult Use of Marijuana" act would allow those who are 21 or older to have no more than 1 ounce of marijuana for recreational use and for people to grow as many as six marijuana plants on their own, according to The Huffington Post. The bill would also tax, license and regulate the product.
"Today marks a fresh start for California, as we prepare to replace the costly, harmful and ineffective system of prohibition with a safe, legal and responsible adult-use marijuana system that gets it right and completely pays for itself," initiative spokesman Jason Kinney said in a statement.
Though the measure received more than 402,000 signatures - the required amount to get a proposal on the November ballot - there are still many out there who have been critical of recreational marijuana, as it not only exposes adults to potentially harmful substances, but also puts youth at risk, too, according to The Huffington Post.
And if Colorado's recent issues with marijuana consumption and crime are to be considered, California may have a potential problem when it comes to minorities and recreational marijuana.
In Colorado there has been a rise in marijuana possession arrests among young black and Latino minority groups, according to NPR. Arrest rates for those between the ages of 10 and 17 years old jumped more than 20 percent for Latino youths, with a 50 percent jump among black youths, according to NPR.
NPR says this is likely due to some sort of systemic racism. A survey from the Colorado Health Department found that there are no differences between races when it comes to smoking marijuana. But, as NPR reported, white kids are less likely to get arrested.
"That was evident that morning at the courthouse, where about a dozen cases were heard before noon. Only one involved a white kid," according to NPR.
This is something that could impact California, too. According to The Sacramento Bee, Hispanics make up the majority of the California population, with 15 million living in the state. In fact, California has six times as many Hispanics as it did in 1970.
While it's unclear if California will follow in the footsteps of Colorado, it seems possible that minority children could be arrested in much the same way. As NPR reported, police officers who make marijuana arrests mostly do so because they hear complaints from outsiders. Police are also more likely to patrol neighborhoods with minority residents.
The marijuana industry may also favor white people, too, which may be why minorities have such problems, according to NPR.
"The emerging legal marijuana industry is overwhelmingly white-owned and white-dominated and provides good access to white customers," he says. "So one possibility is that that leaves the illegal market disproportionately composed of people of color, both the buyers and the sellers."
Still, it is possible that like Colorado, marijuana use may drop among California kids, meaning there would be fewer arrests for illegal marijuana consumption, including among minority groups. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment found that Colorado teens don't smoke as much marijuana as they did back in 2009.
It's a similar case across the nation. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the number of teens who have tried marijuana has dropped from 38.6 percent in 2015 to 21.7 percent just last month. This comes in spite of the fact that states have begun to legalize recreational use.
Experts agree that this drop can be linked to states having more influence about how marijuana is presented throughout the state.
Raising teen awareness of the drug could help cut those numbers even more.
"The drop in teen use reflects the fact that state and local authorities have far more control over marijuana than ever before," Mason Tvert, the Marijuana Policy Project Communication director, told U.S. News. "Our goal should not be increasing teens' perception of risk surrounding marijuana. It should be increasing teens' knowledge of the actual relative harms of marijuana, alcohol, and other substances so that they can make smart decisions."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: California May Legalize Recreational Marijuana, But There's An Issue If That Happens
Author: Herb Scribner
Contact: Desert News National
Photo Credit: Richard Vogel
Website: Desert News National
