Proposition 64

Marijuana Legalization.

"Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act"

initiative statute

*PASSED*

Official Summary

Legalizes marijuana under state law, for use by adults 21 or older. Imposes state taxes of 15% on sales and taxes of $9.25/oz flowers or $2.75/oz leaves on cultivation. Provides for industry licensing and establishes standards for marijuana products. Allows local regulation and taxation.

Fiscal Impact: Additional tax revenues ranging from high hundreds of millions of dollars to over $1 billion annually, mostly dedicated to specific purposes. Reduced criminal justice costs of tens of millions of dollars annually.

• Official CA Voter Guide Summary (law text is 32 pages!)
• Legislative Analyst Office Analysis
• Show Me The Money (as of Oct 22)
  • support: $19,800,000
  • oppose:  $   1,600,000
• Ballotpedia Summary

Notes

• taxes
  • on growing: $9.25/oz flowers or $2.75/oz leaves
  • retail tax: 15%
  • existing state and local sales tax (currently 7.5%-10%) - only on non-medical
  • funds deposited into California Marijuana Tax Fund
• legal to:
  • possess up to 28.5 grams of marijuana
  • possess up to 8 grams of concentrated cannabis
  • possess up to 6 plants in a private residence, and the marijuana produced by them (in locked space, not visible from public space)
• allows for local regulation/taxes/prohibition
• authorizes resentencing and destruction of records (within 2 years) for prior marijuana convictions
• mandatory labeling and packaging requirements
• large scale cultivation licenses prohibited for the first 5 years; license could be denied if the grower could "allow unreasonable restraints on competition by creation or maintenance of unlawful monopoly power"
• mandates that products cannot be advertised or marketed towards children
• allows industrial hemp to be grown, regulated separately from cannabis with higher delta-9 THC concentrations
• prohibited:
  • smoking in public spaces
  • smoking where tobacco smoking is prohibited
  • smoking or ingesting within 1000 feet of K-12 school, day care center or youth center when children are present except upon grounds of private residence if smoke is not detectable on those grounds
  • no open containers in vehicles
  • penalties: drug education programs + community service for those under 18, fines up to $250
• licenses will start to be distributed in 2018; until 2020, must have been continuous California residency since Jan 1, 2015; until 2020, priority given to existing medical marijuana vendors; not to violent/serious/embezzlement/fraud/drug activities with a minor/drug trafficking felons or persons previously convicted of illegal marijuana activities within 3 years
• patients with current medical marijuana permit will have to be re-certified by 2018 (fee up to $100)
• under federal law, it is illegal to posses or use marijuana, but US DOJ chooses not to prosecute most marijuana users and businesses that follow state and local law
• 1996 Prop 215 legalized medical marijuana in CA
• regulated by the Bureau of Marijuana Control - handles both medical and non-medical regulations and licensing; edibles and testing regulated byDept of Public Health; growers also regulated by Dept of Food and Agriculture, State Water Resources Control Board, Dept of Fish and Wildlife, Dept of Pesticide Regulation
• purchase would occur at state-licensed business (not within 600 feet of a K-12 school, day care or youth center) or through their delivery service
• state-licensed business could not sell alcohol or tobacco products, could allow on-site consumption with local authorization
• cultivation applicants must include procedures on the application for: cultivation, extraction and infusion methods, transportation process, inventory process, quality control, water source(s), diagram of premises
• California Marijuana Tax Fund allocations
  • $10-50 Million - grants to communities most affected by past drug policies
  • $10 Million - evaluate effects of the measure (2018-2028)
  • $3 Million - create and adopt methods to determine whether someone is driving while impaired (2018-2022)
  • $2 Million - study risks and benefits of medical marijuana
  • 60% of remaining - youth programs, including substance use disorder education, prevention and treatment
  • 20% of remaining - clean up and prevent environmental damage of illegal growing of marijuana
  • 20% of remaining - programs designed to reduce driving under the influence and grant program designed to reduce any potential negative impacts on public health or safety resulting from the measure