California, Rejoice! Recreational Cannabis Is Getting A Vote

In case you had not heard, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla today confirmed that he had received enough signatures from Californians to put the proposed Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) – f.k.a. the so-called Sean Parker Bill – on the general ballot this November! If approved, California would be come the fifth state to legalize recreational cannabis – and by far the largest.

Obviously this is great news for the cannabis industry, as it would legitimize businesses such as Potbox, and provide protection from mega-corporations sweeping in and taking over. It also provides provisions for protecting the environment form the effects of illegal cannabis cultivation (e.g., people who hide marijuana fields in our national parks, or illegally pump water from our shrinking rivers and streams). It’s also a giant step in the right direction towards national legalization.

It’s also great news for the government, who could realize a cost savings of up to $100 million annually in reduced taxpayer costs, and could raise an additional estimated $1 billion in new tax revenues annually. These funds would be earmarked to improve local communities, schools and infrastructure projects, fund drug abuse education programs and support related law enforcement training and operations.

For consumers, it would remove the stigma associated with cannabis, enabling you to enjoy cannabis in public similar to the way you enjoy alcohol or tobacco – responsibly and respectfully. If it passes, consumers won’t live in fear of incarceration for enjoying the flowers from a plant. Those 21+ would be allowed to purchase and possess up to an ounce of cannabis or edibles, and plant a small amount of cannabis for personal use.

It’s almost difficult to believe, but it’s true…

Of course, there is a flip-side to every coin. AUMA is not 100% perfect – there are several shortcomings and oversights to AUMA that are detrimental to the cannabis industry and restrict our right to consume cannabis. We at Potbox have several concerns that we will push to get addressed. For instance, the current AUMA framework:

• Allows local governments to ban the cultivation and sale of medical cannabis – such as the cannabis you find in Potbox — which is used by millions of people to alleviate a broad range of ailments
• Imposes a questionably high, 15% + tax increase on medical cannabis. We understand taxing recreational cannabis at such a rate, but taxing medicinal cannabis so severely could impact the availability of the medicine to those who need it most
• Provides no oversight for cannabis tax revenue, which could be easily reallocated to other programs. California is not well known for its fiscal responsibility…
• Makes it illegal to consume cannabis in any public place except for specifically licensed premises
• Bans vaporization in non-smoking areas, when neither smoke nor cannabinoids are emitted

Hopefully, we’ll be able to work out these issues if and when AUMA becomes a law. California is the largest cannabis economy in the world — larger than Colorado, Washington, and Oregon combined. Other U.S. states will be looking to us as a model for their own legalization efforts, which means that we have to get AUMA right the first time – or as close to perfect as possible – in order to have the desired positive impact of influencing future legalization and legislation.

Let’s do this, California!

The post California, Rejoice! Recreational Cannabis Is Getting A Vote appeared first on Potbox.

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by Austin Heap at Potbox