Sacramento, CA: The majority of Californians support the passage of a proposed ballot initiative to regulate the use, production, and retail sale of cannabis to adults, according to several recent statewide polls.
Seventy-one percent of Californians say that they are leaning toward voting ‘yes’ on Proposition 64: the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, according to polling data compiled by the CALSPEAKS Opinion Research Center at Sacramento State. Public support in the poll was highest among those between the ages of 18 and 34 (84 percent), Latinos (81 percent), and Democrats (80 percent).
Separate polling data released this week by the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles Times reports that 58 percent of registered voters support the initiative. Thirty-four percent of respondents oppose the measure.
Support in the poll was highest among Democrats (68 percent), voters between the ages of 18 and 24 (67 percent), and males (62 percent).
A third, recently released poll conducted by Survey USA finds voter favoring the initiative by a margin of 52 percent to 40 percent.
A fourth poll, released in August by the Institute of Government Studies at the University of California, Berkeley found that 64 percent of voters believe, “Marijuana should be legal for adults to purchase and use recreationally, with government regulations similar to the regulation of alcohol.”
Proposition 64 permits adults to legally grow (up to six plants) and possess personal use quantities of cannabis (up to one ounce of flower and/or up to eight grams of concentrate) while also licensing commercial cannabis production and retail sales. The measure prohibits localities from taking actions to infringe upon adults’ ability to possess and cultivate cannabis for non-commercial purposes. The initiative language specifies that it is not intended to “repeal, affect, restrict, or preempt … laws pertaining to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.”
The ballot measure is endorsed by the ACLU of California, the California Democratic Party, the California Medical Association, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California NAACP, the Drug Policy Alliance, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and NORML.
For more information, please visit: http://www.yeson64.org. A summary of 2016 statewide ballot measures and their status is online.