VIDEO: Controversial California ballot measures include making marijuana legal for recreational use

By Vince Cestone, KRON and Maureen Kelly

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Election Day is exactly nine weeks from Tuesday, and California voters are going to have to make lots of decisions.

There are 17 statewide propositions on the ballot this November.

One of the more controversial measures would make marijuana legal for recreational use.

KRON’s Maureen Kelly sat down with the spokesperson for the pro-pot campaign.

California voters made marijuana legal for medicinal purposes 20 years ago.

Now, the public could make pot legal statewide for everyone over the age of 21.

Those behind the measure says its passage would not turn the state into one big 420 festival.

If made law, adults could smoke a joint inside a private home or at a licensed business.

Those businesses would have to be 600 feet away from a school or daycare center.

It would be legal to possess 1 ounce for personal use and to grow up to six plants.

California stands to gain a whole lot of tax dollars if prop 64 passes, possibly as much as $1 billion.
The yes on 64 side says, by making pot legal, the state would also save money.

“Tens of millions of dollars in arrests, prosecution, and incarceration around simple non-violent, marijuana-only crimes in the State of California,” Jason Kinney said. “There’s no reason for this to be criminal. Yes, there should be clear rules and regulations, there should be control, there should be taxation, so that we can offset the burdens of what is already a billion dollar industry.

Those who are asking Californians to vote no on 64 include Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-San Francisco) and the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.

One of their concerns is an increase of those driving under the influence.

They point to an AAA study that found that deaths in marijuana related car crashes in Washington State have doubled.

The yes on 64 side says 20 percent of the money raised by the state in tax revenue would be earmarked for law enforcement grants, some of which would fund training and research to help crack down on impaired driving.