2012 Election: Your Vote and the Future of Marijuana

Under the California Constitution, we have the right to pass voter initiatives. In 2010 we tried to pass the Tax and Regulate Marijuana Act. After millions of dollars and countless man-hours, that initiative failed—but only by a relatively small margin.

The election is fast approaching, and lawyers and scholars everywhere are at it again! Currently, there are two marijuana initiatives getting signatures to be placed on the 2012 ballot. I have evaluated both of these proposals below and will tell you which one I think you should vote for and why!

The two initiatives have annoyingly long names and are shortened here as Repeal Prohibition Act and Regulate Like Wine Act. The good news is they both remove the major criminal sanctions for marijuana possession and sales. Both also leave patients and MMJ laws alone.

Unfortunately, the good news ends there. The drafters of the Repeal Prohibition Act seem to have not learned anything from the stress that ambiguous medical marijuana laws have caused. Repeal Prohibition would have California hire and pay for a brand new committee called the California Cannabis Association. Then, after our broke state—with its glacially paced bureaucracy—puts this committee together, the committee has a carte blanche to devise an entire regulatory scheme for marijuana distribution and cultivation—no small undertaking. As we have seen from medical marijuana laws, relying on state officials to devise a coherent, reasonable and legal plan in an efficient amount of time is about as realistic as not encountering traffic on the 101 Freeway during rush hour! Further, as we have seen across California, city officials trying to create regulations for a federally illegal substance would likely be threatened with federal prosecution, further.

One other small problem I see with the Repeal Prohibition Act is that it sets the legal age at 19. In my mind, most California parents would probable take offense to that proposition and vote against it.

That brings me to the second proposal, the Regulate Like Wine Act. Thankfully, this act offers a more feasible structure for regulations. Regulate Like Wine designates the Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC) agency to adopt regulations and procedures for the distribution and sales of recreational marijuana, while denying them the authority to regulate marijuana more strictly than beer and wine. The Act looks further into reality to state that, if the ABC fails to do this by February 2013, marijuana will be regulated by the same laws as current beer and wine laws, only replacing the words beer and wine with marijuana.

Unlike Repeal Prohibition, Regulate Like Wine sets the majority age for marijuana at 21. This would probably be seen as more acceptable to parents and to society and thus have a higher chance of passing.

Although there is more to each initiative, those are the major differences. After evaluating these extensively, Regulate Like Wine is far superior, in my opinion. Regulate Like Wine is more enforceable and likely more appealing to Californians. Also, by relying on the existing legal infrastructure for alcohol, legislators and regulators are not forced to reinvent the wheel. I also like Regulate Like Wine because it is much more expansive and well thought out. It covers many possible scenarios, and leaves less room for the chaos and confusion that plagues the medical marijuana world.

So come November, make sure to get to the ballot box to vote and help California reduce incarceration rates, unnecessary spending, create tax revenue and a much needed hemp industry!

Meital Manzuri is a Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney, speaker and consultant for patients, collectives and dispensaries. If you have questions about medical marijuana or any other criminal defense matters, she can be contacted via phone at (310) 601-3140 or manzurilaw.com.