California Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Initiative (2012)

Not on Ballot
This measure was not put on an election ballot

A California Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Initiative (#11-0098) was approved for circulation in California as a contender for the November 6, 2012 ballot.

Its sponsors, however, did not submit any signatures to election officials by the deadline.

If the initiative had qualified for the ballot and the state's voters had approved it, it would have:

• Established a new government agency to regulate medical marijuana cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale.
• Imposed agency fees and a 2.5% tax on medical marijuana retail sales.
• Allocated the new revenues to agency administration, with any remaining funds going primarily to medical marijuana research and grants.
• Preempted local regulation of medical marijuana, except for zoning of medical marijuana dispensaries.
• Required one dispensary per 50,000 residents unless limited or banned by local initiative.
• Barred state and local assistance to federal enforcement against medical marijuana.
• Reduced criminal penalties for marijuana possession, cultivation, transport, or sale.

The initiative's sponsors were Americans for Safe Access, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 and the state chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML).

Similar initiatives

The "Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Act" initiative was not the only marijuana-related initiative vying for a spot on California's November 6, 2012 statewide ballot. The others were:

Voting on Marijuana
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Local Local marijuana Local marijuana tax

• The Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Initiative. Sponsors of this initiative did not file signatures by their March 26, 2012 filing deadline.
• The Reduced Marijuana Penalties Initiative. Sponsors of this initiative did not file signatures by their April 5, 2012 filing deadline.
• The Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act. This initiative, according to the Los Angeles Times, was "the one apparently with the most vocal support within the movement."
• The Cannabis Hemp and Health Initiative. Sponsors of this initiative did not file signatures by their filing deadline.

Because multiple marijuana-related initiatives were in circulation in California, they all experienced difficulty raising the funds necessary to qualify for the ballot. Steve Collett, who supported the Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Initiative, said, "We're all chasing the same dollars."

A group of people closely associated with the Proposition 19 effort, including Richard Lee, had also indicated that they might attempt to qualify a marijuana legalization initiative for the 2012 ballot. However, in September 2011, Lee told a group at the International Cannabis and Hemp Expo in Oakland that this effort was falling apart: "It’s pretty much dead. The funders didn’t come through."

Text of measure

See also: Ballot titles, summaries and fiscal statements for California's 2012 ballot propositions

Ballot title:

Marijuana. Regulation and Taxation of Medical Use Industry. Reduced Criminal Penalties. Inititative Statute.

Official summary:

"Establishes new government agency to regulate medical marijuana cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale. Imposes agency fees, and 2.5% tax on medical marijuana retail sales. Allocates new revenues to agency administration, any remainder primarily to medical marijuana research and grants. Preempts local regulation of medical marijuana, except for zoning of medical marijuana dispensaries. Requires one dispensary per 50,000 residents unless limited or banned by local initiative. Bars state and local assistance to federal enforcement against medical marijuana. Reduces criminal penalties for marijuana possession, cultivation, transport, or sale."

Fiscal impact statement:

Note: The fiscal impact statement for a California ballot initiative authorized for circulation is jointly prepared by the state's legislative analyst and its director of finance.

"Savings potentially up to several tens of millions of dollars annually to state and local governments from reductions in various criminal justice costs related to enforcing marijuana crimes. Additional state tax revenues in the low tens of millions of dollars annually from a new supplemental tax on medical marijuana sales, used for various regulatory, research, education, and health care purposes generally related to medical marijuana. Increased costs to regulate medical marijuana potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually, offset by fees and/or taxes authorized by the measure."

Path to the ballot

See also: California signature requirements

• Don Duncan and Ron Lind submitted a letter requesting a ballot title on December 20, 2011.
• The ballot title and ballot summary were issued by California's attorney general's office on February 14, 2012.
• 504,760 valid signatures were required for qualification purposes.
• The 150-day circulation deadline for #11-0098 was July 13, 2012.
• No signatures were filed by the filing deadline.

External links

Suggest a link

• Letter requesting a ballot title for Initiative 11-0098