Marijuana Legalization Approved by California Assembly Committee

Members of the California State Assembly's Public Health Committee approved a bill that would remove marijuana from the state's criminal and civil codes and effectively legalize marijuana for all adults over 21.

The bill, AB 390, was written by Tom Ammiano, a Democrat from San Francisco. While it was not heard by the other committee -- Public Safety -- that must approve it in order for it to move forward through the legislative process, the fact that it was heard and approved by a committee at all is a win, according to Stephen Gutwillig, California state director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

“While actually passing a bill to tax and regulate marijuana may be a heavy lift in any state legislature right now, members of the Assembly today reflected the sentiment of a majority of Californians,” Gutwillig said. “Voters will get a chance to decide if California should tax and regulate marijuana at the ballot box in November."

Indeed, as I've written recently, Tax Cannabis 2010 has qualified for the California mid-term election in November. It will let the electorate decide what state legislators may be reluctant to.

Because the vast majority of medical marijuana laws have passed at the hands of voters rather than politicians, experts believe the California ballot initiative is the best chance for marijuana legalization here.

As I've written, Tax Cannabis faces many hurdles -- namely the fact that support for it is only in the lower to mid-fifties, according to polls -- but the fact that a group of legislators in Sacramento have given a bill similar to it a stamp of approval could normalize the idea of marijuana legalization for many hesitant Californians.