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Pot bill will die after passing key Assembly committee
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By Peter Hecht
[email protected]
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 - 12:40 pm
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 - 12:52 pm
An Assembly public safety committee today passed a bill to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana for use by all California residents.
But then Assembly Bill 390 by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, passed away in a bureaucratic haze. Ammiano announced that a critical public health committee will not hear the bill this week -- meaning that it won't meet a legislative deadline for advancing to the Assembly floor.
However, despite a procession of law enforcement officers who testified against the bill, the public safety committee's 4-3 vote passing the legislation maintained momentum for continued debate and a potential November ballot initiative.
"I think the conversation is definitely gaining traction," said Ammiano after the bill passed the committee he chairs. "There was a time when the 'M' word was never mentioned in Sacramento."
Spokesman Quintin Mecke said Ammiano probably will introduce new marijuana legislation if voters pass a pot legalization measure in November. Ammiano's bill called for implementing pot's legalization and distribution by establishing fees and guidelines for a state-licensed network of commercial cultivators.
Jeff Jones, a spokesman for a proposed marijuana legalization initiative called "The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010," said backers have so far collected more than 670,000 signatures -- 50 percent more than required -- to qualify the measure before next month's deadline.
"The phrase I like to use is 'let the voters decide,' " Jones said outside today's public safety hearing. "It's a safe place for both the politicians and the electorate."
San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer testified before the public safety committee that passage of the initiative would be disastrous for California, even though backers promise more than $1 billion in tax revenues for police, health care, schools and other services.
"I can tell you categorically that legalization of marijuana will only increase the challenges facing us," Manheimer said. "What good could come from making powerful, addictive drugs more cheap and available?
"To balance the budget on the backs of the harm caused by illegal intoxication is mind boggling."
Pot bill will die after passing key Assembly committee
ShareThis
Buzz up!
By Peter Hecht
[email protected]
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 - 12:40 pm
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 - 12:52 pm
An Assembly public safety committee today passed a bill to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana for use by all California residents.
But then Assembly Bill 390 by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, passed away in a bureaucratic haze. Ammiano announced that a critical public health committee will not hear the bill this week -- meaning that it won't meet a legislative deadline for advancing to the Assembly floor.
However, despite a procession of law enforcement officers who testified against the bill, the public safety committee's 4-3 vote passing the legislation maintained momentum for continued debate and a potential November ballot initiative.
"I think the conversation is definitely gaining traction," said Ammiano after the bill passed the committee he chairs. "There was a time when the 'M' word was never mentioned in Sacramento."
Spokesman Quintin Mecke said Ammiano probably will introduce new marijuana legislation if voters pass a pot legalization measure in November. Ammiano's bill called for implementing pot's legalization and distribution by establishing fees and guidelines for a state-licensed network of commercial cultivators.
Jeff Jones, a spokesman for a proposed marijuana legalization initiative called "The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010," said backers have so far collected more than 670,000 signatures -- 50 percent more than required -- to qualify the measure before next month's deadline.
"The phrase I like to use is 'let the voters decide,' " Jones said outside today's public safety hearing. "It's a safe place for both the politicians and the electorate."
San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer testified before the public safety committee that passage of the initiative would be disastrous for California, even though backers promise more than $1 billion in tax revenues for police, health care, schools and other services.
"I can tell you categorically that legalization of marijuana will only increase the challenges facing us," Manheimer said. "What good could come from making powerful, addictive drugs more cheap and available?
"To balance the budget on the backs of the harm caused by illegal intoxication is mind boggling."
