Proposition 64 Enjoys Wide Support Among Most Voter Categories
By Frank Gormlie / OB Rag
A new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll found that a good majority of California voters support marijuana legalization and back Proposition 64.
58% of voters in the state support Prop 64, which would allow Californians ages 21 or older to possess, transport and use up to an ounce of cannabis for recreational purposes, and would allow individuals to grow as many as six plants. The measure would also impose a 15% tax on retail sales of the drug.
And according to the poll, the favorable attitude toward grass cuts across most lines of age, race, income and gender.
Of the 1,879 respondents to the poll, only a third (34%) reported that they would vote against the ballot measure if the election were held today; 8% said they had no answer to the question.
This new high among California voters who support the herb stands in contrast to what happened just 6 years ago, when Prop. 19 was rejected by 53.5% of voters. (Yet, Prop. 19 garnered more votes than the Republican candidate for governor that year – 2010.)
And in 2010, four of the top 5 precincts in San Diego County that voted in favor of Prop. 19 were in Ocean Beach. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
The 15% retail sales tax is ridiculous and actually corrupt. I feel recreational marijuana should be legal but this bill imposes a very steep tax. It also imposes severe start-up costs for retail businesses. We will end up with a few very wealthy people/corporations owning all the retail shops. So, we end up with a prohibitive, punishing tax and concentrated retail ownership. Seems like this proposition is meant more to discourage both medical and recreational use while at the same time further enriching the wealthy elite.