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Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation

Medical Marijuana. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.

SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla today announced the proponents of a new initiative may begin collecting petition signatures. 

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

MEDICAL MARIJUANA. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Bars state and local laws that restrict patients’ ability to obtain, cultivate, or transport medical marijuana, including concentrated cannabis, in any way that does not apply equally to other plants. Bars state and local laws that create a non-competitive market for medical marijuana. Broadens the definition of marijuana under state law to include all parts of, and anything made from, the marijuana plant. Bars state and local laws that restrict doctors’ ability to recommend marijuana to patients in any way that does not apply equally to herbal or therapeutic treatments. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Potential change in tax revenue related to sales of medical marijuana of either an increase or a decrease of tens of millions of dollars annually, depending on how the measure is implemented by the state and federal governments. (15-0018.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1680 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 15-0018. 

The proponents for the measure, Craig Beresh, Jeffrey Byrne, Lanette Davies, Richard Fenton, Kandice Hawes, Donna Lambert, Ronald Mullins, Eric Salerno, Deborah Tharp, Kathie Thelen and Randall Welty, must collect signatures of 585,407 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the November 2016 ballot. The proponents have 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials by December 16, 2015.  The proponents can be reached at (415) 756-0531.

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