Voters heading to the polls in November will decide whether marijuana should be legally regulated and sold in California.
The ballot measure, which would allow for the sale and regulation of marijuana to residents 21 and older, was certified for the ballot yesterday by Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who said proponents had turned in enough valid signatures to make the cut.
Californians will also be picking a new governor, but it doesn't look like the measure will get any love from the major gubernatorial candidates in what is expected to be a heated campaign -- the three leading guv hopefuls oppose legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
"I've already indicated that that's not a provision I am likely to support," state Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown told a gathering of law enforcement officials in Sacramento yesterday. "I have been on the side of law enforcement for a long time and you can be sure that we will be together on this November ballot."
GOP candidate Meg Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said Whitman is "absolutely against legalizing marijuana for any reason,"
"She believes we have enough challenges in our society without heading down the path of drug legalization," she said.
Steve Poizner communications director Jarrod Agen took a dig at the could-be rival sharing his candidate's position, saying "like electing Jerry Brown, the idea of legalizing drug is one more bad idea from a bygone era."
"Steve Poizner feels we need an across-the-board tax cut to reignite our state's economy, not an attempt to smoke our way out of the budget deficit," he said.
Of course, not all candidates running for the office are against approving the drug for recreational use in the state.
Prinz Frederic von Anhalt, the eccentric husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor, has made legalizing marijuana a central component of his bid for the office.
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