LEGALIZING POT: VOTERS MAY DECIDE

Marijuana Measure Has Enough Signatures for 2010 Ballot in California

Pot could become legal in California if voters approve a measure next
year allowing people to have small amounts and grow their own.

Voters will get to decide the issue after a pro-legalization group
said Monday they have gathered enough signatures to put the
controversial measure on the 2010 ballot.

"It should be legalized. Any adult over 18 in California should be
able to use marijuana," said John Henry, a Nevada County resident who
owns the Colfax-based marijuana dispensary Golden State Patient Care
Collective.

Henry wasn't sure how the vote would affect his business. If the
measure would allow small cultivators to sell their marijuana, Henry
said he hoped stores like his would be allowed to sell it, because he
has taken careful steps to comply with state laws.

Nevada County law enforcement officials could not be reached for
comment late Monday, but both Sheriff Keith Royal and District
Attorney Cliff Newell previously have opposed medical marijuana
dispensaries in Nevada County.

The ballot issue would legalize possession of up to one ounce of
marijuana for adults 21 and older. Residents could cultivate
marijuana in gardens up to 25 square feet. City and county
governments would determine whether to permit and tax marijuana sales
within their borders.

A Field Poll conducted in April found that 56 percent of California
residents supported legalizing and taxing marijuana to help bridge
the state budget deficit.

Election officials across California must still validate and count
the signatures before the California secretary of state officially
places the measure on the ballot. Campaign organizers say they will
submit more than 650,000 signatures of registered voters next month.
That's far more than the 434,000 signatures needed to make the
November 2010 ballot, said Richard Lee, an Oakland medical marijuana
entrepreneur and the initiative's main backer.

"We'll keep our organizers on the street to keep the momentum going
strong, but today we're declaring an overwhelming victory," Lee said Monday.

Still, pro-legalization advocates are divided over whether the ballot
measure is being pushed too soon.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law. But some legal scholars have
argued the federal government could do little to make California
enforce the federal ban if the drug became legal under state law.

Opponents of the measure contend legalization of marijuana will lead
to more drug abuse among minors.

"If you increase the availability of a drug, you increase its use in
youth. If you decrease the perception of harm, you increase its use
in youth," said John Redman, executive director of Californians for
Drug Free Youth. "Legalizing marijuana does both."

Supporters point to provisions in the legalization measure that call
for jail time for anyone who sells or gives marijuana to children. It
forbids smoking pot in a public place or in front of minors.

- - The Associated Press contributed to this report.