SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwired - May 7, 2015) - California voters have less than two weeks left to submit public input to the Attorney General's (AG) office for the majority of the state's voter initiatives to legalize marijuana. The comments are part of a new process that offers everyone the opportunity to impact voter initiatives before the language is finalized.
The AG's public comment process for "The Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act of 2016," (MCLR) will be accepted until May 20th. Two others, "The California Craft Cannabis Initiative," and "The Compassionate and Sensible Access Act," will be accepted until May 15th. The "Responsible Use Act of 2016" will have until May 22nd, and "The 2016 California Bipartisan Decriminalization of Cannabis Act," will have until May 31st.
After the cutoff date for public input, proponents will then have five days to review all comments, make changes to the initiative, and submit a final draft. Attorney General Kamala Harris will then take approximately 30 more days to issue the Title & Summary and Fiscal Analysis that will kick-off the signature gathering phase of the process.
"Openness and transparency are what really sets MCLR apart," says John Lee, Director of Americans for Policy Reform (AFPR), a major backer of MCLR. "We have had a public input process from day one. The goal of MCLR has always been to insure everyone had a chance to provide feedback on the initiative. We are excited to see a similar process included in California's initiative code."
MCLR was developed as the first "open-source" or "crowd-sourced" method for direct public contribution to the language of California's marijuana legalization law. The initiative ultimately includes concepts and concerns from thousands of the state's citizens, granting Californians the freedom to, "possess, furnish, process, use, grow, transport and sell cannabis subject to reasonable regulation and taxation in a manner similar to alcohol."
Reviews by the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) and California Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2014 indicated that MCLR could lower, "...costs potentially exceeding one hundred million dollars annually to state and local governments," primarily by reducing burdens on law enforcement and the criminal justice system. At the same time, the initiative would be expected to raise, "a few hundred million dollars annually," from additional tax revenues on cannabis.
AFPR and the MCLR steering committee will be hosting a Community Outreach conference call on May 18th at 6:30pm in order to further the public input process. During the call policy advisors will take feedback and respond to public comments and concerns. Anyone who would like to participate in the call should email john@AFPR.us. The email should include any policy questions or inquiries about MCLR 2016.
When:
Monday May 18th at 6:30pm
Where:
Conference call, contact John Lee, john@AFPR.us for number and access code.
AG's Public Input Links:
"The Marijuana Control, Legalization and Revenue Act of 2016": http://bit.ly/15-0020
"The California Craft Cannabis Initiative": http://bit.ly/15-0017
"The Compassionate and Sensible Access Act": http://bit.ly/15-0018
"Responsible Use Act of 2016": http://bit.ly/15-0024
"The 2016 California Bipartisan Decriminalization of Cannabis Act": http://bit.ly/15-0027
More information on MCLR: http://www.MCLR.us
MCLR 2016 Initiative Language: http://www.MCLR.us/2016
Contact Information:
Media Contact
John Lee
John@AFPR.us
408-500-2869