Poll: California Voters Back Recreational Use Of Marijuana
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – California may soon become the fifth state to allow the recreational use of marijuana, according to a new KPIX 5/SurveyUSA poll released Thursday.
In the latest poll, 52 percent of those asked favored the passage of Prop. 64 – a measure that would legalize, regulate and tax the recreational use of marijuana.
Only 41 percent of those asked are opposed to the measure with 6 percent saying they were undecided and 1 percent saying they would abstain from voting on it.
The measure will allow the legal use of one ounce or less of marijuana by adults 21 and over in California. In addition, it allows adults to cultivate up to six plants for personal use in a private, enclosed space.
The sale of recreational marijuana would also become a revenue stream for the state.
There would be a $9.25 per ounce wholesale cultivation tax (about 10% of current prices) levied on recreational marijuana and a 15% retail excise tax, plus the existing 7.5+% sales tax.
Proponents say tax revenues from Prop. 64 are expected to amount to some $1 billion annually.
Similar laws are already in place in Washington, Colorado, Alaska and Oregon. Measures dealing with the recreational marijuana use are also on the November ballot in Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada.
The poll also found that voters were favoring a $2 per pack tax increase on cigarettes (61 percent in favor) and were not in support of a measure that would do away with the death penalty in the state.
