What Will Recreational Marijuana Legalization Mean for California?

Q&A with Lynne Lyman of the Drug Policy Alliance.

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What Will Recreational Marijuana Legalization Mean for California?

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"This [marijuana legalization] initiative goes further than any initiative in the world," says Lynne Lyman, California state director for the Drug Policy Alliance, speaking of Prop 64, the 2016 ballot initiative calling for the legalization of commerical marijuana sales in California. "We're really setting a new floor for what marijuana legalization should include."

Lyman sat down with Reason TV's Zach Weissmueller to discuss the details of Prop 64, from taxation and regulation to criminal justice reforms to resolving the tension between medical and commercial marijuana. They also took general questions about marijuana from viewers of the Facebook Live stream and speculated about what legalization in the most populous state in the union might mean for the future of drug policy in America.

This video originally aired live on Reason's Facebook page on August 10, 2016.

Approximately 20 minutes. Shot by Alex Manning and Justin Monticello. Music by Jazzhar.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video, and subscribe to Reason TV's YouTube channel for daily content like this.

Comments

[$park? is totally a Swifty]

It will mean a state overrun by potheads.

[IceTrey]

That sounds awesome!

[Holger da Dane]

It will mean a state overrun by potheads.

Maybe it will also keep more Californians in California. Something that can only be good for states like Colorado.

[B.P.]

Yes, California. Please reclaim your wandering riff raff.

[John Thomas]

That's "marijuana consumers," to you, bud. - That would be great. - Every person who switches from addictive, very harmful alcohol to near harmless marijuana improves their health tremendously - as well as the lives of their family and community.

A nice bonus would, hopefully, to cause an exodus of bigots like you.

[Duncan20903]

That's sure to annoy all of the drunks.

[Sevo]

Probably a huge new state bureaucracy to make sure there aren't 'too many' sellers.

[Hugh Akston]

At ~0:35 you highlight Wyoming when you mention Colorado.

[Citizen X]

That's just, like, your opinion, man.

[Florida Hipster]

*blank stare*
They're not in the same state?

[JFree]

Liberty means not having to conform with arbitrary statist geography.

[R.U. Got Silk-Roaded]

Thanks for beating me to the punch Hugh! 🙂

[Heroic Mulatto]

Why isn't regular Charizard a Dragon-type?

[Apple]

That's not Colorado, although I can see the resemblance.

[BigRedLiberty]

Seriously...that's Wyoming...

[Ken Shultz]

Getting a medical marijuana card is easy enough. You probably have to try to be rejected.

The biggest difference if California goes legal on recreational will be all the people who have something to lose if their name appears on a medical marijuana list for any reason.

Those who are licensed professionals, especially. If you're a civil engineer, and someone gets hurt on some project you designed, if you're a registered nurse and someone dies on your shift, etc. they won't just come after your license for being on a legally controlled substance, you may open yourself up to prosecution and lawsuits if anyone finds your name on a government list of people with a medical marijuana card. Truck drivers and licensed hairstylists may need to worry about some of that, too.

California has an active gun confiscation program, and although they've been slow to implement it with home raids, etc. (for obvious reasons), they might pursue that more vigorously in the future. In the meantime, if you have a registered firearm at home, you might be well advised not to apply for a medical marijuana card. Recreational marijuana should mean an end to those concerns.

[Gene]

Yet another class of reasons to ignore the law, not that most folks need more incentive.

[John Thomas]

Why do you support marijuana prohibition which was/is clearly a monstrously destructive FRAUD?

[Duncan20903]

There's no requirement for anyone's name to appear on any list unless the patient approves it. The registry is voluntary and the doctor is restricted by doctor/patient confidentiality. The doctor's recommendation doesn't even need to be in writing.

The rest of your nonsense is straight out of la-la land. I would be interested in knowing why the heck you think that "being on a list" means that the person is stoned 24/7/365. The "wake'n'bake" crowd makes up a tiny percentage of the people who choose to enjoy cannabis. You're off in lala land.

[Ken Shultz]

Ultimately, I'd like to think recreational legalization would mean less justification for the cops to search you and your car during traffic stops. They might still claim that you were driving erratically as probable cause to pull you over, but if you don't have glassy eyes or alcohol on your breath when they ask you for your license and registration, I'm not sure they'll have probably cause for a search anymore.

In the past, driving erratically and no alcohol on your breath might have been considered probable cause for a search for contraband--but there's much less justification in my mind to search people for "contraband" that isn't illegal. If they can't find any further evidence that you're intoxicated after talking to you, then instead of searching your car, they should just go fuck themselves instead.

One of the things I'm hopeful for is that people over 18 and under 25 won't get criminal records for simple possession anymore. Cheap, instant, public records searches are a big problem if you got the wise idea to buy a pound and part it out to friends when you were 19, only to get ratted out by a supplier/informant who isn't afraid of retaliation from some nice kid. Not being able to get a decent job for the rest of your life because of something stupid you did when you were 19 is cruel and unusual punishment.

[John Thomas]

Marijuana is not alcohol. The preponderance of the research shows marijuana consumption is NOT a significant cause of auto accidents. In 2015, the Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk report, produced by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, found that while drunken driving dramatically increased the risk of getting into an accident, there was no evidence that using marijuana heightened that risk.

In fact, after adjusting for age, gender, race and alcohol use, the report found that stoned drivers were no more likely to crash than drivers who were not intoxicated at all.

[Duncan20903]

I thought the part which showed that taking "drugs" reduced the drunks risk of being in a collision was quite amusing.

[John Thomas]

Sorry. - In the NHTSA report or this article? - I must have missed it.

[John Thomas]

Sorry. - In the NHTSA report or this article? - I must have missed it.

[Cloudbuster]

Potheads too stoned to be able to tell Colorado and Wyoming apart.

[Duncan20903]

Right, because only potheads create video graphics with mistakes.

[Cloudbuster]

Aw, I touched a snore nerve. Some weed will help that feeling go away.

[Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair]

Or read comments before they post redundantly.

[Dog Star]

Have you ever looked--I mean really looked--at the design of your hand? I mean... wow, man.

[mrvco]

Considering Bernie only got 38% of the vote during the D primary in California, I remain skeptical, like P19 before it, that P64 will pass.

[John Thomas]

Whoops. - Look again. - Bernie actually won the primary - in California AND the country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0v9tvIYpfU

Polls show 60 percent of Californians now support ending the fraudulent, counter-productive marijuana prohibition. - It will pass.

[Curtisls701]

Would.

[patskelley]

In the Words of Ming the Merciless, we will be satisfied with less.

[AD-RtR/OS!]

CA can be as F'd-Up as CO!

[Duncan20903]

Recently US News and World Report ranked 100 cities in the US by livability.
http://realestate.usnews.com/p.....es-to-live

Denver was #1
Colorado Springs was #5
Seattle was #7
Washington DC was #8
San Francisco was #9
San Jose CA was #10
San Diego was #16
Portland OR was #20

[Duncan20903]

The poor people in Seattle, Portland OR, and Denver are learning the cost of their States enacting regulated re-legalization of cannabis. Home prices in those cities are through the roof! Read 'em and weep Mr. Prohibitionist: http://www.reviewjournal.com/s.....N29-16.jpg

It must be frustrating and tedious to be a sycophant of prohibition. Not just above average increases in home prices, not just scattered in the top 10 but the godblessed numbers 1, 2, and 3 markets nationwide. Mind boggling.

[JFree]

so the rationale for legalization should be to further subsidize asset price increases and a bubble economy for the haves at the direct expense of the have-nots (renters)?

[Duncan20903]

The worst unintended consequence of enacting and implementing Colorado's A-64 is that the citizenry has been forced to endure the incessant whining of the sycophants of prohibition. But there's nothing to be done about that except to let the cry babies cry themselves to sleep and the situation will resolve itself.

[skunkman]

She is a terrible spokesperson for this topic. Sounds to much like a SJW. It will pass and hopefully California will be smart in how it implements the use. The biggest problem now is those that are kept from employment because of positive tests. Big deal that you got wasted last weekend if it doesn't impact how you do your job. This will be interesting to watch.

[LV]

Shit. There is a chance it will make Californians smarter. Then again, California.

[pisspoor]

Does anyone know anything about Lynne Lyman and the Drug Policy Alliance? I heard they're stake holders in the pot industry. Can anyone confirm?

[LV]

I can answer this: More Dem voters? Anyone got $10K against?

[LV]

I can answer this: More Dem voters? Anyone got $10K against?

[LV]

Come on! $10K? Got a vote against?

[LV]

Come on! Pussies.....

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[jackrose]

nice post thanks admin

[Florida Hipster]

You ever seen the back of a dollar bill on weed!?

[Florida Hipster]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E4GneX1jj94

[Cloudbuster]

Jesus. Jon Stewart should have stayed a nobody.