Napster co-founder and former Facebook president, Sean Parker, is backing a new pot initiative that would make recreational marijuana legal in California. This post from The 420 Times reports the debut of the Parker-backed Adult Use of Marijuana Act.
The Sean Parker-backed Adult Use of Marijuana Act filed its initiative language this week. It seeks to legalize recreational marijuana in California.
Organizers filed initial initiative language for what they’re calling the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. It seeks to regulate and tax recreational marijuana for those 21 and older.
The initiative, which is aiming for the November, 2016 ballot, wants to “strictly control the cultivation, processing, manufacture, distribution, testing and sale of nonmedical marijuana through a system of state licensing, regulation, and enforcement,” the language says.
Backers still need to gather a specified number of valid signatures from registered California voters and submit them for the approval of state officials. This is expensive, but Parker has deep pockets.
If there are enough valid endorsements, the initiative could end up on the ballot alongside other legalization efforts, including the one organized by ReformCA.
Under the Parker-backed efforts adults would be able to possess one ounce and grow as many as six plants. The Department of Consumer Affairs would regulate recreational pot. It would be taxed at the retail point of sale at a rate of 15 percent.
Growers would be taxed at a rate of $9.25 an ounce for dried buds and $2.75 an ounce for leaves.
The initiative mirrors the framework of recent medical marijuana regulation laws signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, including the goal of licensing retailers by 2018.
The California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA) quickly announced it was endorsing the Parker-backed effort.
“CCIA is pleased to join a diverse group of stakeholders in support of this initiative, which will bring sensible adult-use laws and regulations to California’s cannabis industry,” said CCIA president Sean Luse. This initiative represents the collective voice of California’s lawful medical cannabis industry.”
Source: Pot Initiative Backed by Facebook’s Sean Parker Debuts