California Propositions and Measures Passed
On Election Day, registered voters in California voted on propositions covering a range of concerns in addition to the presidential election and state representatives from the House and the Senate. Some of the propositions that were passed are legalizing marijuana, raising the cigarette and tobacco tax by $2, tightening gun and ammunition restrictions, allowing multilingual education, speeding up the death penalty appeals process, and banning plastic bags. A controversial proposition that failed was Prop 61, which would have capped prescription drug prices. Although Pharma poured money into its opposition of the proposition, many people supported it in hopes that it would limit their prescription drug prices.
Locally, people voted on measures based on the focuses of counties. As expected, Measure R (prop 18) was not passed. However, there are measures in other counties that were voted on and passed by the people, such as Los Angeles Measure HHH, which raised property taxes in order to fund homeless housing.
Paying attention to and voting for propositions is important because it allows different states to control their own legislation based on the general opinion of the people. In class, we discussed that the federal government has its enumerated powers in the constitution, but everything else is designated for the states (as stated in the 10th amendment), so we must use our right to make sure that our opinions are heard through the democratic process.
Questions to think about
1. Will legalizing marijuana will have any significant effects on California? What about the country?
2. What is the significance of having measures in individual counties?
The legalization of the recreational use of marijuana in California will bring change. Although Prop. 64 has passed, many of its provisions do not activate until January of 2018. A sea of questions and uncertainty often follows the legalization of the sale and recreational use of a previously illegal substance. As of now it is legal to consume marijuana in your home and grow up to six plants for your own personal use. However, the sale of marijuana is still technically outlawed because licensing for registered merchants will not begin until January of 2018. This is still a very new and complex issue in California and in other parts of the country as well. It will take time for the people to adjust to these changes. However, in the end I believe a legitimate and lawful system will be put into place and bring millions of tax dollars to the state of California.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex's point that California will ultimately establish a legitimate and lawful system for marijuana that will bring millions of tax dollars to them. They will try to profit off of the marijuana business.
DeleteI agree with Spencer and Alex on saying that many officials in California will try to establish a system that allows them to significantly profit off the marijuana business, a negative effect on the state and country as a whole. Furthermore, the legalization will incite a lot of violent crimes and perhaps murder rates and violent crimes rate go up by a tenfold. Furthermore, there will be a significant increase in its sales because its now legal to use but not sell, so people will want to get there hands on it more and sell it off for a larger profit since the only drawback is getting caught selling, and not using it.
DeleteThe legalization of recreational marijuana will have a positive economic effect on California. As seen in Colorado, the legalization of the substance has brought in nearly unimaginable amounts of money in taxes, bringing unexpected funds to the state that they can invest into schools, infrastructure, etc. In addition, there would be a reduction in crime rates because there will be no incentive to illegally distribute marijuana and coupled with that, violent crimes would also fall.
DeleteLegalizing marijuana is one step to combating harsh penalties for minor drug offenders, halting the drug war in Mexico and using the drug for the public good, medicinally, but it could have some cultural consequences, such as a massive increase of use with minors.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this. Cases in which Scandinavian countries have encouraged rehabilitation for drug offenders, rather than imprisonment has proved to lower widespread addiction. The legalisation of marijuana is the first step to reversing the cultural alienation of drug users, which will ultimately lead to a healthier, less drug-dependent society in the long run.
DeleteI think it is unjust to punish nonviolent crimes in the same way as violent crimes. Minor drug offenses, whether they should be condoned or not, should not be using tax dollars to put their lives on hault. Jails and prisons should be used for people who are truly threatening to society. Minor drug offenses are not posing immediate threats to our daily lives.
DeleteI think that people convicted of minor drug felonies should not be sentenced to jail, but rather a rehabilitation facility. By legalizing marijuana not only does it allow the state to use tax more for purposes other than jail, it also will help reduce the recent increase in illegal drug smuggling across the border. Though this will still be an issue, passing proposition 64 can greatly help reduce it, proving to be a benefit for the USA.
DeleteI think that it is a very important to have measures in counties because it works to create an environment in the best interest of the people. It was very interesting to see how controversial measure R was in our county and especially the outcome. When I worked at the polls, the results for our precinct of measure R were very close even though overall, it didn't pass by what I believe was a large amount. I think it was great that LA was able to pass something that helped fund homeless housing. I think it is important to have these measures to improve areas in every way possible.
ReplyDeleteAs with Diana, I was able to witness the results of Measure R at our precinct during election day, and it was surprising to see how it's results were the closest out of all of the proposed measures. I personally feel strongly about Measure R, and I believe that the reason it failed was due to substantial funding in the opposition campaign. Hopefully the next election will offer a more comprehensible solution to the housing crisis, as it's important that the city of Burlingame addresses the problem from an objective standpoint that mediates the needs of both tenants and renters.
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