CNN has information on Proposition 19 results.
I'll blog more about final results later.
November 2, 2010
Recent articles for and against Prop 19
On October 3, 2010, an opinion piece by NORML was published on opposingviews.com entitled "Calif. Prop 19 Even Better than Marijuana Decriminalization."
On October 14, 2010, an article by Ruben Navarrette Jr. appeared on CNN called "Legal pot in California a big mistake."
On October 19, 2010, an article by Jeffrey A. Miron appeared on CNN entitled "Don't buy the hype on pot legalization", saying "Most claims on both sides are exaggerated or misleading. Legalizing marijuana is the right policy for California and the nation. But in considering Prop 19, everyone should start with a balanced assessment of its likely impact."
On October 20, 2010, an article by Laura Flanders on a blog on The Nation about former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders who thinks marijuana should be legalized.
On October 20, 2010, an article by Tracy Clark-Flory appeared on Salon entitled "Meet the 'stiletto stoners'", saying "Activists are promoting the image of sophisticated female pot-heads in their push to legalize marijuana."
On October 21, 2010, an article by Evan Wood entitled Why conservatives should favor legalizing marijuana appeared on CNN.
On October 25, 2010 an article by George Skelton of Capitol Journal appeared on the Los Angeles Times entitled "A bad law is like bad pot."
On October 25, 2010, an article by John Hoeffel appeared in the Los Angeles Times entitled "Marijuana: Prop. 19 would propel California into unknown territory."
On October 26, 2010, an article by Katia Lopez-Hodoyan appeared on NBC San Diego entitled "Moms for Legalizing Marijuana."
On October 28, 2010, an opinion piece by Nicolas D. Kristof was published in the New York Times entitled End the War on Pot.
On October 29, 2010, a blog post by John Hoeffel appeared on L.A. NOW on the Los Angeles Times called "Marijuana legalization backers plan final ad blitz."
On October 31, 2010, an opinion piece by NORML appeared on opposingivews.com entitled Final Plea: Vote YES on Legal Marijuana, Prop 19.
On November 2, 2010, Dennis Romero blogged on LA Weekly in a pro Prop 19 article called "No On Prop. 19 Campaign Already Practically Claiming Victory In Its Battle Against California Marijuana Legalization."
On October 14, 2010, an article by Ruben Navarrette Jr. appeared on CNN called "Legal pot in California a big mistake."
On October 19, 2010, an article by Jeffrey A. Miron appeared on CNN entitled "Don't buy the hype on pot legalization", saying "Most claims on both sides are exaggerated or misleading. Legalizing marijuana is the right policy for California and the nation. But in considering Prop 19, everyone should start with a balanced assessment of its likely impact."
On October 20, 2010, an article by Laura Flanders on a blog on The Nation about former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders who thinks marijuana should be legalized.
On October 20, 2010, an article by Tracy Clark-Flory appeared on Salon entitled "Meet the 'stiletto stoners'", saying "Activists are promoting the image of sophisticated female pot-heads in their push to legalize marijuana."
On October 21, 2010, an article by Evan Wood entitled Why conservatives should favor legalizing marijuana appeared on CNN.
On October 25, 2010 an article by George Skelton of Capitol Journal appeared on the Los Angeles Times entitled "A bad law is like bad pot."
On October 25, 2010, an article by John Hoeffel appeared in the Los Angeles Times entitled "Marijuana: Prop. 19 would propel California into unknown territory."
On October 26, 2010, an article by Katia Lopez-Hodoyan appeared on NBC San Diego entitled "Moms for Legalizing Marijuana."
On October 28, 2010, an opinion piece by Nicolas D. Kristof was published in the New York Times entitled End the War on Pot.
On October 29, 2010, a blog post by John Hoeffel appeared on L.A. NOW on the Los Angeles Times called "Marijuana legalization backers plan final ad blitz."
On October 31, 2010, an opinion piece by NORML appeared on opposingivews.com entitled Final Plea: Vote YES on Legal Marijuana, Prop 19.
On November 2, 2010, Dennis Romero blogged on LA Weekly in a pro Prop 19 article called "No On Prop. 19 Campaign Already Practically Claiming Victory In Its Battle Against California Marijuana Legalization."
Prop 19 and the Feds, Eric Holder, rescheduling, Lee Baca
On October 10, 2010, there was an article on CBS News by Bill Whitaker entitled "Legalizing Pot May Take More Than a Vote in CA", with the subheading "Even if Proposition 19 Passes in Calif. and Marijuana is Legal, the Federal Government May Step In."
Whitaker said even if Prop 19 passes, "the federal government almost certainly will challenge it."
Denise Davis of the California Chamber of Commerce, which has run radio ads against Prop 19, told CBS News that Prop 19 opens the door "for the ability of employees to smoke pot at work." Whitaker said "employees couldn't be fired for smoking pot unless employers prove that the drug impaired job performance."
Whitaker said even if Prop 19 passes, marijuana will "still be illegal under federal drug laws", and likely be challenged in court, which "means the whole controversial issue could just go up in smoke."
California passed Prop 215 in 1996, but marijuana remained a controlled substance under federal law. Years later there was a case, Gonzales v. Raich, (originally named Ashcroft v. Raich since Ashcroft was the US Attorney General when the case began). On August 15, 2002, DEA agents and officers from the Butte County Sheriff's Department destroyed all 6 of Diane Monson's marijuana plants since marijuana was and still is a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act (as well as California Health and Safety Code as far as I know). Angel Raich of Oakland, CA, Diane Monson of Oroville, CA and 2 anonymous caregivers sued the government on October 9, 2002 for injunctive and declaratory relief to stop the government from interfering with their right to grow and use medical marijuana, claiming that the Controlled Substances Act was not constitutional as applied to their conduct. They said that enforcing the Controlled Substances Act against them would violate the doctrine of medical necessity, the 10th amendment, the 9th amendment, the Due Process Clause of the 5th amendment, and the Commerce Clause. The US Supeme Court rule on June 6, 2005 that Congress may ban homegrown marijuana even if states have approved medical marijuana, under the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution.
On October 15, 2010, CNN reported that Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter than the federal government will continue to enforce federal marijuana laws in California even if Prop 19 passes. The letter said "Regardless of the passage of this or similar legislation, the Department of Justice will remain firmly committed to enforcing the Controlled Substances ACT ("CSA") in all states." The letter said "the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19." CNN stated that Holder's letter was a response to an August 24 letter from 8 former directors of the DEA urging the White House to block Prop 19 if it passes, urging Holder to use the "supremacy clause" to pre-empt such laws. Holder's letter said "the Department is considering all available legal and policy options in the event Proposition 19 is enacted."
Even if Prop 19 passes on November 2, 2010, cannabis will still be a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act. And I'm not a lawyer, but it appears to me that Prop 19 itself doesn't even reschedule cannabis in California, it makes no mention of scheduling.
California Health and Safety Code Section 11054 (a) currently says "The controlled substances listed in this section are included in Schedule I."
subdivision (d) says:
(d) Hallucinogenic substances. Unless specifically excepted or
unless listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture,
or preparation, which contains any quantity of the following
hallucinogenic substances, or which contains any of its salts,
isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of those salts,
isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific
chemical designation (for purposes of this subdivision only, the term
"isomer" includes the optical, position, and geometric isomers):
and contains:
(13) Marijuana.
(20) Tetrahydrocannabinols...synthetic equivalents, derivatives
So in California, marijuana is currently scheduled under Health and Safety Code Section 11054 subdivision (d) paragraph (13), and tetrahydrocannabinols are currently scheduled under Section 11054 subdivision (d) paragraph (20).
Prop 19 does say in C. Intent that "This Act is intended to limit the application and enforcement of state and local laws relating to possession, transportation, cultivation, consumption and sale of cannabis, including but not limited to the following, whether now existing or adopted in Health and Safety Code"..."11054 [relating to cannabis or tetrahydrocannabinols]." But that's the only part of Prop 19 that mentions 11054. The Intent section won't be amended to the California Health and Safety Code. Although Section 11054 (d) *does* say "Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule" and I guess one could argue that Prop 19 creates that specific exception, but does the specific exception have to exist in another schedule?
Does Prop 19 reschedule cannabis in California? If not, does Prop 19 make lawful a Schedule I drug? Does Prop 19 provide an exception for marijuana in Section 11054? Does Prop 19 lay out lawful activities that can be performed with a Schedule I drug?
In California, marijuana is currently scheduled under Health and Safety Code Section 11054 subdivision (d) paragraph (13).
Heath and Safety Code Section 11350 (a) says:
11355. Every person who agrees, consents, or in any manner offers
to unlawfully sell, furnish, transport, administer, or give (1) any
controlled substance specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (e), or
paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054, specified in
paragraph (13), (14), (15), or (20) of subdivision (d) of Section
11054, or specified in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 11055, or
specified in subdivision (h) of Section 11056, or (2) any controlled
substance classified in Schedule III, IV, or V which is a narcotic
drug to any person, or who offers, arranges, or negotiates to have
any such controlled substance unlawfully sold, delivered,
transported, furnished, administered, or given to any person and who
then sells, delivers, furnishes, transports, administers, or gives,
or offers, arranges, or negotiates to have sold, delivered,
transported, furnished, administered, or given to any person any
other liquid, substance, or material in lieu of any such controlled
substance shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for
not more than one year, or in the state prison.
Although perhaps Prop 19, by declaring certain activities lawful, makes it so current California codes regarding unlawful activities and marijuana no longer apply. Although I guess that might be challenged by the federal government.
But will marijuana still be a Schedule I drug under California code if Prop 19 passes? Will marijuana still be a controlled substance under California code? I assume the answer is yes, since possession of more than 28.5g of cannabis will still be a misdemeanor with a $500 fine and up to 6 months incarceration.
Health and Safety Code Sections 11357-11362.9 also deal with marijuana.
California Health and Safety Code Sections 11362.7-11362.83 outline California's medical marijuana program. I don't know, but perhaps the language in Prop 19 was patterned after that code in order to create a specific exception in California code.
Can state ballot measures and initiatives remove any substance from drug schedules in state codes?
In this previous blog post, I wrote that in August 2009 the Oregon legislature passed SB 728, which directed the Oregon Board of Pharmacy to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II, III, IV or V. On June 16, 2010 the Oregon State Board of Pharmacy voted 4-1 to move marijuana from Schedule I to II, to recognize that cannabis has an acceptable medical use. Marijuana is now a Schedule II controlled substance in Oregon, the first state in the US to make marijuana a Schedule II drug. In February 2010, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy recommended its legislature reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to II, recognizing its medical use. But even if all 50 states reschedule marijuana, that does not mean that marijuana will be rescheduled federally. The US is still a party to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and the federal Controlled Substances Act is based on that international treaty.
Wikipedia says the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs can reschedule cannabis. Congress can reschedule cannabis. The Executive Branch can reschedule cannabis. The US Attorney General can reschedule cannabis. The DEA supposedly looks at petitions to reschedule cannabis. The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services can reschedule cannabis. But the US still ratified the treaty the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Cindy Fazey said total legalization would require the US to denounce that treaty, amend the treaty, or reinterpret it (which would probably be opposed by the International Narcotics Control Board.)
On August 3, 2010, an article in the East Bay Express by Robert Gammon said that according to The Bay Citizen the DEA was making inquiries into the Oakland ordinance (13033) which allows for four large-scale marijuana grow permits. I discussed the Oakland ordinance as well as some companies seeking permits in this previous blog post.
On October 15, 2010, Robert Faturechi blogged on L.A. Now on the Los Angeles Times that Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said if Prop 19 passes that marijuana enforcement by LA County sheriff deputies would not change. At a news conference on October 15, 2010 at LA County sheriff's headquarters in Monterey Park, Baca said "Proposition 19 is not going to pass, even if it passes." Baca said Prop 19 is superseded by federal law and would be found unconstitutional if passed. LA County DA Steve Cooley stood by Baca. Baca strongly said he had never experimented with marijuana. Baca said legalizing marijuana would have repercussions like traffic accident, labor disputes with employees getting high on the job, increased costs of drug rehab, and giving safe cover for drug cartels selling harder drugs. Baca said people smoking marijuana in their homes in California is already a non-priority for police agencies. The LA County sheriff's departments targets dealers. According to Faturechi, at the news conference Baca said local law enforcement agencies in California "should abide by federal drug laws prohibiting marijuana even if the state measure passes."
On October 20, 2010, Dennis Romero blogged on LA Weekly, with the headline "If California Legalizes Pot, The Feds Might Sue: Boy, The Obama Administration Really Doesn't Want Us To Vote For Prop. 19."
Romero wrote about US drug czar, Director of ONDCP Gil Kerlikowse, telling the AP that if Prop 19 passes, the DOJ may sue, arguing that California has no right to legalize a drug that's still a Schedule I drug federally. That was after the announcement by US Attorney General Eric Holder. Kerlikowse said "I think it's also important the people of California get the facts, and the way this proposition is being sold doesn't hold up to scrutiny."
Romero said "This all sounds like a scare tactic to us -- a move by federal officials to prevent votes for Prop. 19. And it makes us want to vote for it even more."
Prop 19 creating a conflict with federal law was on the reasons that the Los Angeles Times opposed Prop 19, which I previously blogged about here.
Alan Markow, in an article published October 20, 2010 on CAIVN, The California Independent Voter Project, also doubted the statements by Eric Holder. Markow said "it was a genuine head-scratching moment for advocates of legalizing the general use of cannabis." Markow wrote "only a few years ago, the feds decided not to prosecute licensed medical marijuana distribution and consumption. So why the change?"
Markow wrote that apparently the DOJ doesn't want to see a precedent based on code alteration in a single state. He said "there's something that just doesn't ring true about Holder's out-of-the-blue announcement."
Markow linked to a blog post by Jacob Sullum of Reason magazine, which gives some statistics related to marijuana. It said in 2008 there were 848,000 marijuana arrests, and only 1% of them were made by the feds. Also, there are only 5,500 DEA agents in the US, but 70,000 cops in California. Markow said Sullum said the Department of Justice "certainly can make trouble, but it simply does not have the resources to bust a significant percentage of the state's marijuana offenders now, let alone after every adult is allowed to grow his own pot." Markow said the DOJ can try to influence voters.
Stephen Gutwillig of the Drug Policy Alliance said 14 states and DC now have medical marijuana laws, 80 million people live in those places, and "All that happened without a single change in federal law."
Markow said, "Holder's posturing is more likely an effort to put up a tough front for his DEA enforcement team and to undermine potential political leverage for Republicans should the Obama administration show any support whatsoever for softening its position on drug laws."
Markow brings up prohibition, saying "If you believe that there is no greater harm to society from marijuana usage than there is from tobacco or alcohol, marijuana laws are simply a repeat of alcohol prohibition..."
But passing Prop 19 will be nothing like repealing alcohol prohibition. The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment nationwide. Proposition 19 applies to California only. Marijuana will still be a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. The CSA is the implementing legislation in the US for the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Marijuana will still be a Schedule IV drug under the international treaty Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Article 23 and Article 28 of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs require cannabis-producing nations to have a government agency that controls cultivation. In the US, the National Institute on Drug Abuse does that.
There will be one place in the world where marijuana will be "legal", while it will be illegal nearly everywhere else. Drug smugglers and criminals will flood California.
In all likelihood, the Feds will continue to bust weed stores in California just like medical dispensaries are still raided now. The DEA enforces the Controlled Substances Act, and if Prop 19 passes, I'm sure the DEA will continue to enforce the Controlled Substance Act in California. If there are only 5,500 DEA agents in the US, wouldn't the federal government hire more after Prop 19 passes? There will be an explosion of drug trafficking out of California.
If there are 70,000 cops in California, will interdiction of drug smugglers fall mainly on California police officers, putting them at risk?
On October 15, 2010, there was an article by Chris Good in The Atlantic entitled "If Prop. 19 Passes, Can the Feds Overturn It?"
Chris Good referred to an article in National Journal and quoted Ted Ruger, a constitutional law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Ruger said "Constitutionally, California will have a valid law" and "State officers don't enforce federal law and can't be made to enforce federal law."
Then was Lee Baca making empty threats when he said that Los Angeles County sheriff deputies would pay no attention to Prop 19?
President of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation Eric Sterling said Prop 19 is about California attempting to authorize a form of regulation of commerce, contrary to the Controlled Substances Act. Sterling said a legal challenge to the commercial section of Prop 19 wouldn't involve a federal "commandeering" of California law enforcers or judges, and may succeed in federal court.
On October 18, 2010, Andrew Sullivan wrote an
article on The Daily Dish on The Atlantic asking "What Will The Feds Do If California Legalizes Pot?."
On October 15, 2010, an article by Daniel B. Wood appeared on The Christian Science Monitor entitled Marijuana in California: Prop. 19 won't stop federal drug enforcement.
Wood said that Carmen Trutanich, Los Angeles City Attorney, had contacted the DOJ asking them to file an injunction against Prop 19.
Tom Angell, spokesman for Yes On 19, said passing Prop 19 will jump-start a national dialogue about changing marijuana policies, so it would still be a victory even if challenged by the federal government.
Stephen Gutwillig of the Drug Policy Alliance said "The federal government may criminalize marijuana, but it can't force states to do so, and it can't require states to enforce federal law."
Which makes me wonder: What exactly can American voters legalize in their states by ballot measure or ballot initiative that is currently against federal law? Could heroin be legalized by a ballot initiative? Cocaine? Meth? Mushrooms? MDMA? Every drug scheduled in the Controlled Substances Act? If Prop 19 passes, which drug will be legalized next in California? What other things that are currently against federal law could be legalized by state ballot measure or initiative?
On October 25, 2010, an article by Ryan Tracy appeared on Newsweek entitled "What the Feds Can Do if California Passes Prop 19."
On October 27, 2010, an article appeared on the San Francisco Chronicle entitled "Prop. 19: Feds will stop playing nice", a reference to Holder's statements in 2009 that feds would go easy on medical marijuana. But if Prop 19 passes, the paper said "Washington will come down hard." The paper said "Holder signaled a legal kitchen-sink approach was in the works if Prop. 19 wins. He would go after sellers and organizations that distribute the weed. The attorney general would also go to court to stop the measure from taking effect."
The paper "The ballot measure effectively unbalances a delicate truce in the marijuana wars." I've seen opinions of people online that Prop 19 is simply asking for too much, and that greedy voters may end up "ruining a good thing" regarding medical marijuana.
The paper said Prop 19 welcomes trouble "in combatting illegal drug use and interferes with efforts to 'target drug traffickers who frequently distribute marijuana alongside cocaine and other controlled substances.'"
Whitaker said even if Prop 19 passes, "the federal government almost certainly will challenge it."
Denise Davis of the California Chamber of Commerce, which has run radio ads against Prop 19, told CBS News that Prop 19 opens the door "for the ability of employees to smoke pot at work." Whitaker said "employees couldn't be fired for smoking pot unless employers prove that the drug impaired job performance."
Whitaker said even if Prop 19 passes, marijuana will "still be illegal under federal drug laws", and likely be challenged in court, which "means the whole controversial issue could just go up in smoke."
California passed Prop 215 in 1996, but marijuana remained a controlled substance under federal law. Years later there was a case, Gonzales v. Raich, (originally named Ashcroft v. Raich since Ashcroft was the US Attorney General when the case began). On August 15, 2002, DEA agents and officers from the Butte County Sheriff's Department destroyed all 6 of Diane Monson's marijuana plants since marijuana was and still is a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act (as well as California Health and Safety Code as far as I know). Angel Raich of Oakland, CA, Diane Monson of Oroville, CA and 2 anonymous caregivers sued the government on October 9, 2002 for injunctive and declaratory relief to stop the government from interfering with their right to grow and use medical marijuana, claiming that the Controlled Substances Act was not constitutional as applied to their conduct. They said that enforcing the Controlled Substances Act against them would violate the doctrine of medical necessity, the 10th amendment, the 9th amendment, the Due Process Clause of the 5th amendment, and the Commerce Clause. The US Supeme Court rule on June 6, 2005 that Congress may ban homegrown marijuana even if states have approved medical marijuana, under the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution.
On October 15, 2010, CNN reported that Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter than the federal government will continue to enforce federal marijuana laws in California even if Prop 19 passes. The letter said "Regardless of the passage of this or similar legislation, the Department of Justice will remain firmly committed to enforcing the Controlled Substances ACT ("CSA") in all states." The letter said "the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19." CNN stated that Holder's letter was a response to an August 24 letter from 8 former directors of the DEA urging the White House to block Prop 19 if it passes, urging Holder to use the "supremacy clause" to pre-empt such laws. Holder's letter said "the Department is considering all available legal and policy options in the event Proposition 19 is enacted."
Even if Prop 19 passes on November 2, 2010, cannabis will still be a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act. And I'm not a lawyer, but it appears to me that Prop 19 itself doesn't even reschedule cannabis in California, it makes no mention of scheduling.
California Health and Safety Code Section 11054 (a) currently says "The controlled substances listed in this section are included in Schedule I."
subdivision (d) says:
(d) Hallucinogenic substances. Unless specifically excepted or
unless listed in another schedule, any material, compound, mixture,
or preparation, which contains any quantity of the following
hallucinogenic substances, or which contains any of its salts,
isomers, and salts of isomers whenever the existence of those salts,
isomers, and salts of isomers is possible within the specific
chemical designation (for purposes of this subdivision only, the term
"isomer" includes the optical, position, and geometric isomers):
and contains:
(13) Marijuana.
(20) Tetrahydrocannabinols...synthetic equivalents, derivatives
So in California, marijuana is currently scheduled under Health and Safety Code Section 11054 subdivision (d) paragraph (13), and tetrahydrocannabinols are currently scheduled under Section 11054 subdivision (d) paragraph (20).
Prop 19 does say in C. Intent that "This Act is intended to limit the application and enforcement of state and local laws relating to possession, transportation, cultivation, consumption and sale of cannabis, including but not limited to the following, whether now existing or adopted in Health and Safety Code"..."11054 [relating to cannabis or tetrahydrocannabinols]." But that's the only part of Prop 19 that mentions 11054. The Intent section won't be amended to the California Health and Safety Code. Although Section 11054 (d) *does* say "Unless specifically excepted or unless listed in another schedule" and I guess one could argue that Prop 19 creates that specific exception, but does the specific exception have to exist in another schedule?
Does Prop 19 reschedule cannabis in California? If not, does Prop 19 make lawful a Schedule I drug? Does Prop 19 provide an exception for marijuana in Section 11054? Does Prop 19 lay out lawful activities that can be performed with a Schedule I drug?
In California, marijuana is currently scheduled under Health and Safety Code Section 11054 subdivision (d) paragraph (13).
Heath and Safety Code Section 11350 (a) says:
11355. Every person who agrees, consents, or in any manner offers
to unlawfully sell, furnish, transport, administer, or give (1) any
controlled substance specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (e), or
paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 11054, specified in
paragraph (13), (14), (15), or (20) of subdivision (d) of Section
11054, or specified in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 11055, or
specified in subdivision (h) of Section 11056, or (2) any controlled
substance classified in Schedule III, IV, or V which is a narcotic
drug to any person, or who offers, arranges, or negotiates to have
any such controlled substance unlawfully sold, delivered,
transported, furnished, administered, or given to any person and who
then sells, delivers, furnishes, transports, administers, or gives,
or offers, arranges, or negotiates to have sold, delivered,
transported, furnished, administered, or given to any person any
other liquid, substance, or material in lieu of any such controlled
substance shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for
not more than one year, or in the state prison.
Although perhaps Prop 19, by declaring certain activities lawful, makes it so current California codes regarding unlawful activities and marijuana no longer apply. Although I guess that might be challenged by the federal government.
But will marijuana still be a Schedule I drug under California code if Prop 19 passes? Will marijuana still be a controlled substance under California code? I assume the answer is yes, since possession of more than 28.5g of cannabis will still be a misdemeanor with a $500 fine and up to 6 months incarceration.
Health and Safety Code Sections 11357-11362.9 also deal with marijuana.
California Health and Safety Code Sections 11362.7-11362.83 outline California's medical marijuana program. I don't know, but perhaps the language in Prop 19 was patterned after that code in order to create a specific exception in California code.
Can state ballot measures and initiatives remove any substance from drug schedules in state codes?
In this previous blog post, I wrote that in August 2009 the Oregon legislature passed SB 728, which directed the Oregon Board of Pharmacy to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II, III, IV or V. On June 16, 2010 the Oregon State Board of Pharmacy voted 4-1 to move marijuana from Schedule I to II, to recognize that cannabis has an acceptable medical use. Marijuana is now a Schedule II controlled substance in Oregon, the first state in the US to make marijuana a Schedule II drug. In February 2010, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy recommended its legislature reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to II, recognizing its medical use. But even if all 50 states reschedule marijuana, that does not mean that marijuana will be rescheduled federally. The US is still a party to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and the federal Controlled Substances Act is based on that international treaty.
Wikipedia says the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs can reschedule cannabis. Congress can reschedule cannabis. The Executive Branch can reschedule cannabis. The US Attorney General can reschedule cannabis. The DEA supposedly looks at petitions to reschedule cannabis. The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services can reschedule cannabis. But the US still ratified the treaty the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Cindy Fazey said total legalization would require the US to denounce that treaty, amend the treaty, or reinterpret it (which would probably be opposed by the International Narcotics Control Board.)
On August 3, 2010, an article in the East Bay Express by Robert Gammon said that according to The Bay Citizen the DEA was making inquiries into the Oakland ordinance (13033) which allows for four large-scale marijuana grow permits. I discussed the Oakland ordinance as well as some companies seeking permits in this previous blog post.
On October 15, 2010, Robert Faturechi blogged on L.A. Now on the Los Angeles Times that Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said if Prop 19 passes that marijuana enforcement by LA County sheriff deputies would not change. At a news conference on October 15, 2010 at LA County sheriff's headquarters in Monterey Park, Baca said "Proposition 19 is not going to pass, even if it passes." Baca said Prop 19 is superseded by federal law and would be found unconstitutional if passed. LA County DA Steve Cooley stood by Baca. Baca strongly said he had never experimented with marijuana. Baca said legalizing marijuana would have repercussions like traffic accident, labor disputes with employees getting high on the job, increased costs of drug rehab, and giving safe cover for drug cartels selling harder drugs. Baca said people smoking marijuana in their homes in California is already a non-priority for police agencies. The LA County sheriff's departments targets dealers. According to Faturechi, at the news conference Baca said local law enforcement agencies in California "should abide by federal drug laws prohibiting marijuana even if the state measure passes."
On October 20, 2010, Dennis Romero blogged on LA Weekly, with the headline "If California Legalizes Pot, The Feds Might Sue: Boy, The Obama Administration Really Doesn't Want Us To Vote For Prop. 19."
Romero wrote about US drug czar, Director of ONDCP Gil Kerlikowse, telling the AP that if Prop 19 passes, the DOJ may sue, arguing that California has no right to legalize a drug that's still a Schedule I drug federally. That was after the announcement by US Attorney General Eric Holder. Kerlikowse said "I think it's also important the people of California get the facts, and the way this proposition is being sold doesn't hold up to scrutiny."
Romero said "This all sounds like a scare tactic to us -- a move by federal officials to prevent votes for Prop. 19. And it makes us want to vote for it even more."
Prop 19 creating a conflict with federal law was on the reasons that the Los Angeles Times opposed Prop 19, which I previously blogged about here.
Alan Markow, in an article published October 20, 2010 on CAIVN, The California Independent Voter Project, also doubted the statements by Eric Holder. Markow said "it was a genuine head-scratching moment for advocates of legalizing the general use of cannabis." Markow wrote "only a few years ago, the feds decided not to prosecute licensed medical marijuana distribution and consumption. So why the change?"
Markow wrote that apparently the DOJ doesn't want to see a precedent based on code alteration in a single state. He said "there's something that just doesn't ring true about Holder's out-of-the-blue announcement."
Markow linked to a blog post by Jacob Sullum of Reason magazine, which gives some statistics related to marijuana. It said in 2008 there were 848,000 marijuana arrests, and only 1% of them were made by the feds. Also, there are only 5,500 DEA agents in the US, but 70,000 cops in California. Markow said Sullum said the Department of Justice "certainly can make trouble, but it simply does not have the resources to bust a significant percentage of the state's marijuana offenders now, let alone after every adult is allowed to grow his own pot." Markow said the DOJ can try to influence voters.
Stephen Gutwillig of the Drug Policy Alliance said 14 states and DC now have medical marijuana laws, 80 million people live in those places, and "All that happened without a single change in federal law."
Markow said, "Holder's posturing is more likely an effort to put up a tough front for his DEA enforcement team and to undermine potential political leverage for Republicans should the Obama administration show any support whatsoever for softening its position on drug laws."
Markow brings up prohibition, saying "If you believe that there is no greater harm to society from marijuana usage than there is from tobacco or alcohol, marijuana laws are simply a repeat of alcohol prohibition..."
But passing Prop 19 will be nothing like repealing alcohol prohibition. The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment nationwide. Proposition 19 applies to California only. Marijuana will still be a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. The CSA is the implementing legislation in the US for the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Marijuana will still be a Schedule IV drug under the international treaty Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Article 23 and Article 28 of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs require cannabis-producing nations to have a government agency that controls cultivation. In the US, the National Institute on Drug Abuse does that.
There will be one place in the world where marijuana will be "legal", while it will be illegal nearly everywhere else. Drug smugglers and criminals will flood California.
In all likelihood, the Feds will continue to bust weed stores in California just like medical dispensaries are still raided now. The DEA enforces the Controlled Substances Act, and if Prop 19 passes, I'm sure the DEA will continue to enforce the Controlled Substance Act in California. If there are only 5,500 DEA agents in the US, wouldn't the federal government hire more after Prop 19 passes? There will be an explosion of drug trafficking out of California.
If there are 70,000 cops in California, will interdiction of drug smugglers fall mainly on California police officers, putting them at risk?
On October 15, 2010, there was an article by Chris Good in The Atlantic entitled "If Prop. 19 Passes, Can the Feds Overturn It?"
Chris Good referred to an article in National Journal and quoted Ted Ruger, a constitutional law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Ruger said "Constitutionally, California will have a valid law" and "State officers don't enforce federal law and can't be made to enforce federal law."
Then was Lee Baca making empty threats when he said that Los Angeles County sheriff deputies would pay no attention to Prop 19?
President of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation Eric Sterling said Prop 19 is about California attempting to authorize a form of regulation of commerce, contrary to the Controlled Substances Act. Sterling said a legal challenge to the commercial section of Prop 19 wouldn't involve a federal "commandeering" of California law enforcers or judges, and may succeed in federal court.
On October 18, 2010, Andrew Sullivan wrote an
article on The Daily Dish on The Atlantic asking "What Will The Feds Do If California Legalizes Pot?."
On October 15, 2010, an article by Daniel B. Wood appeared on The Christian Science Monitor entitled Marijuana in California: Prop. 19 won't stop federal drug enforcement.
Wood said that Carmen Trutanich, Los Angeles City Attorney, had contacted the DOJ asking them to file an injunction against Prop 19.
Tom Angell, spokesman for Yes On 19, said passing Prop 19 will jump-start a national dialogue about changing marijuana policies, so it would still be a victory even if challenged by the federal government.
Stephen Gutwillig of the Drug Policy Alliance said "The federal government may criminalize marijuana, but it can't force states to do so, and it can't require states to enforce federal law."
Which makes me wonder: What exactly can American voters legalize in their states by ballot measure or ballot initiative that is currently against federal law? Could heroin be legalized by a ballot initiative? Cocaine? Meth? Mushrooms? MDMA? Every drug scheduled in the Controlled Substances Act? If Prop 19 passes, which drug will be legalized next in California? What other things that are currently against federal law could be legalized by state ballot measure or initiative?
On October 25, 2010, an article by Ryan Tracy appeared on Newsweek entitled "What the Feds Can Do if California Passes Prop 19."
On October 27, 2010, an article appeared on the San Francisco Chronicle entitled "Prop. 19: Feds will stop playing nice", a reference to Holder's statements in 2009 that feds would go easy on medical marijuana. But if Prop 19 passes, the paper said "Washington will come down hard." The paper said "Holder signaled a legal kitchen-sink approach was in the works if Prop. 19 wins. He would go after sellers and organizations that distribute the weed. The attorney general would also go to court to stop the measure from taking effect."
The paper "The ballot measure effectively unbalances a delicate truce in the marijuana wars." I've seen opinions of people online that Prop 19 is simply asking for too much, and that greedy voters may end up "ruining a good thing" regarding medical marijuana.
The paper said Prop 19 welcomes trouble "in combatting illegal drug use and interferes with efforts to 'target drug traffickers who frequently distribute marijuana alongside cocaine and other controlled substances.'"
1500 questions about Prop 19
I've asked 1,500 questions about Proposition 19 over the course of three blog posts in the last two months. (Although I've also asked some questions in other blog posts during that time).
Today is election day, and California voters will be voting on Prop 19 among other issues.
Here are all 1,500 questions about Prop 19 in a single post.
The following questions are from this blog post by me.
Will homegrowers be able to grow (and keep) as much as they can in 25 square feet every month? Will the 25 square feet limits be enacted statewide? Can it be grown in plain view of the public? Will there be any cities/counties where it will be illegal to grow at home? What if cops see a minor tending a homegrow? Will medical growers be restricted to 25 square feet? Will any recreational homegrowers/sellers use medical marijuana cards as an excuse to grow in spaces larger than 25 square feet? Does harvesting count as processing? Will gangs and cartels take advantage of legal grow limits? Will they hire/employ more homegrowers? Can someone have 5 lbs of purchased weed inside their house as long as they also buy some plants to make it look like they're a personal grower? Will possession limits apply to only bud or also leaves, stems, seeds? Will possession limits only apply to the percentage of psychoactive chemicals in a bag of marijuana?
Is "any harvest" some sort of unlimited loophole? Can someone convert a grain tower silo into a 5' W x 5' L x 50' H vertical grow op for "personal consumption"? A 5' diameter bush outside that's 12' tall? 25 single-cola 8' plants growing outside trimmed to each fit in its own one square foot area? Does the 25 square feet have to be in one single area? Could someone have two 2x2 grows? What if someone has a larger grow space than 25 square feet but there are less than 25 square feet of plants growing in it at the time? If someone owns multiple parcels of land, can they have 5x5 personal grows on each one? Can landowners subdivide existing land into smaller parcels to have more personal grow spaces? Can there be a grow on every level of an apartment fire escape? Will people convert entire floors of apartment buildings or motels into residential grow ops to compete with commercial growers? Will landlords pay tenants to grow in their apartments? Will people set up cubicles in loft apartments to take advantage of residence grow limits? Will people convert capsule hotels to take advantage of residence grow limits?
Will there be more indoor or outdoor industrial commercial growers? Will outdoor commercial growers use greenhouses more than open-air growing to prevent fertilization of female plants? Will indoor or outdoor industrial growers produce more? Will indoor or outdoor growers use pesticides? Will an increase in indoor homegrows and industrial grows increase the chance of blackouts? Will indoor commercial growers in certain areas be restricted to certain hours when they can turn their lights on to prevent blackouts? Will the power grid in California be able to handle the demand? Will California have to build more peaking power plants? Will there be restrictions on exhaust in commercial and home grows? Will exhaust systems no longer be needed in homegrows? Will a strong smell of marijuana near a residence no longer be probable cause for police? Will there be a public tipline set up to snitch on people? Will it be legal to burn stems and leaves and waste plant matter in power plants? Will there be a market for plant waste/cellulose? How can it be used? How can it be transported? How must commercial cannabis waste be disposed of? Will industrial growers burn their own waste? Sell it? Will cannabis stems and leaves become a major source of biomass? Can it be used to make biofuel? Fermented to make methanol?
Will there be an increase in electrical fires related to homegrows? Will fire departments have to hire more people to combat more electrical fires? Will there be special procedures in dealing with homegrow fires? Industrial marijuana fires? If a commercial crop is ruined somehow, how must the cannabis be disposed of? Will there be weed farm/factory inspectors? Will there be some sort of stamp of approval? Will it fall under FDA or USDA jurisdiction? Will the FDA have to approve cannabis products or will it be classified as an herb? Will the California Department of Public Health inspect retail weed stores?
If Proposition 19 passes I think there will be an explosion in the number of weed stores, weed bakeries, weed cafes, smoking bars, hydro stores, grow supply stores, weed clothing companies, seed companies, breeders, glass blowers, 5x5 tent manufacturers, souvenir/poster/novelty item makers, tourist shops, tourist traps, etc. Can a 16-year-old be a cashier in any of them? Will you have to be 21 to even enter? Will under-21 employees at California medical dispensaries be laid off? Will there be a push to allow anyone 18-years-old or older to be able to legally purchase/smoke marijuana?
Will California become the largest importer of fertilizers? HID lighting? Will lightbulb/ballast manufacturers have increasing sales? Will it to be lawful to sell grow equipment, seeds, marijuana, marijuana products, smoking/vaporizing equipment door to door? Will any California weed companies grow large enough that they'll produce all of their growing equipment in-house? Will California weed companies buy/lease equipment factories in China or start their own?
Where are the weed stores allowed to buy their weed from? Can a medical dispensary and recreational business be located in the same building? Share the same counter? Use the same supplier? If someone shows their medical card will they be subject to a lower tax rate in combination outlets? Will medical/retail weed prices be the same? Will weed prices go down? Will weed companies/stores engage in price fixing? If a city applies a higher tax to recreational marijuana, will purely medical dispensaries be subject to that higher tax as well? Will many current medical dispensaries just change their sign and become retail weed stores? Will people be allowed to form and sell out of co-ops?
Will every city and county in California approve retail weed stores? Will there still be black markets in California? Will some buyers stay loyal to their former marijuana dealers? Will retail weed stores be English-only? Will owners/operators be allowed to speak any foreign language? Will niche stores spring up among various demographic groups? Will there be zoning limits on how close an indoor cannabis growing facility can be located to other structures? Size limits of retail weed stores? How about the distance between grow areas and retail weed stores? How about distances between homegrows and schools, churches, etc? How about zoning limits on outdoor marijuana farms? Will there be a limit on how many acres they can be? Will there be restrictions on how it can be harvested? Will female plants only be allowed to grow in certain areas? How about male plants? Will all male plants be culled? Will they be sold to breeders? Destroyed? Made into paper? Will the paper be required to have under a certain THC content? Where can cannabis products not made from bud be sold? Will non-marijuana crops be allowed to grow in the same building or field as marijuana? Will marijuana be allowed to be processed in the same facility as non-marijuana? Will there be requirements on fences and security systems for commercial grows? Will felons be allowed to work at weed farms/factories/stores? People previously imprisoned for marijuana-related offenses? Parolees? People on probation? Prisoners on work release? Will prisons allow commercial marijuana cultivation onsite using low-wage prison labor?
It won't be legal to transport over one ounce of "personal consumption" cannabis. Can a city change that? What if a caregiver transports over one ounce of medical marijuana to a dispensary? How about a trafficker claiming to be a caregiver? Can one apartment tenant share two ounces with his next door neighbor, but only if he makes two trips? You could never have over one ounce of "personal consumption" weed in a vehicle. What about medical weed in a vehicle? Will people have to show proof that recreational cannabis was bought legally? If you're found in possession of under an ounce will you have to show your weed store receipt to prove you bought it legally to avoid a citation? Will you have to provide evidence you are a homegrower? What qualifies as evidence? What if a truck driver has one ounce on him and a passenger also has one ounce on him? Can people grow in vehicles? What if a guy's car is his residence? What if a commercial truck driver has one ounce on him in his truck and lives out of his truck and sleeps on a bed in the cab? Do tents on private property count as a residence? What about grow ops in motor homes? Trailers? Trailer parks? What about marijuana growing along the freeway? In sidewalks? On parking strips? In parks?
How many times can someone buy one ounce at the weed store in a day? Where do they have to leave it before they can buy again? Can they walk in, buy an oz, give it someone outside, repeat? Can people buy one ounce daily as long as they store it all at home? Can weed stores sell cuttings? Will weed stores be able to sell cuttings that weigh over one ounce since they couldn't be transported? Can weed stores sell pollen? Seeds? How does weed have to be presented in weed stores? Behind glass counters? In glass jars? Will THC percentage have to be displayed by strains? Can weed stores operate out of malls? Suites? Skyscrapers?
Will anyone and everyone try to buy low in California and sell high in other US states? Are drug gangs going to employ buyers to buy weed in one ounce increments and pool it together for mules to transport and sell out of state? If five people on a Greyhound bus to Vegas each have one ounce of legally purchased weed in their own luggage, is the driver liable? Will Greyhound allow weed on their buses in California? Will public transit in California allow each passenger to have up to one ounce on their person? One ounce among all passengers? No weed on any buses or trolleys? Will public transit allow stoned passengers to ride? Will drug gangs buy up or start their own bus companies?
In July Congress passed S.258 which makes it unlawful for anyone 18+ to make or distribute a Schedule I substance (like marijuana) combined with a candy product or marketed/packaged to look like a candy product. Do sugar or other sweeteners qualify as a candy product and would weed bakeries be affected? Do artificial sweeteners count as a candy product? Can someone make marijuana flavored or THC-containing chewing gum? Spreads? Pastes? Gels? Lozenges? Drops? Cubes of butter? Teas? Will soft drink manufacturers, snack food makers, or ice cream makers be allowed to use marijuana in their products? Can someone make cannabis "chew" and sell it in tins or pouches? Will any food company be allowed to use marijuana in their products? Where can such products be sold? Does a THC spray count as a food or drug product? Will cannabutter be sellable in grocery stores? Will any restaurant be allowed to cook with marijuana? Will street vendors be allowed to cook with marijuana?
Will head shops be able to sell weed? Will customers be able to mention marijuana in head shops? Will weed stores be able to also sell smoking equipment and supplies, vaporizers, vaporizer accessories, grow books, growing supplies, detox kits, hash, hash oil, hash making equipment, extracts, pastes, gels, bhang, tea, candy, snacks, soft drinks, packaged food, scales, baggies, lighters, torches, legal drugs, adult videos, adult sex toys, comics, zines, as well as rooms for smoking on the premises? What about online sales? Will weed stores be able to have try-before-you-buy taste testing? Will customers be legally allowed to smoke or vape inside weed stores in front of weed store counters? Will customers be allowed to touch and smell product before they buy? Will head shops be allowed to sell gas masks, diving helmets, spaced suits, smoke domes or other self-contained breathing equipment? Can they perform on-site suit inflation?
Will there be regular as well as organically grown weed? Where can it be sold? Will cities allow weed farmers' markets? Will Whole Foods stock marijuana? Will Walmart stock marijuana? 7/11? Gas stations? Will there be limits on the THC content or weight of weed sold in gas stations or other businesses? Will there be weed vending machines? Will weed vending machines only be allowed inside/in front of certain businesses? Weed automats? Will you be able to know where your weed comes from? Will weed have to be sold with a UPC? Where do you put a UPC on weed? Will loose weed be illegal to sell over the counter? Will joints/blunts be sold in packs/cartons? Will it be legal to sell a pack/carton of blunts/joints containing various strains? Will you be able to buy joints a la carte? Will there be limits on commercial joint/blunt sizes/shapes? Could a weed store sell one ounce blunts? A dozen joint roses? Will buds be vacuum packed? Will weed be sold in packages with RFID tags? What about the manufacture/sale of bud pellets pressed into various shapes and sizes? Bud within gelcaps inside a simulation prescription bottle?
Will a law enforcement presence be required at every weed store? Will law enforcement attach GPS trackers to vehicles leaving weed stores if a driver or passenger is seen leaving with a large package? Will police use infrared scanners to detect homegrows over the legal limit? Will weed stores be required to have barred windows? Security guards? Alarm systems? Outdoor ID checks? Video surveillance? Will local governments require online streaming video surveillance in every commercial grow or retail weed store? Will retail weed store customers be targeted by anti-corporate activists? Will any weed store found to be in the slightest violation be busted? Will weed stores that comply with California state and county and city law be busted by Feds anyway?
Will commercial weed growers or weed stores be able to vaporize marijuana and store/sell the vapor in containers? Will only certain container materials be allowed? Gas cylinders? Steel cartridges similar to CO2 cartridges? Bags? Balloons? Aluminum cans? Beer bottles? Will vapor containers have size limits? Will there be pressure requirements? Can weed stores sell vapor balloons? Will helium be unusable in them? Will it be illegal to pop vapor balloons in public? Will vaporizing/smoking in public be allowed if the user is wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus? Will the United States Department of Transportation oversee transportation of high pressure vapor cylinders? Will containers only be allowed to contain the vapor from 1 oz of marijuana? Will weed stores be allowed to sell vapor bags that would hold the vapor from over 1 oz of marijuana? Will weed stores be allowed to sell home vapor storage systems? Home gas cylinder systems? Will transport of over 1 oz of vapor be illegal? Will it be lawful to bring or puncture vapor bags at concerts, fairs, festivals, or other crowded areas? Will it be lawful to manufacture/convert/sell plug-in air fresheners or timed misters containing cannabis smoke or vapor? What about aerosol or atomizer sprayers? Liquids for use in such devices? Will it be lawful to operate a vapor bar? One where customers bring their own product for vaporization? Can a vaping/smoking bar also be an oxygen bar? Can a smoking club or bar or indoor concert employ women or use a machine to blow smoke contained in bubbles? Will someone invent a reliable THC breathalyzer? Will it be used by cops and will there be legal THC driving limits? Will there be a large market for marijuana detection systems? Sniffers? Instant blood tests?
Will the statewide California tobacco smoking ban in all enclosed workplaces also apply to cannabis? Will cannabis smoking only be allowed in workplaces with five or less employees and if all workers consent and if no minors are allowed inside? Will cannabis smoking be allowed in private smoking lounges? Bars? Restaurants? Clubs? Casinos? Conference rooms? Indoor conventions halls? Hotel/motel rooms? Art classes? Tattoo parlors? Truck cabs and tractors? Employee breakrooms? Warehouses with over 10K sq ft and 20 or less fulltime employees? Weed factories? Outdoor dining areas? Within 20 ft of public buildings or bus stops? Parks? Trails? Sidewalks? Streets? Beaches? Will cannabis smoking only be legal in private residences? Any private business? Private property? What about vaporizing in all of the above? Will public vaporizing be lawful anywhere? Will it be legal to carry weed in California parks? National parks in California? Will marijuana smoking/vaping be allowed on employee smoke breaks?
Will there be weed stores with drive-though windows? Will there be over-21 weed movie theaters that sell weed and allow smoking/vaping on the premises? BYOW? Will strip clubs be able to sell weed and/or allow smoking/vaping on the premises? Other sexually oriented businesses? Can someone operate a weed bed-n-breakfast? Will motels/hotels allow cannabis smoking or vaporizing in their rooms? Will restaurants have smoking/non-smoking/marijuana smoking/vaporizing sections? Will someone be able to run a marijuana botanical garden? Golf resorts with marijuana forests? What about marijuana theme-party stores? Marijuana theme-weddings? The manufacture/sale of fireworks related to marijuana?
If Propositon 19 passes, will it later be seen as ceding power to corporations? As a step backwards? Will it create Big Weed? Will Big Weed be demonized like Big Tobacco? When's the last time non-shareholders and non-politicians and non-addicts praised Big Tobacco? Will there be lawsuits against Big Weed? Will existing agricultural corporations take over marijuana in California? Will existing pharmaceutical companies take over? Will existing corporations avoid cannabis production, distribution, and sales altogether in order to avoid federal lawsuits? Will Prop19 create "black market corporations" in California operating illegally under federal law?
Will Prop 19 create a Big Weed lobby in DC? Will Big Weed become political? Will corporations who make the biggest campaign contributions or have the best political ties get the grow contracts? Will cannabis corporations run political ads supporting/opposing political candidates? Will it be impossible to get rid of cannabis corporations once they start wielding political influence and buying politicians? After Prop19 passes, will it be seen as giving up what some consider a sacred plant over to corporate control with a singular goal of profit, expansion, and positive quarterly reports? Will people regret a new labyrinth of rules? Will people resent a new corporate drug pusher? Will people resent being incarcerated for years and then local governments getting in on the action, while people still get incarcerated? Will Big Pharma create and patent new medicines derived from cannabis? Will people smoking certain strains be infringing on those patents?
Will people be happy buying corporate weed from AgraMed or other corporations? Will there be conspiracy theories where the public thinks corporations are selling marijuana to them or putting something in it to make the public stupid or docile or gullible enough to buy other products? Will corporate cannabis be a boon to capitalism and consumerism? Will existing companies swallow up start-up weed companies? Will the number of weed companies eventually get smaller and smaller in California as they are bought up by larger companies? Will it be lawful to operate a weedbank where people can deposit/withdraw weed? Will weed act as a currency in certain localities? Will investment banks be allowed to give loans to weed companies? Where will weed companies be able to get loans? Will banks giving loans to weed stores or commercial grows be flagged for potential money laundering?
Will a commercial weed company ever have an initial public offering? Will marijuana be bought and sold as a commodity on stock exchanges? Will it be traded in bushels? Will contracts for bushels be bought and sold? Will people be able to buy stock in weed companies? Will derivatives based on marijuana be allowed? Will global investors, criminal organizations, or foreign states be able to invest in California weed companies? Will betting on marijuana related issues be allowed in California? Will marijuana lotteries be allowed? Will marijuana promotions be legal? Buy a car and get one free ounce of marijuana? Will any billionaires or millionaires become angel investors in the commercial marijuana industry? Will the amount of millionaires in California increase? Will marijuana become California's #1 export?
Will weed production affect food production in California? Will weed be more profitable to farm in California than other crops such as oranges? Will the weed industry take over other sectors of the Californy economy by GDP? Will the need for more land lead to deforestation? Will it be legal to plant marijuana forests and designate them national parks or wildlife refuges? Will marijuana be allowed to grow legally in national parks or wildlife refuges? Will it be legal to feed cattle marijuana? Sell marijuana milk? Instead of Kobe beef, Kush beef? Will it be lawful to give marijuana to an animal? Will videos of Californians giving marijuana to animals or pets flood YouTube? What would happen legally if someone blew marijuana smoke in a minor's face?
Will the passage of Prop19 create an ideological schism in the national legalization movement? Will many people think that California settled on Prop 19? Soldout? What environmental impact will industrial weed farming have? Would environmentalists or anti-corporate activists ever sabotage a weed company? Would someone ever sabotage a commercial grower with mold or mildew, by breaking lights, by altering nutrient reservoirs or soil conditions? Would competitors sabotage rival weed stores with mold or mildew? Will someone engineer a virus or disease that attacks the cannabis plant? Will corporatization of cannabis inspire a Weed Is Murder or Free The Weed movement among biocentrists or deep ecologists, fighting for plant rights? Will mechanical harvesters be sabotaged so cannabis could grow freely under the sun? Will someone want to marry a cannabis plant? You know there's gonna be that guy.
Will cities allow cannabis churches in their communities? Will there be a rise in new cannabis cults, new age religions, or self-proclaimed gurus? Is the concept of cannabis spirituality diametrically opposed to cannabis corporatization? Has anyone ever felt spiritual after buying something from a corporation?
Will corporatization of marijuana create potential public health problems such as foodborne illnesses? Will sanitation be ignored as long as the cannabis is burned when consumed? Could there be any E. coli outbreaks related to commercially grown marijuana? Could nearby cattle or pig ranches contaminate irrigation water near outdoor marijuana fields? Could marijuana field workers introduce diseases onto crops through unsanitary handling practices? Could mechanical harvesters introduce petroleum products onto crops or soil? Could mold or mildew or pesticides on commercially grown marijuana pose lung problems? Could commercial curing processes introduce pathogens? Will there ever be any weed recalls? Will any commercial growers use nicotine as a pesticide on cannabis crops? Will commercial growers be allowed to combine marijuana with nicotine or other chemicals and sell it?
Will Prop 19 affect pregnant women in any way? Fetuses? Will secondhand marijuana smoke pose a risk to anyone? Will Prop 19 lead to an increase of cannabis research grants? Will colleges begin offering new courses related to marijuana? New degrees?
How much will usage rise? How many tons of marijuana will California produce in the first year after Proposition 19 passes? How many pounds of marijuana will California consume in the first year after Proposition 19 passes? How much the next year? How about usage in America as a whole? How much will usage rise in surrounding states? Will everyone in California be stoned all the time? Will Californians eat more fast food? Will obesity rates go up? Will certain fast food chains open more stores in California? Will everyone in certain cities be stoned all the time? Will stoned texting become a big problem on roads? Will Proposition 19 make pot uncool? Will the public say that corporations or the government took all the fun out of it? If marijuana use becomes mainstream and lame, will harder illegal drugs become the new cool thing to do? Will people who used pot before Prop 19 passes look down on users who started after Prop 19 passed? Will employees/buyers of corporate weed be disdained, spit on, attacked by purists as traitors or sellouts? Will there be protests/picketing with signs saying "Just Say No To Corporate Weed"? What events will weed companies be allowed to sponsor? How can that sponsorship be displayed?
If Proposition 19 passes, how will tobacco usage in California be affected? How will alcohol usage in California be affected? Will weed affect tobacco prices? Will criminal organizations or the DEA drop or fog defoliants or herbicides on commercial outdoor marijuana grows? Will commercial growers themselves use herbicides on their marijuana crops to control weeds? Will rival companies or law enforcement or moles or monkeywrenchers introduce male pollen onto sensimilla crops, perhaps by airplane or ventilation systems? Will all large-scale outdoor marijuana farms naturally produce pollinated females? Will this leave a demand for sensimilla on the black market? Will commercial weed be looked down upon as "that seedy shit"? Will homegrowers who are employed on weed farms or in weed factories accidentally or perhaps intentionally introduce male pollen onto sensimilla crops? Will indoor weed factory employees be required to wear cleanroom suits to prevent accidental fertilization by male pollen? How often will employees steal seeds or cuttings? If an employee is stealing weed or seeds or cuttings and is discovered, will they just be fired or will other state/federal laws apply?
Will people be allowed to carry up to one ounce of weed in California airports? Will the TSA ramp up screening for weed in California airports? Will obviously stoned passengers be allowed on commercial flights leaving California? Will California airports allow cannabis smoking/vaping bars? Will pilots be allowed to enter them? Will bus tours be able to enter California and take people to various shops or country weederies, as long as there is no weed on the bus when it leaves California (or as long as no weed is every carried on the bus)? Will limos or cabs allows marijuana smoking/vaporizing in the back?
What if a guy gets pulled over for speeding on the way to Nevada, 3 miles from the border and admits to there being 10 lbs of weed in the trunk. Does the oz possession limit no longer apply to him because he claims he "harvested it for personal consumption"? Does the possession limit not apply to him because he's not carrying those 10lbs on his person? What if he also has a gun in the car? Is he in violation of the law simply because he's transporting over one ounce of weed? What if he claims he's a medical grower delivering to a medical dispensary in Nevada (or California) and is a caregiver and shows his MMJ card? What if a homeowner with a 5x5 grow has a gun in the house? Will people with concealed carry permits be allowed to bring firearms into weed stores or onto weed farms/factories?
Is letting each city and county decide its own laws meant to encourage people to support Proposition 19 or is it meant to generate chaos so that statewide uniform regulation will be enacted? Will a website have to be set up explaining the varying laws from city to city? Will the varying laws create pockets of black market opportunities? Will police departments be stressed by a societal sea change? If Proposition 19 passes, can it be reversed and if so how soon? If it is reversed, will it hurt the chances of other future initiatives in California or initiatives in other states?
Will weed prices drop? How much money will local governments be able to collect in taxes and fees? Will any tax money be collectible seeing as how buying/selling/possessing marijuana is still against federal law? Will a drop in price affect the amount cities can collect in taxes? If cities put tax rates too high, will people just buy on the untaxed black market?
Will Proposition 19 create jobs? What will be the fasting growing jobs if Proposition 19 passes? Weed store cashiers, growing supply stores, electricians, botanists, budtenders, budtrimmers, budpickers, glass blowers, seed companies, snack food distributors, bakers, seed patent offices, weed lawyers, weed lawfirms, in-home grow experts, smugglers based in California, drug gangs, drug cartels, interstate bus companies/drivers, global corporations, Big Agro, Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, Big Chemical, fertilizer makers, large-scale growers, breeders, THC analysis companies, genetic engineering labs, gene sequencing labs, drug test makers, detox kit makers, police, prison guards, SWAT team members, DEA agents, fire-prevention companies, firefighters, weed store/farm/factory inspectors?
Proposition 19 won't legalize marijuana. Possession and transport over one ounce will still be illegal. Possession under one ounce has only been a $100 fine for years in California. Every transaction over one ounce is still black market. How often do drug cartels transport under one ounce now? How much of each cartels' profits come from selling under one ounce within California alone? If someone wants to buy more than one ounce, who will be selling it?
Proposition 19 does nothing regarding prohibition in other states. Weed will be legal to grow and buy in California, yet be illegal in surrounding states. A black market will still exist. Drug cartels might no longer have to worry about smuggling marijuana into California from Mexico or Canada. Will smuggling from Mexico into Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico increase? Will smuggling from California to Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona dramatically increase? Will smuggling from retail weed cities to non-retail weed cities increase?
Will drug violence along the Mexican border shift to the US states bordering California as gangs/cartels fight over turf? Will California become a safe haven for marijuana growing/distributing? Will Los Angeles become the #1 hard drug hub in North America? How long until the first stabbing or shooting near a weed store? How often will weed stores be robbed? How often will homegrowers be robbed? How long before the first burglary of a major commercial grow facility? Will there be arson of commercial weed facilities? Will there be wildfires due to gangs torching corporate fields? Will gangs employ rippers to steal from corporate fields? How often will people be robbed on the street for their legally purchased weed? Will people currently imprisoned for growing under one ounce be released? Will there be prison riots as people incarcerated for marijuana crimes get angry over their non-release? Will marijuana be considered contraband in prisons? Will public marijuana smoking be illegal statewide? Will vaporizing in public be lawful? What if people carry smoking/vaping equipment in brown paper bags?
Will previously law abiding citizens start buying low in California and selling high in other US states in order to capitalize on Proposition 19? Will out-of-state trafficking dramatically increase? Will stopping out-of-state shipments fall largely upon California law enforcement, state officers in surrounding states at the borderline, or federal agents? Will permanent checkpoints be set up on all major roads leaving California? Will criminal organizations burglarize weed stores? Kill growers? Take over businesses? Create protection rackets? Hijack commercial weed shipments? Fight over drug turf in California and elsewhere?
Will Proposition 19 cripple drug cartels? Will cartels smuggle less marijuana from Mexico to California? Will Proposition 19 only affect marijuana shipments from the Tijuana cartel? Will other cartels be largely unaffected? I've read that the Beltran-Levya cartel also has territory in California and the Gulf cartel uses Los Angeles as a major distribution hub. Will LA become an even bigger global distribution hub? Will drug cartels increase other criminal activity? Will cartels give up marijuana smuggling into the US altogether? Will cartels increase their efforts on smuggling from California into Nevada and Oregon and Arizona? Will they prefer car, truck, motorcycle, plane, tunnel, bus, or something else? Will there be cartel massacres within California or surrounding states?
Will smuggling out of California on ships increase? Will inspection of ships leaving California increase? Will inspection of ships entering other countries increase? Will California export more marijuana to foreign countries and islands? Will cartels operate commercial grows in California for plane/ship/submarine distribution worldwide? Will there be turf wars over ports? Will existing gangs or cartels bribe people in commercial grows to alter production numbers and redirect shipments? Will corporate weed be reported as ruined or destroyed but end up on the black market? Will workers in commercial grows form their own drug gangs to steal product for resale in black markets? How will cities/counties know that all of the marijuana produced by a company is being sold only in retail stores in-state?
Can California expect a new wave of immigrants from Mexico, other US states, or worldwide? Will 2010 be remembered as the start of a new California Green Rush? Will California become more known for Cannabis Valley than Silicon Valley? Will the population of California dramatically increase? Will there be weed shanty towns? Will comedy writers, musicians, artists relocate to California? Will drug tourism dramatically increase? Will tourism bring much needed money into California's economy? Will drug tourism lead to an increase in certain areas of crime?
Will drug tourism in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the world go down if Prop19 passes? Will the High Times Cannabis Cup be permanently relocated to California? Will a San Francisco Cannabis Cup begin? How long after Proposition 19 passes will the first cannabis cup be held in California? Will cities ban or limit the number of public weed gatherings that can take place?
Proposition 19 isn't going to end the war on drugs. It won't even end marijuana prohibition. There are 478 cities and 58 counties in California and they'll each get to decide whether to tax and sell pot commercially. Unless every city approves retail sales, there will still be black markets in California. If Prop19 passes will less people be imprisoned for marijuana-related crimes? People will only be able to possess up to one ounce under Proposition 19, but that's already not an arrestable offense in California. People possessing over one ounce are arrested now. After Prop19 they will still be arrested. People selling on the black market are arrested now. After Prop19 they will still be arrested. Will less homegrowers go to prison? If they sold before they could have ended up in prison and if they sell after Prop19, they may still end up in prison. If they give someone more than one ounce they may still end up in prison. Will less people be imprisoned for homegrowing? How many homegrowers in California who only get high on their own supply, don't sell, and who grow in under 25 sq ft go to prison now? Will arrests for out-of-state trafficking go up? I guess that depends on law enforcement border control. Will arrests for inner-state trafficking go up? Will arrests in other states for trafficking out of California go up?
Will homegrowers be able to sell to weed stores? Will homegrowers or gangs or cartels sell to minors since retail weed stores won't? Will gangs corner the market on sales to those under 21? Or will minors be able to get the weed they need by stealing from their parents' personal grows? Will homegrower parents be required to put locks on their grow rooms? Will corporate weed or companies like AgraMed put mom and pop growers out of business? Will corporations flood the market with cheap weed and then when they've put competitors out of business raise the price?
If Proposition 19 passes, will 18 to 20-year-olds be allowed to legally consume medical cannabis? What if a 21-year-old non-medical cardholder hands an 18-year-old medical cardholder a bag of medical weed? What if a 25-year-old medical cardholder dispensary cashier sells an 18-year-old medical cardholder a bag of medical weed? Will medical users who smoke in their home be arrested if their children live with them? What about vaporizing in the same space as a minor? What about smoking/vaping in the same space as a pet? What if a mom publicly admits to giving her autistic child marijuana? What if it turns out neither has a doctor's recommendation? Will users interpret Prop 19 one way and cops/judges another way? Will bribes to law enforcement, attorneys, and local officials and contributions to politicians increase? Will Feds crack down even harder on California? Will Feds continue to enforce federal drug laws and raid commercial ops they deem in violation of the Controlled Substances Act? Will bugging/wiretapping of commercial weed facilities become commonplace? Will weed store owners be harassed, followed, their phones wiretapped, their residences bugged?
Will Proposition 19 endanger the status of medical marijuana in California or nationwide? Will pharmaceutical companies be allowed to breed their own strains? Will they be able to advertise their strains on television in California? Will marijuana advertisements be acceptable anywhere? In niche magazines, on the radio, on TV, on billboards, signs, banners, graffiti, posters, plush joint mascots on street corners? What restrictions will be placed on signage and logos outside weed stores/grow facilities? Will images of marijuana leaves be banned in public?
Will cheap California weed flood every other US state? Will weed prices drop in Reno and Las Vegas? Will prices stay the same on the east coast? Will selling on the east coast become more profitable due to profit margins on cheap Cali weed? Will an ounce in California cost less than a medical eighth in other states? Will that affect medical dispensaries out-of-state? Will medical dispensaries out-of-state be forced to illegally import from California to compete with black market prices in their own state? Will they have to sell their self-grown weed for less?
Will Oakland have a natural monopoly if Proposition 19 passes? Will its licensing system set the trend for the entire state? How much will people who work in industrial weed factories make? How much will people picking weed on farms make? Will outdoor weed farms employ mainly illegal immigrant laborers? Will companies ship in illegal immigrants much like slaughterhouses in the south do? Will weed farms/factories provide health insurance? How will the mandate to purchase health insurance interact with the effects of Proposition 19? Will there be a spike in emergency room visits? Traffic accidents? Traffic accidents among 21 to 25-year-old drivers? Workplace accidents? Workplace/college absenteeism?
Will unemployment in California go down? Will unemployment in certain areas go up? Will there be an increase in foreclosures among people currently growing and selling marijuana as the legal price drops? Will Humboldt County or Mendocino County go through a recession? Marijuana is one of the biggest cash crops in America. If people are unemployed they can always grow & sell marijuana to make ends meet. If marijuana production by corporations becomes legal, then what? "Look, you can always get a job at the weed farm or processing factory making minimum wage. You should be grateful they're giving you a job."
Will the demand for feminized seeds increase due to corporate buying? Will global seedbanks see a spike in sales until California establishes legal seedbanks? Will global seedbanks suffer as seed prices plummet in California? Will it still be illegal to import seeds into California from elsewhere? Will it be legal to operate a seed company in California? Will they be allowed to patent strains? Will people be allowed to patent specific cannabis terpenes? Will seedbanks sue growers for patent infringement? Will gene sequencing of all cannabis strains be lawful in California? Will genetic engineering of cannabis be outlawed? Will there be free reign? Will corporations genetically engineer female plants that can't be pollinated? With bigger yield? Shorter flowering time? With certain aromas or flavors? Will they engineer other plants to contain THCA synthase? Will a corporation create a strain dubbed "Frankenweed" by critics? Will corporations only grow weed with over a certain percentage of THC in order to make hash or extracts? Will there be a THC limit on weed for commercial production/sale? Will someone produce an injectable THC liquid? How long before Monsanto creates a transgenic Roundup-resistant cannabis strain? Will farmers/growers be sued for keeping certain seeds for next season? Will there be lawsuits over growers growing breeders' seeds without permission? Will monkeywrenchers steal seeds from corporations and give them away?
Will only retail weed stores be allowed to possess scales and not for sale? Will scales in homegrowers' residences or vehicles be seen as evidence of intent to sell? Will someone be arrested if a used pipe or other smoking/vaping equipment is found in their vehicle? What would happen if cops are called to a residence and their are 10 people there having a party and cops find 5 oz of weed sitting on a table which was brought by 5 different people and the weed is in 5 separate baggies? What if it's all laying on the table together in one big pile? What if a 20-year-old is there?
If Prop 19 passes will existing users use more? Will there be more new users? Will homegrowers sell to their friends? Will homegrowers sell in black markets in California or out-of-state? Will homegrowers still be competing with drug gangs/cartels for black market sales? Will black market prices change in relation to legal prices? Will many people find out they suck at growing?
Will it be lawful to have a grow specialist come to your house and construct a grow for you as your guest? What if he brings seeds that came from outside California? Will housecall grow specialists make customers responsible for obtaining their own seeds? Will weed stores be able to sell seeds? Will it be legal to send cannabis seeds in the mail within California? Will it be lawful to transport cannabis seeds in California? Will all mail packages leaving California be X-rayed? There are over 2500 strains of cannabis. What if the taste/experience of a retail strain is not the same as the black market/homegrown strain? What if someone is growing a strain not native to California? Is that evidence of illegally importing a foreign strain? How does one determine if a strain is now native to California? Will people be able to lawfully possess/transport more than one ounce of seeds? By vehicle? By mail? Will all strains be legal for homegrowing? Commercial production/sale? Will certain strains be outlawed? Will certain seed strains require identifiable markers on the seeds or packages they come in? What if a commercial grower obtained seeds or cuttings from a medical grower but the medical grower obtained seeds from out of state?
Will it be lawful to have a grow doctor come to your house and diagnose/treat your plants' nutrient deficiencies, mold/mildew problems, or pests, and give tips, tricks on increasing yield, etc? Where can a grow specialist/grow doctor lawfully advertise his services? Will they need to be licensed by a city or state? Will grow workshops/conferences be legal? Can they only be held in certain buildings? Will private businesses be able to decide whether to allow smoking on the premises? Will cannabis colleges like Oaksterdam University be lawful statewide? If someone purchases a large amount of grow supplies (more than seems necessary for a 5x5 grow), will they be flagged or arrested? Will people need a certain license to purchase grow supplies in bulk? Will Internet grow/head shops licensed in California be subject to random searches? Will it be lawful for a weed store in California to sell bongs and pipes or any products over the Internet?
What sort of product names will be allowed to be trademarked? Will anyone be allowed to make a registered trademarks out of the words "hydro", "sensimilla", "weed", "grass", "dank", "nug", "Cali", "bud", "chronic", "420", etc? Will the names of weed sold in stores be untrademarkable? If one weed store sells marijuana labeled as one name, and another weed store sells different marijuana labeled as the same name, can the first store sue the second to stop? Will there be an official cannabis strain naming authority in California? Will all marijuana sold in weed stores be tested to ensure that it is in fact the strain the seller says it is? Will it be lawful to make/sell home test kits to detect THC in purchased marijuana, detect strains, detect THC in urine/hair, etc?
Will people be able to spin the name or slogan of an existing product and use it for their weed business or strain? What about the public display of parodies of existing product logos altered to reflect marijuana in some way, similar to Wacky Packages? Will that count as fair use? What about display online? Will we see weed strain trading cards? Marijuana videogames? Browser games on social networks? Stoner trading cards? Will marijuana-themed commercial logo parodies or trading cards be banned under S.258 as marketing to children? What about colored joints or blunts packaged like crayons? What about colors on packaging? Will we see new patent applications for growing methods, smoking products, vaporizers, etc?
Will certain strains become very common in weed stores? Early flowering strains? Autoflowering strains? Will prices for various strains vary widely? Will there be an explosion of websites listing legal weed prices in California much like sites list gas prices today? Will magazines and awards set trends? Will celebrities set trends? Will people start plugging various strains by various companies in ads? Can we expect ads that bash other strains? Will there be an increase in weed magazines and awards? Will there ever be a televised award show called The Weedies? Will commercial weed be inferior or superior to homegrown weed? Will people be allowed to possess more than one ounce in their residence as long as they claim they harvested it or if they also have plants in their residence (perhaps that they recently bought). What if they claim they bought it on different days at legal stores?
Will cartels take advantage of legal grow limits per residence? Pool people together, apartments, parcels of land? Will gangs and cartels control certain territories? Will gangs or cartels buy/rob from homegrowers, employ homegrowers, rob/loot/set fire to rival weed stores or factories, take over weed factories, bribe truckers at commercial companies to ruin or lose shipments or give them a cut? Will cartels invest in or operate weed factories and weed stores? Will criminal organizations run weed factories? Weed farms? Weed stores? Head shops? How can you prevent criminal organizations from doing that? Will criminal organizations sell harder more profitable drugs out of weed stores? If less cartel weed is purchased on the black market in cities that have approved retail weed outlets, will cartels simply open, own and operate their own legal retail weed stores there? Will cartels use retail weed stores as fronts to fund the rest of their illegal activities or launder money? Will they be able to make a significant percentage of their profits perfectly legal (or appear perfectly legal)?
Will Proposition 19 put cartel California guerrilla growers out of work? Will cartels stop growing in California national parks? Will they continue in attempts to avoid permits, regulatory fees, licenses, insurance requirements, and electrical costs for commercial grows? Will cartels sell guerrilla grown weed to retail stores? In cities that have approved the existence of retail weed stores, will any weed purchased there be cartel grown? Will cartels sell it through retail weed stores they operate themselves? Will cartels funnel it through commercial growers?
Will cartel mules legally buy weed in California for transport out-of-state? Will mules be supplied by cartel stores? Will drug gangs attempt to corner the market on particular strains? Will cartels buy out the entire stock of certain strains in rival stores? Will cartels or gangs be able to manipulate strain supplies day to day? Will corporations?
Transporting over one ounce will still be illegal and transporting it over the California border into surrounding US states will still be illegal, but cartels and drug gangs deal with that already. If cartels can legally operate commercial weed factories in California, will they be able to transport more or less weed out of California into other states? In weed factories or commercial weed fields, will the low-paid workers be predominantly Spanish-speaking? Will there be a rise in new independent drug rings? Will it be easy to plant cartel moles in non-cartel factories? Will cartels be able to siphon off product, money, or get them into legal trouble? Will cartels sabotage competitors and their crops/seedlines?
Homegrowers might buy less weed on the black market. But not if a strain they want is only available on the black market. Or if they buy weed, seeds, or cuttings from their homegrower friends or online. In California will there be more legal "sharing"/trading/bartering for goods and services (and not just weed to weed)? Will Craigslist allow weed sales/trades? Will eBay allow weed listings? Will seedbay allow non-seed marijuana listings?
Will people living in California near the Oregon border travel across the border to buy their weed there to avoid paying sales tax or weed tax? Will crime rates go up? Will crime rates go down? Will violence go down? Will theft rise? Will motor vehicle theft rise? Will the number of meth labs rise? Will the price of heroin go up? Will hard drug use go down? Up? Will school shootings go down? Will pawnshops be allowed to buy/sell weed?
How will employers react? Can an employer refuse to hire someone based on the fact that they were seen entering a weed store or previously worked in one? Will people with certain professions be banned from ever using legal cannabis off the job? Will people be able to use food stamps to purchase weed?
How will it affect indoor and outdoor concerts in California? Outdoor festivals? Outdoor events? Sporting events? Extreme sport festivals? Street festivals? Will there be weed festivals? Cannabis talent shows? Marijuana beauty pageants? Will smoking contests be banned? Will the culture change in California?
How will the Internet change? Will Google allow people to mark favorite retail weed locations on Google maps and review them? Will Yelp allow reviews of weed stores? Will there be an explosion of strain/store review sites/blogs? Daily weed deal listings? Will Foursquare allow people to check in to weed stores? Will Facebook, Youtube, Twitter allow people to discuss marijuana use on their sites? Will videos of marijuana smoking/vaporizing in California be allowed on YouTube? On the TV news? Will such footage affect national legalization movements? Will people who live in California be able to legally order weed online? Will people in California attempt to sell weed online worldwide? Will home delivery be allowed? Weed on wheels?
Will adult film producers in California be able to lawfully make videos with on-screen marijuana use if everyone involved is 21+? Will they be able to sell those videos online? Air them on cable channels? Will it be illegal to view them outside of California? How about adult photoshoots involving marijuana use? Photoshoots available online? Will someone come out with Barely 420 Legal magazine? Cannabis snob magazines? Anti-Prop19 magazines or zines?
If Prop 19 passes, can we expect cover after cover of news magazines with marijuana on the cover? Possibly of a marijuana leaf shaking hands with a corporation? Can we expect tabloids to be full of celebrity opinions on marijuana and Prop 19? Can we expect a flood of news articles and books with titles like "How Marijuana Became Legal" "How Richard Lee Saved California" "How Prop 19 Went Wrong" "How NORML Sold Out" "How You Can Profit Off Prop 19" "Making Money In the New Gold Rush" "WeedWorld" "When Corporations Rule The Weed"? Will some marijuana book become the #1 seller on Amazon? Will cannabis entrepreneurs become celebrities? Will they appear on late night or daytime talk shows? Will guests on TV talk shows be allowed to smoke/vape marijuana while being interviewed? Will cooking shows based in California be allowed to air footage of cooking with marijuana? What kind of shows related to marijuana could be aired on TV? This Old Growhouse, Extreme Homegrow Makeover, Pimp My Grow, The Strain Hunter, Lifestyles of the Stoned and Famous, MTV Grows, Dank'd, Ace of Baked, Best Weed Ever, Cannabis Wars, $420 A Day, Good Weeds, Guy Off the Hookah, Have Pot Will Travel, Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, The Cypress Hill/Kottonmouth Kings Smile Time Variety Hour? Will High Times start a TV network? Will there be multiple cable channels dedicated to marijuana programming? Weed Network, FuctNews, Chillum, The Strain Discovery Channel, 420, THC, CBG, CBD, TokeTV, WeedyGuide, DIY Grow Network, JointVenture?
If someone comes up with an idea or invention under the influence of corporate weed, will corporations seek to obtain partial ownership of the idea or co-author status? Will someone invent/convert a vehicle that runs on weed or weed biodiesel or seed oil? Can cannabis seed oil be sold in any store? Will there be infomercials on how inventors can market/profit from their weed ideas?
If Proposition 19 passes, will all the people who voted for it be able to live with all the potential consequences? Will society breakdown? Will everyone live in peace and love and harmony? Will people who voted against Proposition 19 commit vandalism or violence against weed stores, commercial grow ops, or people leaving weed stores? If Proposition 19 fails, will it be more difficult to collect signatures for another initiative? If Proposition 19 passes will it turn out to be a disaster and stall legalization efforts in other states? Will the rest of America look to California for what not to do? If Proposition 19 passes, will users face serious stigma, perhaps nationally?
Will marijuana really be treated like alcohol? People are allowed to buy and possess more than one ounce of alcohol. Can alcohol and marijuana be sold in the same place? Can a bar with a liquor license also obtain a weed license or vice versa? Will it be illegal to sell marijuana on certain days, say, election days? Will retail weed stores have set hours of operation? Can a brewery use cannabis in their products? Will the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control be in charge of regulating alcohol products made with cannabis? Will that also apply to tinctures? Will California create a California Department of Cannabis Control? Will the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives become the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis, Firearms and Explosives? Will people be allowed to "fortify" weak marijuana like people fortify Salvia Divinorum now? 10x, 20x, 40x? Will any agency oversee fortified marijuana? Will products with over 90% THC be legal? What if a commercial weed store laces their product with illegal drugs? Will there be an increase of psychotic episodes with high THC products? Is it possible that more people in California will be diagnosed with schizophrenia?
Who will count the votes for Proposition 19? Stalin said those who vote decide nothing, those who count the votes decide everything. Will there be a paper trail? Is there a chance that Proposition 19 will pass but the media will report that it failed? If Proposition 19 doesn't pass will there be theories that the California government or federal government or mainstream media wouldn't allow it? If Proposition 19 does pass, will there be theories that corporate interests were behind it?
If Prop 19 passes, how will the mainstream media spin it? "Here we go..." "Finally!" "What have we done" "Noone knows how this new social experiment will play out..." "How will it affect you" "What does it mean for..." "In a time of economic crisis, California has chosen to" "Hidden dangers..."? Will it be used to drum up ratings with nightly scare stories? If Proposition 19 passes, how soon will there be a petition going around to collect signatures to reverse it? Will it be considered a failed experiment? If certain demographics overwhelmingly vote in favor of Prop19, how will that be spun by the media on television and radio and on the Internet? How will it be used as an issue by pundits on TV, radio, and the Internet? How long will Prop 19 remain in the daily news cycle? How will political parties, politicians, pundits spin it if Prop 19 passes?
If Proposition 19 fails, how will the mainstream media spin it? As just one particular flawed initiative? A momentum killer? By claiming that stoners must have "spaced the date"? That California "came to their senses?" "Stepped away from the brink"? "Hit the breaks"? That California "sobered up"? Will they spin a failure as a "return to sanity"? Will such descriptions harm future initiatives in and out of state?
Before the November election, will there be a flurry of anti-Prop19 ads on television? What's most likely to scare voters into voting no? Will Prop19 supporters have a response? Who's most likely to bankroll anti-Prop19 ads? Will there be a flurry of pro-Prop19 ads by corporate interests? Who's most likely to pay for pro-Prop19 ads? Will Proposition 19 lead to similar initiatives in other US states much like Proposition 215 did years ago? If Prop19 passes, how will politics change in California? If a political party comes out in strong opposition to/favor of to Prop19 before the vote, will they win votes among certain demographics? How will politics change in America? How will Proposition 19 affect television and movies coming out of California? News broadcasts? Talk shows? Will the news report on a new marijuana study every week? Will the news report on the effects in California every day, week?
If Proposition 19 passes, how soon will things change in California? Is it possible that looting/riots could occur on the day Proposition 19 passes/fails? Massive public smoking gatherings/demonstrations? Arrests at gatherings/demonstrations? Will it be challenged in court? Will there be a legal limbo for a few years? Will entrepreneurs jump the gun and possibly be incarcerated? If Prop 19 passes, in hindsight will it be seen as a vote for freedom or a vote for corporate profits?
The following questions are from this blog post post by me.
If Proposition 19 passes, will it the media say that California has voted to "open Pandora's box" or "open the floodgates"?
If the public votes in favor of Proposition 19, how will the California State Legislature respond? California has 58 counties: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba County. How will each county respond? California has 480 incorporated municipalities. If Proposition 19 passes, how soon after will cities/counties pass new legislation related to it? What if a municipal government disagrees with its county government? California has one consolidated city-county, San Francisco. Is it true that county ordinances do not apply to cities unless they are ratified by each individual city? How will Proposition 19 affect the 527 named islands off the California coast?
Will the passage of Proposition 19 initiate a cascade of cannabis legalization nationwide or worldwide? Will the passage of Proposition 19 unleash a legal nightmare? If Proposition 19 passes will it make it to the Supreme Court of California? The Supreme Court of the United States? What will the Office of National Drug Control Policy be able to do? The United States Congress? If Proposition 19 passes, what will the President of the United States be able to do? If Proposition 19 passes under the first black president, how will that be spun in the media and on the Internet?
How much money will local police departments lose in asset forfeitures? Will police departments continue to seize property despite Proposition 19? What will police do if a person calls 911 because someone stole their weed or robbed their homegrow? How will police respond to weed store robberies, burglaries, and theft? Can weed store owners have firearms for defense on site? Will California have to create a new separate police force to respond to the effects of Proposition 19? Will pawnshops be able to buy/sell growing equipment or seeds? How will insurance companies react to Proposition 19 passing? The headquarters of D.A.R.E. America are in Inglewood, California. If Propositon 19 passes, will DARE change their curriculum in California or nationwide, and if so how?
Will only California residents be able to legally buy weed in weed stores? Will weed stores or commercial grow facilities allow photography inside? Cellphones? Smartphones? Who would show their face in a weed store? Can weed stores plaster their walls with nug porn? Can weed stores have on display marijuana plants/trees with thick trunks? Can weed stores have on display marijuana plants that customers pick from themselves? Can customers share weed inside of weed stores? Will some weed stores be overwhelmed by customers? Will there be mob looting? Will certain weed stores often be out of stock? Will demand outpace supply?
Will weed photography or marijuana macro photography undergo a boom? Can a store legally sell a fog machine that uses cannabis oil or that actually vaporizes? Will stores be allowed to sell ornamental cannabis plants? Will people be allowed to legally display ornamental cannabis plants in public? Will landscapers be allowed to plant cannabis in existing home/business/city gardens or parking strips? Can home and garden stores legally sell pre-made marijuana growing kits/structures? What if they're marketed towards tomato growers?
What's the most/the least a city will tax commercial marijuana? Will there be a set monetary tax per gram, per ounce, per joint, per blunt, per pack, per bud? A percentage of the retail price? Will home gardens be taxed?
Can a real estate company sell a house with a grow room already set up? What if plants are already growing in it? What kind of personal vertical grows will be developed? Ones with towers, columns, spiral staircases, scaffolding? Can a homeowner or real estate company or landlord sell/rent a house/apartment that contains multiple harvests of homegrown weed? When people move out of a house or apartment, will they be required to take all of their weed with them? If someone owns a mansion or estate with multiple rooms or multiple outbuildings, can they grow 5x5 in each one? Can a repo company repossess growing equipment or plants or buds?
Which stores in California will do the most business? Will smoking lounges/weed stores near the Los Angeles International Airport do the most business? Will private shuttles take people from LAX to nearby weed stores/smoking lounges? Will pilots and air traffic controllers be banned from using marijuana off duty? How will Proposition 19 affect the stock market? Which stocks will go up or down? Will Proposition 19 lead to any Mexican cartel bosses becoming billionaires? Will it lead to any person becoming a millionaire or billionaire?
Will rich people hire in-house weed gardeners? Will rich people hire multiple personal gardeners around a city or area who will give/share most or all of their harvest to their employer? Will rich people hire marijuana shoppers? Can a celebrity carry one ounce of marijuana on their person, and each bodyguard or person in their entourage also carry one ounce? Will they have to ride in separate vehicles? Will rich people employ weed carriers? Will stoned celebrities be commonly shown on TMZ? What if someone is carrying brownies or other edibles made with one ounce of marijuana but the edibles weigh over one ounce? How will agents and PR companies manage celebrities who are out with their marijuana use?
How will the passage of Proposition 19 affect traffic within California? Traffic entering California? Could the passage of Proposition 19 affect air quality, smog, or visibility? If Prop 19 passes, will people who voted against Proposition 19 move out of Calfornia as they tire of its effects? Will California see an increase in spaced out people, drivers, workers, pedestrians? Will it be legal for drivers or passengers to smoke or vaporize in stationary or moving vehicles? Vehicles with tinted windows? Windowless vans? How will Proposition 19 affect elderly drivers and drivers under 25? Will rental car companies in California ban marijuana smoking/vaping in their vehicles? Will all of their rental cars smell like marijuana smoke anyway? Can someone lawfully make or sell an electric vehicle that emits marijuana smoke/vapor exhaust? Would cannabis vapor exhaust pass a California emissions test? Can someone lawfully manufacture a vehicle with a built in vaporizer? Can someone lawfully make/sell a cannabis vaporizer with a DC connector or that hooks up to a DC connector in an automobile cigarette lighter receptacle? Will cars manufactured in California after the passage of Proposition 19 omit cigarette lighter receptacles to discourage use as a joint or blunt lighter?
Can commercial truckers legally transport over 1 oz of weed? If a commercial truck carrying a weed shipment overturns on the freeway, will there be a special quick response team? Looting? What about marijuana field fires next to roads and highways? If commercial transport of over 1 oz is unlawful, will all commercial weed stores be located in the same building as commercial grows? Can a weed store employee lawfully carry over 1 oz of marijuana at a time? If possession/transport of over 1 oz of marijuana is illegal, will all commercial buds over that size have to be cut? Will commercial growers legally be allowed to grow Big Bud or Big Bud-related strains? If commercial growers/sellers are limited to selling buds under 1 oz, will there be a black market for buds over 1 oz? Will transport of marijuana (possibly over 1 oz) by balloons, kites, gliders, RC planes/copters/boats, UAVs, drones, robots, and automatons in-state and out-of-state increase? What if someone drops joints out of a balloon or plane onto a community? Will marijuana be parachuted in or out of state, manned or unmanned?
Will weed stores be able to offer free samples? Will there be free marijuana edibles samples in grocery stores? Will it be lawful to promote a company, store, product, club, show, or event by giving away free marijuana or marijuana products? Can a weed store offer free seeds with the purchase of certain products? Can any store? Will weed stores have "buy one get one free" offers? How about "buy one ounce get one free for your friend" offers? Will grocery stores be allowed to sell weed? Will it have to be sold next to alcohol or far away from alcohol? Where tobacco is sold? In a different aisle than tobacco but presented similarly to tobacco? Will barbershops and hair salons be able to legally sell weed? Existing tobacco smoke shops?
Will people be able to legally sell used smoking/vaping equipment at yard sales? Flea markets? Can they donate them to goodwill or secondhand stores? Can goodwill or secondhand stores sell smoking/vaping equipment? What about the sale of products at yard sales or markets which include a free gift of marijuana? What about raffles or contests with marijuana prizes? What about the sale of any new or used good that includes a free gift of marijuana or marijuana product?
How will the music industry change, the rap industry, comedy clubs, jazz clubs? Will there be an explosion of jam bands in California? Will the cannabis industry employ illegal immigrants who smoke that evil marihuana?
Can someone lawfully operate a cannabis catering company? Will there be a limit to the events they can legally cater? Will they be limited to 1 oz total of marijuana or 1 oz total of THC in their products? Could weed delivery guys lawfully transport over 1 oz? Can a pizza place also sell weed? Can they use weed as a pizza topping? Can the delivery guy deliver pizza and weed at the same time? Can any place that sells food offer weed on their menu? Who can lawfully make/sell marijuana-infused pastries? Cakes? Pies? Fillings? Jams? Frostings? Soups? Salads? Sandwiches? Cooking oils? Cooking sprays? Perfumes? Colognes? Incense? Candles? Scented stickers? Soaps? Shampoos? Lotions? Creams? Lip balm? Lipstick? Beauty products? Lubes? THC-dipped condoms and sex toys? Glass dildo pipes? Dildo bongs? Smokable/edible panties?
Can people legally consume marijuana in campgrounds? Can people legally grow or buy or consume marijuana on military bases? In ski resorts? Will it be lawful to smoke while cycling, skateboarding, rollerblading, scootering? What about consumption on stage, like in a play or musical? Does vaporizing or inhaling from a compressed vapor cylinder underwater at a beach or pool count as smoking in public? At outdoor festivals will sale/consumption of marijuana be limited to weed gardens? If smoking or vaping in public is banned, can someone be arrested based on a digital photo or video of themselves engaging in such activity? Photos or videos found online? Someone smoking from a bong in front of their house on Google Street View? How will vindictive exes use Proposition 19 to their advantage?
Will the THC content of commercial strains gradually rise? Will a commercial strain ever reach 30% THC content? 50%? Over time, THC degrades into CBN. Will commercial weed have sell-by dates? Will older stocks be sold on clearance? Will the usage of older marijuana contribute to accidents? Will there be a market for "aged" marijuana? Cannabis cured in certain environments or containers? Sprayed with scents or flavorings? Will California laboratories be able to legally synthesize THC and sell it? Can someone lawfully possess up to one ounce of pure THC crystal?
Will companies or people be allowed to make THC concentrates? Will homegrowers be allowed to make as much THC extract as they possibly can? Will there be an increase in deaths related to solvents used by homegrowers to make hash oil? Will the sale of butane increase as more people attempt to make hash oil themselves? Can weed stores sell 1 oz bottles of hash oil? On necklaces? What about hash oil in a glass-like form? Hash oil frozen into various shapes? Instruction guides/books on making hash oil? Refridgerated 1 oz (or smaller) pure THC rocks? How much will 1 oz pure THC rocks sell for? Can weed stores sell kief, kief screens/sieves, resin bricks, pollen presses? Do possession limits apply to male pollen since it contains no THC?
Will people throw or give weed to animals in zoos, parks, wildlife refuges, anywhere? Will veterinarians see an increase in pets brought in for marijuana-related incidents? If Proposition 19 passes, will any human or animal die from an overdose of THC? If some 60lb Labrador retrievers each eat 3/5th oz of pure THC, half will die. If some 6lb chihuahuas each eat 1.4g of pure THC, half will die. Will there be an increase in marijuana-related emergency room visits by people?
Will California employers no longer be eligible to receive federal government grants or contracts greater than $100,000? Will employers no longer be able to drug test for marijuana? Would an employer be unable to take any disciplinary action against an employee unless their marijuana use "actually impaired" employee performance? Will employers be unable to fire stoned workers until they prove their performance has been impaired? Can an employee fired for marijuana use sue their employer if they can prove they only used a month or week ago?
Will K through University schools in California lose as much as $9.4 billion in federal funding? How will Proposition 19 affect test scores in California? College rankings? Will colleges and universities allow smoking/vaping/growing in dorms or classrooms?
How will Proposition 19 affect holidays? Can we expect marijuana decorations in commercial stores prior to April 20th? Plastic marijuana plants? Marijuana turkey stuffing? Will there be marijuana Christmas trees? What if a minor trick-or-treating on Halloween comes home with a marijuana edible? Can someone lawfully make/sell Halloween costumes related to marijuana in some way?
If Proposition 19 passes, how many incidents will there be per year of minors bringing marijuana products to school? What about incidents of minors selling? If a minor brings marijuana edibles to school, what kind of charges will parents be facing? Is cooking with marijuana or a marijuana product in the space of a minor a crime? Is orally consuming a marijuana product in the space of a minor a crime?
Will there be an increase in incidents of people putting lit joints/blunts/pipes or automatic smokers/vaporizers/misters inside air conditioning or heating ducts? Will blowing marijuana smoke or vapor with a mechanical fan be outlawed in certain areas? What about with handheld fans? Will Proposition 19 trigger any incidents of mass hysteria? What urban legends will develop after the passage of Proposition 19?
Where can marijuana related jewelry legally be sold? Can people make pipe necklaces? Stash necklaces or rings? What existing commercial products can be legally converted into pipes/bongs and sold commercially? On what commercial products can a marijuana leaf be displayed? Where can leaf displaying products be sold? Will there be a marijuana fashion industry? What will marijuana fashion be like? Can someone legally make a dress out of a marijuana leaves? What if they're male leaves? Can someone lawfully make/sell cannabis seed husk pillows? Bud filled pillows or bedding? Marijuana inhalers? Suppositories? Can there be weed spas, saunas, yoga, acupuncture, earcandling, massage therapy? Can weed stores offer any of those in the same building? Can alternative medicine or healing centers sell marijuana, allow smoking on premises?
Will existing corporate clothing manufacturers use hemp in their products? Will clothing factories be relocated to California in order to make hemp products? Where can hemp clothing be sold? Hemp lingerie? What kind of products can lawfully be made from hemp? Backpacks? Dog collars? Will hemp jeans outsell denim jeans in California? Where can hemp rope be sold? What business sectors will allow the use of hemp rope? Can people manufacture hemp flags? Hemp books? Cannabis-based inks? Where can hemp books be sold? Can libraries stock hemp books? What kind of marijuana-related books and movies can libraries carry? Will it be lawful to burn hemp products in public? Hemp flags? Hemp books?
Will cannabis cultivar names be regulated by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants and have to be registered with an International Cultivar Registration Authority and have to conform to the rules of the International Society for Horticultural Science Commission for Nomenclature and Cultivar Registration? How will Proposition 19 interact with plant breeders' rights? Will a US office for cannabis be established in California where breeders can submit seeds and be granted exclusive rights for 20 years and be able to sue to enforce their rights and recover damages from infringement? Can they sue companies as well as homegrowers? Will the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 apply to cannabis strains in California, giving breeders 20 years of exclusive control over new, distinct, uniform, and stable cannabis plants? To be eligible for a certificate under the PVPA a plant variety must be new, meaning that propagating or harvested material has not been sold or otherwise disposed of for purposes of exploitation for more than one year in the US or more than four years in any foreign jurisdiction. Will every cannabis seed in the US qualify as a new strain since it hasn't been legally sold for more than one year in the US? Will any seed sold by a foreign seedbank since 2006 qualify as a new strain? Will any strain 5 years or older be fair game for any company or homegrower? Will no cannabis breeders be eligible for plant breeders' rights since cannabis is a Schedule IV drug under the international treaty Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs? Will any California company be able to exclusively profit from any specific cannabis strain?
Is a cannabis strain considered intellectual property? What about landraces? What about strains created pre-Prop19? Can cannabinoids be patented? Can THC to CBD ratios be patented? There are over 2500 strains of cannabis. Will weed companies start crossing them, creating an explosion of new strains? Will they cross all of them, producing over 6.2 million strains? Will someone release a Strain Bible? Will a company be started that analyzes strain lineages and genealogies in labs? Will there be niche companies that focus on specific cannabis strains? Niche stores? Niche growers? Niche magazines? Niche awards? Niche TV shows? Niche web shows? Niche websites? Will companies make shirts or other apparel for specific cannabis strains? Will supplies for every strain be nearly unlimited?
Will commercially sold marijuana cigarettes require filters? What's the cheapest price a 1 gram joint will be sold for individually or in 24 or 28-packs? What about 1.5 gram joints individually or in 18-packs? What will be the most expensive price? Can loose weed be sold in empty glass bottles or empty liquor bottles? Bongs? Gift wrapped? Will there be weed knockoffs? Which agency will ensure that commercially sold cannabis does not contain adulterants? How can consumers be sure that weed companies are not engaging in price gouging, price fixing, or dividing territories? How many fly by night weed stores will be set up? How will the Better Business Bureau be affected?
Will the commercial market be split between people in it for the love of money and people in it for the love of the plant? What will be the first weed company to gross over $100 million in revenue? $500 million? $1 billion? Will weed companies with the biggest revenue be targeted for raids by the federal government? Will the federal government or DEA only go against smaller growers since the bigger ones can buy political influence? Will they only go after the largest companies? Will the federal government wage war on California? Will the federal government use aerials UAVs in California for reconnaissance and surveillance? Will wiretapping all over California increase? If the federal government cracks down hard on California's commercial weed industry, will there be a movement by California to secede?
If Proposition 19 passes, how will it be seen by the green movement, environmentalists, anti consumerism proponents, etc? Will opposers have massive public protests? Would anyone commit suicide to protest after the passage of Proposition 19? Will there be a schism between "old skool" and corporate cannabis culture? Will people complain that marijuana became too corporate or too popular or too mainstream? Will Proposition 19 be seen as a corporate takeover of cannabis culture? Another attempt to co-opt or appropriate counter-culture for profit? If marijuana is no longer seen as counter-cultural or rebellious, which illegal drug will people flock to? Will there be vandalism of commercial weed stores/facilities?
Will existing marijuana awards be split into homegrown/seed company/corporate categories? Will people complain that cannabis award shows became "too corporate"? Will award shows be televised? Shown on YouTube? Shown on the Interent? Which stores can sell DVDs of award shows? Will we see a new subculture that breeds for the worst genetics and worst phenotypes, in order to fuck with or sabotage commercial weed companies? Will we see awards for worst commercially sold cannabis strain, like the Golden Raspberry Awards -- maybe called The Golden Blueberry Awards, The Ditchies, The Brickies, The Schwaggys?
Can a cannabis church legally have more than one ounce of marijuana inside their building and also allow smoking on the premises? Will it be protected by First Amendment rights guaranteeing freedom of religion? Which buildings can be designated cannabis churches? Can a home or apartment in a residential area be designed a cannabis church meetinghouse? In Islam, the use of cannabis is generally forbidden. How will Muslims in California react to the passage of Proposition 19? Will Rastas, Hindus, sadhus, sufis, Ethiopian Zion Coptics, and others be able to possess more than one ounce of marijuana according to freedom of religion under the First Amendment? Will Rastafaris see Prop 19 as giving their sacrament over to control by Babylon? Is Proposition 19 what Peter Tosh had in mind when he sang "Legalize it"?
Will growing or usage of marijuana be allowed in trailers on movie sets? Will actors or extras be allowed to be stoned on film? Will TV shows provide weed in green rooms? Will people under the influence of marijuana be allowed to appear or perform on live TV or on stage? Will there be weed reality shows? So You Think You Can Grow, Red Eye For the Straight Guy, Project Weedway, How I Met Your Grower, Big Brother: Hotbox Edition, The Ultimate Toker, Smokeout, Takhashy's Castle? What about marijuana use on existing reality shows located in California? Can a reality show be filmed in a weed store, bakery, confectionary, commercial growing facility, farm? Will there be TV infomercials for highdeas? Can cartoons or animated shows that depict marijuana use be lawfully aired in California? Who determines if an animated show is a cartoon or not? Can we expect a flood of primetime TV specials? Can we expect multiple documentary or fiction films based on Proposition 19? Will there be a rise in professional marijuana critics? Which media companies will feature their work? What about shows on the Internet?
Will cannabis seed oil be produced on a mass scale? Where can it legally be sold? Who can legally use it to cook with and where? Will it ever be produced on such a scale that a cannabis seed oil spill on the freeway is a possibility? Will there ever be cannabis seed oil pipelines?
How will hermaphrodite plants affect commercial growing facilities? Will weed stores sell seeded product for less than sensimilla? Will weed stores be required to separate all seed from their buds? Will weed stores willingly separate all seed from their buds to prevent free homegrowing?
What's the most powerful gun a personal homegrower can have at home? Is a homegrower within their right to kill home intruders? Can a homegrower legally set boobytraps on their private property to protect outdoor grows?
If Proposition 19 passes, will violent crime go down? Will murders in California decrease? Will Proposition 19 affect divorce or separation rates? AA meetings, NA meetings? Prescription drug usage? Will existing black market drug dealers transition to harder drugs? Will existing homegrowers transition to growing shrooms or cooking meth? How long until the first shooting inside a cannabis store or facility? Will theft of weed vending machines be a problem? Will there be a rise in date rape? Will hit-and-run accidents increase in California? Will drownings increase? Animals attacking people under the influence? How prevalent will shoplifting be at weed stores? Will seed theft be a crime? How often will weed stores have their windows broken? Will there be videos of people damaging or destroying marijuana plants on YouTube? Breaking pipes or bongs? Dissecting commercial smoking or vaping equipment? Will damage to other people's plants or growing equipment be considered property damage? Can it be taken to small claims court? Will there be drive-by shootings of weed stores or homegrowers? Will there be weed store or commercial growing facility bombings? Will anyone crash a plane into a weed facility? Will any cannabis entrepreneurs be assassinated?
Will marijuana still be a banned substance for athletes in California? Will cannabis specific sports be invented? Sports where participants will be required to consume marijuana beforehand? Will they be televised or shown on the Internet? Will there be a Canna Bowl? What about world records related to marijuana? What about world records broken under the influence of marijuana?
Will cities allow cannabis conventions or expos? Will colleges allow marijuana clubs? What kind of roadside attractions related to marijuana will be allowed? Can someone build a marijuana themed amusement park? Will marijuana museums or traveling exhibits be allowed? What about historic marijuana farms? Cannabis historical reenactments? Will there be a High Times dinner theater chain or High Times resorts? Will California or California cities advertise weedcations, potcations, vapecations? Will it be lawful to manufacture/sell Proposition 19 commemorative coins, plates, flags, mugs, spoons, collectibles, pipes, smoking/vaping equipment? Will the sale of 420 watt power supplies or 420 watt bulbs increase? 430 watt power supplies/bulbs marketed as 420 watt? If Proposition 19 passes, what kind of marijuana related apps will be allowed on smartphones? Will home glassware parties be lawful? Marijuana multi-level marketing companies? Will marijuana parades be allowed? Will there be any trample deaths at marijuana events?
Can bars with liquor licenses use cannabis extracts as add-ins or mixers in drinks? Only if they also have a weed license? Can stores sell buds submerged in glass bottles full of alcohol? Will people be allowed to legally homebrew with marijuana?
Will cannabis research increase by universities and corporations and private companies? If California passes Proposition 19, will it change the legal status of CB1 and CB2 receptor agonists/antagonists? Will it be lawful to manufacture a cannabinoid superagonist? Will a company be allowed to apply CB1 selective antagonists to marijuana products to eliminate psychoactive effects or counteract appetite stimulation? If marijuana cures cancer, what did Bill Hicks and Dennis Hopper and Bob Marley die from?
How many people in California used marijuana in the past month? If Propositon 19 passes, how will that number change over time? How many people in California currently don't use marijuana because it's illegal? How many currently don't use marijuana simply because they're dry? If Proposition 19 passes, would anyone in California ever be dry ever again? What about current and future usage in surrounding states? Will the use of Federal Reserve Notes to purchase marijuana be outlawed? Will local currencies spring up, perhaps backed by and redeemable in marijuana?
Will all cannabis waste have to be disposed of in California? Will it all be burned? Will new biomass plants be constructed in California specifically for cannabis? Can industrial cannabis waste be put on barges or transported out of state? How much cannabis green waste will end up in garbage cans, dumpsters, garbage trucks, and landfills? What about commercial cannabis packaging? Will all commercial cannabis packaging be required to be recyclable or made from recycled materials? Will waste cannabis plant matter be accepted by green waste facilities? How much fertilizer waste will go down the drain in California?
Why buy marijuana in a store when you can grow it for free at home? Why pay taxes on marijuana in a store when you can consume it tax free at home? Why grow marijuana at home when you can simply rip off someone's personal outdoor grow? Why buy marijuana in a store when you can just rob some grower's house? Why would teens buy marijuana from dealers when they could just rip off someone's personal outdoor grow or steal from their parents' grow? How often do people who grow their own tomatoes go to the store and buy tomatoes?
Will the homeless population of California increase? If a homeless person admits to growing marijuana, will they be imprisoned since they have no residence? If homeless people have no residence to legally grow in, will homeless people be the main customers at weed stores? If a homeless person lists a shelter as their residence, can they legally grow elsewhere? What distance outside a weed store can a homeless person legally panhandle at? Will it be lawful for homeless people to panhandle for weed? Will it be lawful for someone to give a homeless person weed? What if it turns out the homeless person is a minor? Will people have to check a homeless person's ID before giving them weed? How many homeless people carry ID? Will it be legal to busk for weed? Will it be legal to give buskers weed? If Proposition 19 passes, can someone be paid in weed? If Proposition 19 passes, consumption of cannabis by persons over 21 will be lawful in a "residence", which includes temporary dwellings on public property. Will it be lawful for homeless people to smoke in cardboard boxes on the street or elsewhere in tents?
There are nearly 100 Federal Indian reservations in California, over 100 federally recognized tribes, and about 40 Indian groups seeking federal recognition. According to the 2000 Census, there were over 220,000 American Indians living in California.(source) This map shows Indian reservations, rancherias, and colonies in California. If Proposition 19 passes, how will it apply to tribal lands and Indian reservations in California, or will it have no affect whatsoever? Can tribal councils come up with their own marijuana laws? Have American Indians always been able to legally grow marijuana on their reservations? If Indian reservations have no growspace limits, will corporate growers or criminals flock to them? Can Native Americans legally grow marijuana forests on tribal lands? Can tribes grow marijuana on their reservations for sale on and off the reservation? Would they have to pay county or city taxes, fees, licenses? Can Indian casinos legally grow/sell/make marijuana and marijuana accessories and allow smoking on site? Will Indian grown marijuana be sold alongside corporate marijuana in stores? If Proposition 19 fails, can Indian tribes grow or sell or consume marijuana (or allow outsiders to) on tribal lands and reservations anyway?
In unincorporated areas or census-designated places in California, will anyone be able to legally grow or sell as much as they want with no growspace limits? Will growing/selling in those areas be against the law? Will people living in such areas have to defer to county law? There are 469 census-designated places in California. What will the passage of Proposition 19 allow people to do in Cabazon, California which unincorporated in 1975?
Several lakes overlap California's border. Goose Lake is on the border between California and Oregon. Lake Tahoe is on the border between California and Nevada. Lake Havasu is on the border between California and Arizona. Will marijuana smuggling across lakes between California and Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona increase? Or will it be easier and simpler to smuggle across the California border on roadways? Can someone operate a weed store on the California shores of Lake Tahoe or Lake Havasu or Goose Lake? How close to the shore? What about weed stores on ships? Can people legally grow or consume marijuana on or in houseboats? Any other boats? Will there be an increase in boating accidents in California? There are two marinas on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. Will law enforcement increase interdiction efforts at those two marinas? If federal or Nevada law enforcement does lock down those two marinas, will Lake Tahoe smugglers simply head for other parts of the shoreline?
The California Department of Food and Agriculture along with county Agricultural Commissioners maintain over 63,000 detection traps statewide for exotic fruit flies. Federal and state quarantines protect against the entry of exotic pests which could damage California produce. There are 16 Border Protection Stations located on major highways entering California, operating under the authority of the California Food and Agricultural Code. If Proposition 19 is passed, will existing stations begin looking for pests and organisms that affect cannabis? Will temporary or permanent cannabis border protection stations or checkpoints be built on major roads leaving California and entering Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona in order to prevent smuggling?
Will smuggling into and selling in Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona be lucrative or will many residents of those states just drive to California to buy their weed? If Proposition 19 passes, will Weed, CA be an extremely popular drug tourist destination? Who will smuggle more marijuana out of California for sale, California residents or non-California residents? Will out-of-state residents mainly smuggle marijuana out for personal use or for sale? Will weed smuggled into surrounding states primarily be smuggled into further US states? Will California weed stores near the California state lines do the most business? Are California counties situated along the Oregon/Nevada/Arizona borders more likely to allow weed stores or not? Will weed stores in Calfornia border counties revitalize towns and communities? Will weed stores located near the borders of surrounding states allow cars with Oregon/Nevada/Arizona or other out-of-state license plates? Will they allow people to drive away with marijuana? Will police hang out at border stores and target cars with Oregon/Nevada/Arizona license plates? Will Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona lower speed limits on roads near the California border exiting California in order to set up speed traps in the hopes of interdicting marijuana and seizing vehicles?
Who will be dubbed California's "Prince of Pot" and end up in federal prison for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana like Marc Emery?
The following questions are from this blog post by me.
Tobacco products in the US carry health warnings on their packaging. Alcoholic beverage containers in the US carry Surgeon General's warnings on their packaging. Will legal marijuana sold in California carry health warnings, and if so, what will marijuana health warnings say, and can local governments create their own health warnings? Will health warnings only be displayed on packs of joints or blunts? If all marijuana sold must carry a health warning, will the sale of loose weed be banned, or be required to be sold in a container carrying a health warning, or be sold in a store displaying health warning signs? Will consumers acknowledge or dispute any health risks of smoking or using marijuana?
For years people have said "legalize it!" If Prop 19 passes, will it be as great as everyone imagined for all those years?
Can someone lawfully possess under one ounce of marijuana in multiple baggies, multiple containers, multiple joints? Will any of those qualify as possession with intent to sell? How many consumers in California will sell or give a commercial joint to a minor? Will mass produced commercial marijuana joints become the most used form of marijuana by minors in California? How many minors in California will be found in possession of commercial marijuana joints, or marijuana that was packaged in commercial marijuana joints?
Which venture capitalists/venture capitalism firms will invest in the legal California marijuana industry?
Will marijuana workers join or form unions? Will there be a statewide Calfornia marijuana workers union?
Will any marijuana monopolies develop in California?
Can passengers in stationary/moving vehicles lawfully use marijuana as long as the driver is not impaired? If a cop sees passengers in a moving vehicle using marijuana, will that be enough for him to pull the car over?
How will Proposition 19 affect Coachella and Burning Man?
Will marijuana be smuggled out of California on planes, helicopters, hot air balloons, or other aircraft? Can someone legally create a marijuana smoke-or-vapor-filled blimp? Will cannabis be dropped across state lines, or onto barges in the ocean, or into the Pacific? Will fishing vessels be a popular way to smuggle marijuana to Japan and other countries? Will inspections by the Los Angeles Port Police increase? Will the Los Angeles Port Police or other port police hire more officers? How often will underwater smuggling out of California occur? Will any tunnels be built under the California state line to facilitate smuggling? Will there be a movement to build a California border fence?
When a private jet enters California airspace, can the passengers legally light up?
Will it be legal to use marijuana in bathroom stalls?
Can a weed store sell vapor bags that contain cannabis vapor from two or more strains? Can a vapor bar legally vaporize two or more strains at once in a single vaporizer? Can a weed store sell joints or blunts that each contain marijuana from two or more strains? What can blunt wraps legally be made of? Will we see products like Blue Widow joints and Blue Widow deconstructed joints (which contain bud from Blue Widow's parents, Blueberry and White Widow)? What will be the maximum number of different strains that a single joint or blunt can legally contain? Could someone legally sell a one ounce blunt that contains bud from 28 different strains? 100 different strains? Will there be legal limits on the number of different strains that can be extracted and present in containers of oils, tincture, hashes, drops, or edibles? Will it be legal to consume hash oil, tinctures, drops, and other cannabis extracts in public or in private businesses? Can someone patent, trademark, or copyright vapor ratios or joint ratios (for example 1 part OG Kush, 1 part Super Silver Haze, 2 parts Strawberry Cough)? Will it be lawful to flash freeze marijuana buds, plants, seeds?
Will home and garden stores or nurseries be allowed to carry cannabis seeds, seedlings, or mature plants?
Can cannabis legally be used to make flour, pasta, bread, cake, cookies, chips, crackers, pretzels, donuts, bagels, gravy, sauces, glazes, pudding, granola bars, or italian ices, sorbets, popsicles, snow cones, granitas, gelatos, or other frozen desserts? Can someone legally sell deep fried marijuana or deep fried food made with marijuana? Does S.258 affect marijuana products that contain any sugar or other sweeteners? Will any marijuana products be required to carry nutrition facts, expiration dates, or sell-by dates?
Can ice cream trucks also sell weed? Will someone be able to lawfully operate a marijuana truck or WeedMobile for mobile sales, or a mobile headshop, or a mobile grow equipment vehicle? Will a local government enact a law or ordinance that allows for licenses for people or companies to transport over one ounce of marijuana and sell it out of a vehicle? Will there be limits on the other products they can sell out of the vehicle?
Will there be a restriction on various other products that weed stores will be allowed to sell?
Can we expect gift packages containing complete sets of High Times Cannabis Cup awards winners from the past decade and beyond? Complete lines of other cup winners? Can they be sold in California airports? Will they be a seasonal item that appears in stores before April 20th?
If Prop 19 passes, what will happen in California on April 20th, 2011?
Will old strains considered to be rare or no longer available, re-emerge commercially if Prop 19 passes?
Where can marijuana grinders and choppers, designer gravity bongs, designer roach clips, designer stash boxes, and weed diversion safes be sold? Will it be legal to transport diversion safes in vehicles? If a cop pulls someone over and discovers a diversion safe with under an ounce of marijuana in it, will the driver be charged with anything?
Will there be height or size requirements on bongs made/sold?
Will Proposition 19 allow local governments to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in their jurisdiction since many if not all dispensaries are commercial enterprises?
Will people be allowed to carry up to one ounce of weed on trains, including trains heading out of state, and can train passengers legally consume marijuana on trains?
If Proposition 19 passes, will weed stores be able to set up Facebook pages? Will minors be able to Friend them or Like them? Will weed stores be able to list prices and sales on Facebook or Twitter?
Can a California marijuana business set up an online store and accept online orders from California residents and ship to California residents? What kind of images or photographs or pictures or video or flash or HTML5 or content will they be allowed to display? Will minors be able to access the sites easily? Will users have to go through an extensive screening process or age verification or identity verification before being able to access the site?
Can a California company set up an online auction site specifically for person to person marijuana transactions? Will any local government or tribal council in California grant limited use marijuana sales licenses to sellers for such transactions, or perhaps allow a company to act as a some kind of broker or escrow service where a provider gives marijuana to the licensed broker, the broker accepts a donation from an interested party and keeps a commission, then gives the goods to the interested party, and donates money to the provider?
If Prop 19 passes, will there be an explosion of cybersquatting related to marijuana related domain names? Will California enact laws pertaining to the websites of weed stores and commercial growing companies? Will the United States Congress? What kind of online marketing can California marijuana businesses engage in? Can Calfornia marijuana businesses upload videos to Youtube, Google Video, or other online video sites? Will California marijuana businesses with a large online presence be targeted by the federal government?
Will it be legal to make/sell e-joints (electronic joints) or e-blunts (electronic blunts), much like e-cigarettes? Will there be laws on where they can be used? Can e-joints or e-blunts be used legally in public? Will it be legal to make/sell electronic bud changers (or hash, oil, tincture changers) which switch between strains for bongs or other devices? Will it be legal to make/sell cartridges for specific smoking/vaporizing devices? Will it be legal to make/sell USB devices or electronic storage drives shaped like marijuana leaves, joints, bongs, etc? An electronic device called a HotBox? Will it be legal to make/sell digital bongs or other smoking devices that connect to the Internet and send updates upon use? Will companies be allowed to sell marijuana themed computer casemods or equipment to perform them?
Will it be legal to make/sell a bong or pipe that looks like a firearm? Will it be legal to convert an existing firearm into a smoking device (a shotgun for example)? Will the sale of firearm smoking devices be limited to gun stores? Will there be limits on what legal pipes, bongs, and other smoking devices can be manufactured to look like? Will there be restrictions on smoking devices that perform additional functions? Can someone make/sell a cellphone that is also a vaporizer? Can someone make/sell an e-joint or vaporizer that plugs into a USB port or other port on a mobile electronic gadget or other computer device?
Will people in California applying for marijuana related patents or trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office be subject to federal prosecution?
Will it be legal to bring a gun into a weed store, marijuana bar, marijuana restaurant, or any business that sells marijuana products (including mobile businesses)?
Will there be an increase in 911 calls where people say someone stole their marijuana or growing equipment or is trying to break into their growhouse? Will police be able to do much about such theft? How often will police arrest the person who was robbed? What kind of 911 calls related to marijuana will be considered appropriate?
If Prop 19 passes, will it be legal for people to produce cannabis extracts and add them to other plant matter and sell it as potpourri or incense without a license?
Will companies be allowed to make/sell plastics derived from cannabis?
Will California residents who work for the United States Postal Service or other organizations that drug test be allowed to use legal marijuana when not at work? Any federal employees in California? People working for federally funded research and development centers in California? How about people employed or interning within the government of California or other state government agencies, departments, and commissions? Will employees in California have privacy rights regarding their cannabis usage when not at work? Will admitting to cannabis usage affect anyone's position in various organizations?
As of June 2010, the average retail price of electricity to consumers in California was $0.1551/kWh for the residential sector, $0.1498/kWh for the commercial sector, $0.1127/kWh for the industrial sector, $0.0839/kWh for the transportation sector, and $0.1441/kWh for all sectors. If Prop 19 passes and there is an increase in industrial growing and homegrowing using HID lighting, will power companies in California raise their rates to take advantage of the spike in power usage? Will they raise their rates to dissuade use or strengthen their infrastructure?
If Prop 19 passes, will the increase in industrial indoor cannabis production as well as homegrown indoor cannabis production, coupled with the popularization of electric vehicles, put a large strain on California's electrical infrastructure? Will increased electrical usage output more greenhouse gases or carbon into the atmosphere? What quantity of greenhouse emissions will be produced by electrical use by the indoor commercial marijuana industry or the indoor homegrow culture?
If Prop 19 passes, will cities and counties pass laws saying that homegrowers must have their indoor grow rooms inspected by a licensed professionals?
Can homegrowers legally burn waste cannabis plant matter in their yards? Will anyone make washing machine hash as described by Jorge Cervantes, but end up damaging their machine? Will anyone attempt it with a washing machine in a laundromat? If Prop 19 passes, will there be a large legal hash making industry in California? Will there also be a large underground hash making industry in California? Will commercial growers sell waste plant matter to hash making companies? Will it be legal to transport over one ounce of non-bud cannabis plant matter in California? Will the use of hash and other marijuana concentrates increase in California jails and prisons, and will it be evident by an increase in seized contraband?
How much more waste associated with marijuana growing will end up in landfills? Will any industrial wastewater end up in rivers, lakes, or groundwater? What about the effect of homegrow wastewater on water systems and water supplies?
If Prop 19 passes, will homegrowers without patient cards be able to sell their product to medical marijuana dispensaries? If Prop 19 passes, will dispensaries and collective stop buying product from patient members?
Will there be limits on how much marijuana can be bought by a customer daily in medical marijuana dispensaries? If there is no limit, will medical marijuana be priced higher than weed in legal weed stores to dissuade smuggling?
In October 2010, there was an incident on Falcon Lake on the US/Mexico border on the Rio Grande where Mexican pirates shot and killed a man jetskiing named David Hartley. The lead Mexican investigator in the case, police commander Rolando Armando Flores Villegas, was decapitated and his head was delivered in a suitcase to the Mexican military. If Prop 19 passes, will there be drug smuggling pirates on Lake Havasu and Lake Tahoe? Can we expect beheadings of California officers and detectives? Can we expect killings of people in California attempting to smuggle marijuana out of California, or people mistakenly believed to be smuggling and/or part of a rival organization?
If Prop 19 passes, what kind of lawsuits will be filed afterwards?
Will there be an increase in break-ins or thefts of cars that have marijuana and/or marijuana products inside? Will parking lots of weed stores be a popular spot for criminals?
If Prop 19 passes, eventually will California supply most of the cannabis consumed in the US, or possibly in the world? Years later will marijuana farming and/or marijuana product manufacturing be outsourced to low-wage or slave laborers in China or India?
How many substances can users combine with marijuana, and how many combinations of substances and 2,000 marijuana strains are there, and what effect will all of those combinations have on people?
Will companies be able to make/sell marijuana joints with menthol? Can a company lawfully use CYP inhibitors as an additive in their marijuana products? What additives can be used in the production of marijuana products? Will a company be allowed to purchase hashes, oils, tinctures, waxes, drops, or other cannabis concentrates and add them to their own products? Will a company be allowed to purchase hash oils wholesale in bulk and mix them all in any way they want? Will the Food and Drug Administration regulate marijuana products in California, or will local agencies perform that function?
If Prop 19 passes, will the security industry in California explode due to the security needs of marijuana businesses, with thousands and thousands of security contractors, ex-military, private military companies, and mercenaries entering California (including perhaps ex-members of the Mexican Armed Forces, possibly with ties to Mexican drug cartels, or security contractors with ties to any criminal organizations)?
Since Prop 19 claims intent to limit Health and Safety Code sections 11014.5 and 11364.5 relating to drug paraphernalia, does Prop 19 also legalize all drug pipes used in California, or provide a plausible cover story for possession of any and all drug pipes in California?
Will California companies be able to legally sell marijuana or marijuana products that were imported from foreign countries? What if the company selling the product didn't do the importing, someone else imported the product and the company purchased it from them for resale? If the sale of foreign cannabis imports is not allowed in California, will that also apply to imported cannabis seeds? If company in California is found to be selling imported cannabis seeds within California, will they simply have to pay a fine? What will happen if any of those seeds are found leaving California or found outside California?
Today is election day, and California voters will be voting on Prop 19 among other issues.
Here are all 1,500 questions about Prop 19 in a single post.
The following questions are from this blog post by me.
Will homegrowers be able to grow (and keep) as much as they can in 25 square feet every month? Will the 25 square feet limits be enacted statewide? Can it be grown in plain view of the public? Will there be any cities/counties where it will be illegal to grow at home? What if cops see a minor tending a homegrow? Will medical growers be restricted to 25 square feet? Will any recreational homegrowers/sellers use medical marijuana cards as an excuse to grow in spaces larger than 25 square feet? Does harvesting count as processing? Will gangs and cartels take advantage of legal grow limits? Will they hire/employ more homegrowers? Can someone have 5 lbs of purchased weed inside their house as long as they also buy some plants to make it look like they're a personal grower? Will possession limits apply to only bud or also leaves, stems, seeds? Will possession limits only apply to the percentage of psychoactive chemicals in a bag of marijuana?
Is "any harvest" some sort of unlimited loophole? Can someone convert a grain tower silo into a 5' W x 5' L x 50' H vertical grow op for "personal consumption"? A 5' diameter bush outside that's 12' tall? 25 single-cola 8' plants growing outside trimmed to each fit in its own one square foot area? Does the 25 square feet have to be in one single area? Could someone have two 2x2 grows? What if someone has a larger grow space than 25 square feet but there are less than 25 square feet of plants growing in it at the time? If someone owns multiple parcels of land, can they have 5x5 personal grows on each one? Can landowners subdivide existing land into smaller parcels to have more personal grow spaces? Can there be a grow on every level of an apartment fire escape? Will people convert entire floors of apartment buildings or motels into residential grow ops to compete with commercial growers? Will landlords pay tenants to grow in their apartments? Will people set up cubicles in loft apartments to take advantage of residence grow limits? Will people convert capsule hotels to take advantage of residence grow limits?
Will there be more indoor or outdoor industrial commercial growers? Will outdoor commercial growers use greenhouses more than open-air growing to prevent fertilization of female plants? Will indoor or outdoor industrial growers produce more? Will indoor or outdoor growers use pesticides? Will an increase in indoor homegrows and industrial grows increase the chance of blackouts? Will indoor commercial growers in certain areas be restricted to certain hours when they can turn their lights on to prevent blackouts? Will the power grid in California be able to handle the demand? Will California have to build more peaking power plants? Will there be restrictions on exhaust in commercial and home grows? Will exhaust systems no longer be needed in homegrows? Will a strong smell of marijuana near a residence no longer be probable cause for police? Will there be a public tipline set up to snitch on people? Will it be legal to burn stems and leaves and waste plant matter in power plants? Will there be a market for plant waste/cellulose? How can it be used? How can it be transported? How must commercial cannabis waste be disposed of? Will industrial growers burn their own waste? Sell it? Will cannabis stems and leaves become a major source of biomass? Can it be used to make biofuel? Fermented to make methanol?
Will there be an increase in electrical fires related to homegrows? Will fire departments have to hire more people to combat more electrical fires? Will there be special procedures in dealing with homegrow fires? Industrial marijuana fires? If a commercial crop is ruined somehow, how must the cannabis be disposed of? Will there be weed farm/factory inspectors? Will there be some sort of stamp of approval? Will it fall under FDA or USDA jurisdiction? Will the FDA have to approve cannabis products or will it be classified as an herb? Will the California Department of Public Health inspect retail weed stores?
If Proposition 19 passes I think there will be an explosion in the number of weed stores, weed bakeries, weed cafes, smoking bars, hydro stores, grow supply stores, weed clothing companies, seed companies, breeders, glass blowers, 5x5 tent manufacturers, souvenir/poster/novelty item makers, tourist shops, tourist traps, etc. Can a 16-year-old be a cashier in any of them? Will you have to be 21 to even enter? Will under-21 employees at California medical dispensaries be laid off? Will there be a push to allow anyone 18-years-old or older to be able to legally purchase/smoke marijuana?
Will California become the largest importer of fertilizers? HID lighting? Will lightbulb/ballast manufacturers have increasing sales? Will it to be lawful to sell grow equipment, seeds, marijuana, marijuana products, smoking/vaporizing equipment door to door? Will any California weed companies grow large enough that they'll produce all of their growing equipment in-house? Will California weed companies buy/lease equipment factories in China or start their own?
Where are the weed stores allowed to buy their weed from? Can a medical dispensary and recreational business be located in the same building? Share the same counter? Use the same supplier? If someone shows their medical card will they be subject to a lower tax rate in combination outlets? Will medical/retail weed prices be the same? Will weed prices go down? Will weed companies/stores engage in price fixing? If a city applies a higher tax to recreational marijuana, will purely medical dispensaries be subject to that higher tax as well? Will many current medical dispensaries just change their sign and become retail weed stores? Will people be allowed to form and sell out of co-ops?
Will every city and county in California approve retail weed stores? Will there still be black markets in California? Will some buyers stay loyal to their former marijuana dealers? Will retail weed stores be English-only? Will owners/operators be allowed to speak any foreign language? Will niche stores spring up among various demographic groups? Will there be zoning limits on how close an indoor cannabis growing facility can be located to other structures? Size limits of retail weed stores? How about the distance between grow areas and retail weed stores? How about distances between homegrows and schools, churches, etc? How about zoning limits on outdoor marijuana farms? Will there be a limit on how many acres they can be? Will there be restrictions on how it can be harvested? Will female plants only be allowed to grow in certain areas? How about male plants? Will all male plants be culled? Will they be sold to breeders? Destroyed? Made into paper? Will the paper be required to have under a certain THC content? Where can cannabis products not made from bud be sold? Will non-marijuana crops be allowed to grow in the same building or field as marijuana? Will marijuana be allowed to be processed in the same facility as non-marijuana? Will there be requirements on fences and security systems for commercial grows? Will felons be allowed to work at weed farms/factories/stores? People previously imprisoned for marijuana-related offenses? Parolees? People on probation? Prisoners on work release? Will prisons allow commercial marijuana cultivation onsite using low-wage prison labor?
It won't be legal to transport over one ounce of "personal consumption" cannabis. Can a city change that? What if a caregiver transports over one ounce of medical marijuana to a dispensary? How about a trafficker claiming to be a caregiver? Can one apartment tenant share two ounces with his next door neighbor, but only if he makes two trips? You could never have over one ounce of "personal consumption" weed in a vehicle. What about medical weed in a vehicle? Will people have to show proof that recreational cannabis was bought legally? If you're found in possession of under an ounce will you have to show your weed store receipt to prove you bought it legally to avoid a citation? Will you have to provide evidence you are a homegrower? What qualifies as evidence? What if a truck driver has one ounce on him and a passenger also has one ounce on him? Can people grow in vehicles? What if a guy's car is his residence? What if a commercial truck driver has one ounce on him in his truck and lives out of his truck and sleeps on a bed in the cab? Do tents on private property count as a residence? What about grow ops in motor homes? Trailers? Trailer parks? What about marijuana growing along the freeway? In sidewalks? On parking strips? In parks?
How many times can someone buy one ounce at the weed store in a day? Where do they have to leave it before they can buy again? Can they walk in, buy an oz, give it someone outside, repeat? Can people buy one ounce daily as long as they store it all at home? Can weed stores sell cuttings? Will weed stores be able to sell cuttings that weigh over one ounce since they couldn't be transported? Can weed stores sell pollen? Seeds? How does weed have to be presented in weed stores? Behind glass counters? In glass jars? Will THC percentage have to be displayed by strains? Can weed stores operate out of malls? Suites? Skyscrapers?
Will anyone and everyone try to buy low in California and sell high in other US states? Are drug gangs going to employ buyers to buy weed in one ounce increments and pool it together for mules to transport and sell out of state? If five people on a Greyhound bus to Vegas each have one ounce of legally purchased weed in their own luggage, is the driver liable? Will Greyhound allow weed on their buses in California? Will public transit in California allow each passenger to have up to one ounce on their person? One ounce among all passengers? No weed on any buses or trolleys? Will public transit allow stoned passengers to ride? Will drug gangs buy up or start their own bus companies?
In July Congress passed S.258 which makes it unlawful for anyone 18+ to make or distribute a Schedule I substance (like marijuana) combined with a candy product or marketed/packaged to look like a candy product. Do sugar or other sweeteners qualify as a candy product and would weed bakeries be affected? Do artificial sweeteners count as a candy product? Can someone make marijuana flavored or THC-containing chewing gum? Spreads? Pastes? Gels? Lozenges? Drops? Cubes of butter? Teas? Will soft drink manufacturers, snack food makers, or ice cream makers be allowed to use marijuana in their products? Can someone make cannabis "chew" and sell it in tins or pouches? Will any food company be allowed to use marijuana in their products? Where can such products be sold? Does a THC spray count as a food or drug product? Will cannabutter be sellable in grocery stores? Will any restaurant be allowed to cook with marijuana? Will street vendors be allowed to cook with marijuana?
Will head shops be able to sell weed? Will customers be able to mention marijuana in head shops? Will weed stores be able to also sell smoking equipment and supplies, vaporizers, vaporizer accessories, grow books, growing supplies, detox kits, hash, hash oil, hash making equipment, extracts, pastes, gels, bhang, tea, candy, snacks, soft drinks, packaged food, scales, baggies, lighters, torches, legal drugs, adult videos, adult sex toys, comics, zines, as well as rooms for smoking on the premises? What about online sales? Will weed stores be able to have try-before-you-buy taste testing? Will customers be legally allowed to smoke or vape inside weed stores in front of weed store counters? Will customers be allowed to touch and smell product before they buy? Will head shops be allowed to sell gas masks, diving helmets, spaced suits, smoke domes or other self-contained breathing equipment? Can they perform on-site suit inflation?
Will there be regular as well as organically grown weed? Where can it be sold? Will cities allow weed farmers' markets? Will Whole Foods stock marijuana? Will Walmart stock marijuana? 7/11? Gas stations? Will there be limits on the THC content or weight of weed sold in gas stations or other businesses? Will there be weed vending machines? Will weed vending machines only be allowed inside/in front of certain businesses? Weed automats? Will you be able to know where your weed comes from? Will weed have to be sold with a UPC? Where do you put a UPC on weed? Will loose weed be illegal to sell over the counter? Will joints/blunts be sold in packs/cartons? Will it be legal to sell a pack/carton of blunts/joints containing various strains? Will you be able to buy joints a la carte? Will there be limits on commercial joint/blunt sizes/shapes? Could a weed store sell one ounce blunts? A dozen joint roses? Will buds be vacuum packed? Will weed be sold in packages with RFID tags? What about the manufacture/sale of bud pellets pressed into various shapes and sizes? Bud within gelcaps inside a simulation prescription bottle?
Will a law enforcement presence be required at every weed store? Will law enforcement attach GPS trackers to vehicles leaving weed stores if a driver or passenger is seen leaving with a large package? Will police use infrared scanners to detect homegrows over the legal limit? Will weed stores be required to have barred windows? Security guards? Alarm systems? Outdoor ID checks? Video surveillance? Will local governments require online streaming video surveillance in every commercial grow or retail weed store? Will retail weed store customers be targeted by anti-corporate activists? Will any weed store found to be in the slightest violation be busted? Will weed stores that comply with California state and county and city law be busted by Feds anyway?
Will commercial weed growers or weed stores be able to vaporize marijuana and store/sell the vapor in containers? Will only certain container materials be allowed? Gas cylinders? Steel cartridges similar to CO2 cartridges? Bags? Balloons? Aluminum cans? Beer bottles? Will vapor containers have size limits? Will there be pressure requirements? Can weed stores sell vapor balloons? Will helium be unusable in them? Will it be illegal to pop vapor balloons in public? Will vaporizing/smoking in public be allowed if the user is wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus? Will the United States Department of Transportation oversee transportation of high pressure vapor cylinders? Will containers only be allowed to contain the vapor from 1 oz of marijuana? Will weed stores be allowed to sell vapor bags that would hold the vapor from over 1 oz of marijuana? Will weed stores be allowed to sell home vapor storage systems? Home gas cylinder systems? Will transport of over 1 oz of vapor be illegal? Will it be lawful to bring or puncture vapor bags at concerts, fairs, festivals, or other crowded areas? Will it be lawful to manufacture/convert/sell plug-in air fresheners or timed misters containing cannabis smoke or vapor? What about aerosol or atomizer sprayers? Liquids for use in such devices? Will it be lawful to operate a vapor bar? One where customers bring their own product for vaporization? Can a vaping/smoking bar also be an oxygen bar? Can a smoking club or bar or indoor concert employ women or use a machine to blow smoke contained in bubbles? Will someone invent a reliable THC breathalyzer? Will it be used by cops and will there be legal THC driving limits? Will there be a large market for marijuana detection systems? Sniffers? Instant blood tests?
Will the statewide California tobacco smoking ban in all enclosed workplaces also apply to cannabis? Will cannabis smoking only be allowed in workplaces with five or less employees and if all workers consent and if no minors are allowed inside? Will cannabis smoking be allowed in private smoking lounges? Bars? Restaurants? Clubs? Casinos? Conference rooms? Indoor conventions halls? Hotel/motel rooms? Art classes? Tattoo parlors? Truck cabs and tractors? Employee breakrooms? Warehouses with over 10K sq ft and 20 or less fulltime employees? Weed factories? Outdoor dining areas? Within 20 ft of public buildings or bus stops? Parks? Trails? Sidewalks? Streets? Beaches? Will cannabis smoking only be legal in private residences? Any private business? Private property? What about vaporizing in all of the above? Will public vaporizing be lawful anywhere? Will it be legal to carry weed in California parks? National parks in California? Will marijuana smoking/vaping be allowed on employee smoke breaks?
Will there be weed stores with drive-though windows? Will there be over-21 weed movie theaters that sell weed and allow smoking/vaping on the premises? BYOW? Will strip clubs be able to sell weed and/or allow smoking/vaping on the premises? Other sexually oriented businesses? Can someone operate a weed bed-n-breakfast? Will motels/hotels allow cannabis smoking or vaporizing in their rooms? Will restaurants have smoking/non-smoking/marijuana smoking/vaporizing sections? Will someone be able to run a marijuana botanical garden? Golf resorts with marijuana forests? What about marijuana theme-party stores? Marijuana theme-weddings? The manufacture/sale of fireworks related to marijuana?
If Propositon 19 passes, will it later be seen as ceding power to corporations? As a step backwards? Will it create Big Weed? Will Big Weed be demonized like Big Tobacco? When's the last time non-shareholders and non-politicians and non-addicts praised Big Tobacco? Will there be lawsuits against Big Weed? Will existing agricultural corporations take over marijuana in California? Will existing pharmaceutical companies take over? Will existing corporations avoid cannabis production, distribution, and sales altogether in order to avoid federal lawsuits? Will Prop19 create "black market corporations" in California operating illegally under federal law?
Will Prop 19 create a Big Weed lobby in DC? Will Big Weed become political? Will corporations who make the biggest campaign contributions or have the best political ties get the grow contracts? Will cannabis corporations run political ads supporting/opposing political candidates? Will it be impossible to get rid of cannabis corporations once they start wielding political influence and buying politicians? After Prop19 passes, will it be seen as giving up what some consider a sacred plant over to corporate control with a singular goal of profit, expansion, and positive quarterly reports? Will people regret a new labyrinth of rules? Will people resent a new corporate drug pusher? Will people resent being incarcerated for years and then local governments getting in on the action, while people still get incarcerated? Will Big Pharma create and patent new medicines derived from cannabis? Will people smoking certain strains be infringing on those patents?
Will people be happy buying corporate weed from AgraMed or other corporations? Will there be conspiracy theories where the public thinks corporations are selling marijuana to them or putting something in it to make the public stupid or docile or gullible enough to buy other products? Will corporate cannabis be a boon to capitalism and consumerism? Will existing companies swallow up start-up weed companies? Will the number of weed companies eventually get smaller and smaller in California as they are bought up by larger companies? Will it be lawful to operate a weedbank where people can deposit/withdraw weed? Will weed act as a currency in certain localities? Will investment banks be allowed to give loans to weed companies? Where will weed companies be able to get loans? Will banks giving loans to weed stores or commercial grows be flagged for potential money laundering?
Will a commercial weed company ever have an initial public offering? Will marijuana be bought and sold as a commodity on stock exchanges? Will it be traded in bushels? Will contracts for bushels be bought and sold? Will people be able to buy stock in weed companies? Will derivatives based on marijuana be allowed? Will global investors, criminal organizations, or foreign states be able to invest in California weed companies? Will betting on marijuana related issues be allowed in California? Will marijuana lotteries be allowed? Will marijuana promotions be legal? Buy a car and get one free ounce of marijuana? Will any billionaires or millionaires become angel investors in the commercial marijuana industry? Will the amount of millionaires in California increase? Will marijuana become California's #1 export?
Will weed production affect food production in California? Will weed be more profitable to farm in California than other crops such as oranges? Will the weed industry take over other sectors of the Californy economy by GDP? Will the need for more land lead to deforestation? Will it be legal to plant marijuana forests and designate them national parks or wildlife refuges? Will marijuana be allowed to grow legally in national parks or wildlife refuges? Will it be legal to feed cattle marijuana? Sell marijuana milk? Instead of Kobe beef, Kush beef? Will it be lawful to give marijuana to an animal? Will videos of Californians giving marijuana to animals or pets flood YouTube? What would happen legally if someone blew marijuana smoke in a minor's face?
Will the passage of Prop19 create an ideological schism in the national legalization movement? Will many people think that California settled on Prop 19? Soldout? What environmental impact will industrial weed farming have? Would environmentalists or anti-corporate activists ever sabotage a weed company? Would someone ever sabotage a commercial grower with mold or mildew, by breaking lights, by altering nutrient reservoirs or soil conditions? Would competitors sabotage rival weed stores with mold or mildew? Will someone engineer a virus or disease that attacks the cannabis plant? Will corporatization of cannabis inspire a Weed Is Murder or Free The Weed movement among biocentrists or deep ecologists, fighting for plant rights? Will mechanical harvesters be sabotaged so cannabis could grow freely under the sun? Will someone want to marry a cannabis plant? You know there's gonna be that guy.
Will cities allow cannabis churches in their communities? Will there be a rise in new cannabis cults, new age religions, or self-proclaimed gurus? Is the concept of cannabis spirituality diametrically opposed to cannabis corporatization? Has anyone ever felt spiritual after buying something from a corporation?
Will corporatization of marijuana create potential public health problems such as foodborne illnesses? Will sanitation be ignored as long as the cannabis is burned when consumed? Could there be any E. coli outbreaks related to commercially grown marijuana? Could nearby cattle or pig ranches contaminate irrigation water near outdoor marijuana fields? Could marijuana field workers introduce diseases onto crops through unsanitary handling practices? Could mechanical harvesters introduce petroleum products onto crops or soil? Could mold or mildew or pesticides on commercially grown marijuana pose lung problems? Could commercial curing processes introduce pathogens? Will there ever be any weed recalls? Will any commercial growers use nicotine as a pesticide on cannabis crops? Will commercial growers be allowed to combine marijuana with nicotine or other chemicals and sell it?
Will Prop 19 affect pregnant women in any way? Fetuses? Will secondhand marijuana smoke pose a risk to anyone? Will Prop 19 lead to an increase of cannabis research grants? Will colleges begin offering new courses related to marijuana? New degrees?
How much will usage rise? How many tons of marijuana will California produce in the first year after Proposition 19 passes? How many pounds of marijuana will California consume in the first year after Proposition 19 passes? How much the next year? How about usage in America as a whole? How much will usage rise in surrounding states? Will everyone in California be stoned all the time? Will Californians eat more fast food? Will obesity rates go up? Will certain fast food chains open more stores in California? Will everyone in certain cities be stoned all the time? Will stoned texting become a big problem on roads? Will Proposition 19 make pot uncool? Will the public say that corporations or the government took all the fun out of it? If marijuana use becomes mainstream and lame, will harder illegal drugs become the new cool thing to do? Will people who used pot before Prop 19 passes look down on users who started after Prop 19 passed? Will employees/buyers of corporate weed be disdained, spit on, attacked by purists as traitors or sellouts? Will there be protests/picketing with signs saying "Just Say No To Corporate Weed"? What events will weed companies be allowed to sponsor? How can that sponsorship be displayed?
If Proposition 19 passes, how will tobacco usage in California be affected? How will alcohol usage in California be affected? Will weed affect tobacco prices? Will criminal organizations or the DEA drop or fog defoliants or herbicides on commercial outdoor marijuana grows? Will commercial growers themselves use herbicides on their marijuana crops to control weeds? Will rival companies or law enforcement or moles or monkeywrenchers introduce male pollen onto sensimilla crops, perhaps by airplane or ventilation systems? Will all large-scale outdoor marijuana farms naturally produce pollinated females? Will this leave a demand for sensimilla on the black market? Will commercial weed be looked down upon as "that seedy shit"? Will homegrowers who are employed on weed farms or in weed factories accidentally or perhaps intentionally introduce male pollen onto sensimilla crops? Will indoor weed factory employees be required to wear cleanroom suits to prevent accidental fertilization by male pollen? How often will employees steal seeds or cuttings? If an employee is stealing weed or seeds or cuttings and is discovered, will they just be fired or will other state/federal laws apply?
Will people be allowed to carry up to one ounce of weed in California airports? Will the TSA ramp up screening for weed in California airports? Will obviously stoned passengers be allowed on commercial flights leaving California? Will California airports allow cannabis smoking/vaping bars? Will pilots be allowed to enter them? Will bus tours be able to enter California and take people to various shops or country weederies, as long as there is no weed on the bus when it leaves California (or as long as no weed is every carried on the bus)? Will limos or cabs allows marijuana smoking/vaporizing in the back?
What if a guy gets pulled over for speeding on the way to Nevada, 3 miles from the border and admits to there being 10 lbs of weed in the trunk. Does the oz possession limit no longer apply to him because he claims he "harvested it for personal consumption"? Does the possession limit not apply to him because he's not carrying those 10lbs on his person? What if he also has a gun in the car? Is he in violation of the law simply because he's transporting over one ounce of weed? What if he claims he's a medical grower delivering to a medical dispensary in Nevada (or California) and is a caregiver and shows his MMJ card? What if a homeowner with a 5x5 grow has a gun in the house? Will people with concealed carry permits be allowed to bring firearms into weed stores or onto weed farms/factories?
Is letting each city and county decide its own laws meant to encourage people to support Proposition 19 or is it meant to generate chaos so that statewide uniform regulation will be enacted? Will a website have to be set up explaining the varying laws from city to city? Will the varying laws create pockets of black market opportunities? Will police departments be stressed by a societal sea change? If Proposition 19 passes, can it be reversed and if so how soon? If it is reversed, will it hurt the chances of other future initiatives in California or initiatives in other states?
Will weed prices drop? How much money will local governments be able to collect in taxes and fees? Will any tax money be collectible seeing as how buying/selling/possessing marijuana is still against federal law? Will a drop in price affect the amount cities can collect in taxes? If cities put tax rates too high, will people just buy on the untaxed black market?
Will Proposition 19 create jobs? What will be the fasting growing jobs if Proposition 19 passes? Weed store cashiers, growing supply stores, electricians, botanists, budtenders, budtrimmers, budpickers, glass blowers, seed companies, snack food distributors, bakers, seed patent offices, weed lawyers, weed lawfirms, in-home grow experts, smugglers based in California, drug gangs, drug cartels, interstate bus companies/drivers, global corporations, Big Agro, Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, Big Chemical, fertilizer makers, large-scale growers, breeders, THC analysis companies, genetic engineering labs, gene sequencing labs, drug test makers, detox kit makers, police, prison guards, SWAT team members, DEA agents, fire-prevention companies, firefighters, weed store/farm/factory inspectors?
Proposition 19 won't legalize marijuana. Possession and transport over one ounce will still be illegal. Possession under one ounce has only been a $100 fine for years in California. Every transaction over one ounce is still black market. How often do drug cartels transport under one ounce now? How much of each cartels' profits come from selling under one ounce within California alone? If someone wants to buy more than one ounce, who will be selling it?
Proposition 19 does nothing regarding prohibition in other states. Weed will be legal to grow and buy in California, yet be illegal in surrounding states. A black market will still exist. Drug cartels might no longer have to worry about smuggling marijuana into California from Mexico or Canada. Will smuggling from Mexico into Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico increase? Will smuggling from California to Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona dramatically increase? Will smuggling from retail weed cities to non-retail weed cities increase?
Will drug violence along the Mexican border shift to the US states bordering California as gangs/cartels fight over turf? Will California become a safe haven for marijuana growing/distributing? Will Los Angeles become the #1 hard drug hub in North America? How long until the first stabbing or shooting near a weed store? How often will weed stores be robbed? How often will homegrowers be robbed? How long before the first burglary of a major commercial grow facility? Will there be arson of commercial weed facilities? Will there be wildfires due to gangs torching corporate fields? Will gangs employ rippers to steal from corporate fields? How often will people be robbed on the street for their legally purchased weed? Will people currently imprisoned for growing under one ounce be released? Will there be prison riots as people incarcerated for marijuana crimes get angry over their non-release? Will marijuana be considered contraband in prisons? Will public marijuana smoking be illegal statewide? Will vaporizing in public be lawful? What if people carry smoking/vaping equipment in brown paper bags?
Will previously law abiding citizens start buying low in California and selling high in other US states in order to capitalize on Proposition 19? Will out-of-state trafficking dramatically increase? Will stopping out-of-state shipments fall largely upon California law enforcement, state officers in surrounding states at the borderline, or federal agents? Will permanent checkpoints be set up on all major roads leaving California? Will criminal organizations burglarize weed stores? Kill growers? Take over businesses? Create protection rackets? Hijack commercial weed shipments? Fight over drug turf in California and elsewhere?
Will Proposition 19 cripple drug cartels? Will cartels smuggle less marijuana from Mexico to California? Will Proposition 19 only affect marijuana shipments from the Tijuana cartel? Will other cartels be largely unaffected? I've read that the Beltran-Levya cartel also has territory in California and the Gulf cartel uses Los Angeles as a major distribution hub. Will LA become an even bigger global distribution hub? Will drug cartels increase other criminal activity? Will cartels give up marijuana smuggling into the US altogether? Will cartels increase their efforts on smuggling from California into Nevada and Oregon and Arizona? Will they prefer car, truck, motorcycle, plane, tunnel, bus, or something else? Will there be cartel massacres within California or surrounding states?
Will smuggling out of California on ships increase? Will inspection of ships leaving California increase? Will inspection of ships entering other countries increase? Will California export more marijuana to foreign countries and islands? Will cartels operate commercial grows in California for plane/ship/submarine distribution worldwide? Will there be turf wars over ports? Will existing gangs or cartels bribe people in commercial grows to alter production numbers and redirect shipments? Will corporate weed be reported as ruined or destroyed but end up on the black market? Will workers in commercial grows form their own drug gangs to steal product for resale in black markets? How will cities/counties know that all of the marijuana produced by a company is being sold only in retail stores in-state?
Can California expect a new wave of immigrants from Mexico, other US states, or worldwide? Will 2010 be remembered as the start of a new California Green Rush? Will California become more known for Cannabis Valley than Silicon Valley? Will the population of California dramatically increase? Will there be weed shanty towns? Will comedy writers, musicians, artists relocate to California? Will drug tourism dramatically increase? Will tourism bring much needed money into California's economy? Will drug tourism lead to an increase in certain areas of crime?
Will drug tourism in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the world go down if Prop19 passes? Will the High Times Cannabis Cup be permanently relocated to California? Will a San Francisco Cannabis Cup begin? How long after Proposition 19 passes will the first cannabis cup be held in California? Will cities ban or limit the number of public weed gatherings that can take place?
Proposition 19 isn't going to end the war on drugs. It won't even end marijuana prohibition. There are 478 cities and 58 counties in California and they'll each get to decide whether to tax and sell pot commercially. Unless every city approves retail sales, there will still be black markets in California. If Prop19 passes will less people be imprisoned for marijuana-related crimes? People will only be able to possess up to one ounce under Proposition 19, but that's already not an arrestable offense in California. People possessing over one ounce are arrested now. After Prop19 they will still be arrested. People selling on the black market are arrested now. After Prop19 they will still be arrested. Will less homegrowers go to prison? If they sold before they could have ended up in prison and if they sell after Prop19, they may still end up in prison. If they give someone more than one ounce they may still end up in prison. Will less people be imprisoned for homegrowing? How many homegrowers in California who only get high on their own supply, don't sell, and who grow in under 25 sq ft go to prison now? Will arrests for out-of-state trafficking go up? I guess that depends on law enforcement border control. Will arrests for inner-state trafficking go up? Will arrests in other states for trafficking out of California go up?
Will homegrowers be able to sell to weed stores? Will homegrowers or gangs or cartels sell to minors since retail weed stores won't? Will gangs corner the market on sales to those under 21? Or will minors be able to get the weed they need by stealing from their parents' personal grows? Will homegrower parents be required to put locks on their grow rooms? Will corporate weed or companies like AgraMed put mom and pop growers out of business? Will corporations flood the market with cheap weed and then when they've put competitors out of business raise the price?
If Proposition 19 passes, will 18 to 20-year-olds be allowed to legally consume medical cannabis? What if a 21-year-old non-medical cardholder hands an 18-year-old medical cardholder a bag of medical weed? What if a 25-year-old medical cardholder dispensary cashier sells an 18-year-old medical cardholder a bag of medical weed? Will medical users who smoke in their home be arrested if their children live with them? What about vaporizing in the same space as a minor? What about smoking/vaping in the same space as a pet? What if a mom publicly admits to giving her autistic child marijuana? What if it turns out neither has a doctor's recommendation? Will users interpret Prop 19 one way and cops/judges another way? Will bribes to law enforcement, attorneys, and local officials and contributions to politicians increase? Will Feds crack down even harder on California? Will Feds continue to enforce federal drug laws and raid commercial ops they deem in violation of the Controlled Substances Act? Will bugging/wiretapping of commercial weed facilities become commonplace? Will weed store owners be harassed, followed, their phones wiretapped, their residences bugged?
Will Proposition 19 endanger the status of medical marijuana in California or nationwide? Will pharmaceutical companies be allowed to breed their own strains? Will they be able to advertise their strains on television in California? Will marijuana advertisements be acceptable anywhere? In niche magazines, on the radio, on TV, on billboards, signs, banners, graffiti, posters, plush joint mascots on street corners? What restrictions will be placed on signage and logos outside weed stores/grow facilities? Will images of marijuana leaves be banned in public?
Will cheap California weed flood every other US state? Will weed prices drop in Reno and Las Vegas? Will prices stay the same on the east coast? Will selling on the east coast become more profitable due to profit margins on cheap Cali weed? Will an ounce in California cost less than a medical eighth in other states? Will that affect medical dispensaries out-of-state? Will medical dispensaries out-of-state be forced to illegally import from California to compete with black market prices in their own state? Will they have to sell their self-grown weed for less?
Will Oakland have a natural monopoly if Proposition 19 passes? Will its licensing system set the trend for the entire state? How much will people who work in industrial weed factories make? How much will people picking weed on farms make? Will outdoor weed farms employ mainly illegal immigrant laborers? Will companies ship in illegal immigrants much like slaughterhouses in the south do? Will weed farms/factories provide health insurance? How will the mandate to purchase health insurance interact with the effects of Proposition 19? Will there be a spike in emergency room visits? Traffic accidents? Traffic accidents among 21 to 25-year-old drivers? Workplace accidents? Workplace/college absenteeism?
Will unemployment in California go down? Will unemployment in certain areas go up? Will there be an increase in foreclosures among people currently growing and selling marijuana as the legal price drops? Will Humboldt County or Mendocino County go through a recession? Marijuana is one of the biggest cash crops in America. If people are unemployed they can always grow & sell marijuana to make ends meet. If marijuana production by corporations becomes legal, then what? "Look, you can always get a job at the weed farm or processing factory making minimum wage. You should be grateful they're giving you a job."
Will the demand for feminized seeds increase due to corporate buying? Will global seedbanks see a spike in sales until California establishes legal seedbanks? Will global seedbanks suffer as seed prices plummet in California? Will it still be illegal to import seeds into California from elsewhere? Will it be legal to operate a seed company in California? Will they be allowed to patent strains? Will people be allowed to patent specific cannabis terpenes? Will seedbanks sue growers for patent infringement? Will gene sequencing of all cannabis strains be lawful in California? Will genetic engineering of cannabis be outlawed? Will there be free reign? Will corporations genetically engineer female plants that can't be pollinated? With bigger yield? Shorter flowering time? With certain aromas or flavors? Will they engineer other plants to contain THCA synthase? Will a corporation create a strain dubbed "Frankenweed" by critics? Will corporations only grow weed with over a certain percentage of THC in order to make hash or extracts? Will there be a THC limit on weed for commercial production/sale? Will someone produce an injectable THC liquid? How long before Monsanto creates a transgenic Roundup-resistant cannabis strain? Will farmers/growers be sued for keeping certain seeds for next season? Will there be lawsuits over growers growing breeders' seeds without permission? Will monkeywrenchers steal seeds from corporations and give them away?
Will only retail weed stores be allowed to possess scales and not for sale? Will scales in homegrowers' residences or vehicles be seen as evidence of intent to sell? Will someone be arrested if a used pipe or other smoking/vaping equipment is found in their vehicle? What would happen if cops are called to a residence and their are 10 people there having a party and cops find 5 oz of weed sitting on a table which was brought by 5 different people and the weed is in 5 separate baggies? What if it's all laying on the table together in one big pile? What if a 20-year-old is there?
If Prop 19 passes will existing users use more? Will there be more new users? Will homegrowers sell to their friends? Will homegrowers sell in black markets in California or out-of-state? Will homegrowers still be competing with drug gangs/cartels for black market sales? Will black market prices change in relation to legal prices? Will many people find out they suck at growing?
Will it be lawful to have a grow specialist come to your house and construct a grow for you as your guest? What if he brings seeds that came from outside California? Will housecall grow specialists make customers responsible for obtaining their own seeds? Will weed stores be able to sell seeds? Will it be legal to send cannabis seeds in the mail within California? Will it be lawful to transport cannabis seeds in California? Will all mail packages leaving California be X-rayed? There are over 2500 strains of cannabis. What if the taste/experience of a retail strain is not the same as the black market/homegrown strain? What if someone is growing a strain not native to California? Is that evidence of illegally importing a foreign strain? How does one determine if a strain is now native to California? Will people be able to lawfully possess/transport more than one ounce of seeds? By vehicle? By mail? Will all strains be legal for homegrowing? Commercial production/sale? Will certain strains be outlawed? Will certain seed strains require identifiable markers on the seeds or packages they come in? What if a commercial grower obtained seeds or cuttings from a medical grower but the medical grower obtained seeds from out of state?
Will it be lawful to have a grow doctor come to your house and diagnose/treat your plants' nutrient deficiencies, mold/mildew problems, or pests, and give tips, tricks on increasing yield, etc? Where can a grow specialist/grow doctor lawfully advertise his services? Will they need to be licensed by a city or state? Will grow workshops/conferences be legal? Can they only be held in certain buildings? Will private businesses be able to decide whether to allow smoking on the premises? Will cannabis colleges like Oaksterdam University be lawful statewide? If someone purchases a large amount of grow supplies (more than seems necessary for a 5x5 grow), will they be flagged or arrested? Will people need a certain license to purchase grow supplies in bulk? Will Internet grow/head shops licensed in California be subject to random searches? Will it be lawful for a weed store in California to sell bongs and pipes or any products over the Internet?
What sort of product names will be allowed to be trademarked? Will anyone be allowed to make a registered trademarks out of the words "hydro", "sensimilla", "weed", "grass", "dank", "nug", "Cali", "bud", "chronic", "420", etc? Will the names of weed sold in stores be untrademarkable? If one weed store sells marijuana labeled as one name, and another weed store sells different marijuana labeled as the same name, can the first store sue the second to stop? Will there be an official cannabis strain naming authority in California? Will all marijuana sold in weed stores be tested to ensure that it is in fact the strain the seller says it is? Will it be lawful to make/sell home test kits to detect THC in purchased marijuana, detect strains, detect THC in urine/hair, etc?
Will people be able to spin the name or slogan of an existing product and use it for their weed business or strain? What about the public display of parodies of existing product logos altered to reflect marijuana in some way, similar to Wacky Packages? Will that count as fair use? What about display online? Will we see weed strain trading cards? Marijuana videogames? Browser games on social networks? Stoner trading cards? Will marijuana-themed commercial logo parodies or trading cards be banned under S.258 as marketing to children? What about colored joints or blunts packaged like crayons? What about colors on packaging? Will we see new patent applications for growing methods, smoking products, vaporizers, etc?
Will certain strains become very common in weed stores? Early flowering strains? Autoflowering strains? Will prices for various strains vary widely? Will there be an explosion of websites listing legal weed prices in California much like sites list gas prices today? Will magazines and awards set trends? Will celebrities set trends? Will people start plugging various strains by various companies in ads? Can we expect ads that bash other strains? Will there be an increase in weed magazines and awards? Will there ever be a televised award show called The Weedies? Will commercial weed be inferior or superior to homegrown weed? Will people be allowed to possess more than one ounce in their residence as long as they claim they harvested it or if they also have plants in their residence (perhaps that they recently bought). What if they claim they bought it on different days at legal stores?
Will cartels take advantage of legal grow limits per residence? Pool people together, apartments, parcels of land? Will gangs and cartels control certain territories? Will gangs or cartels buy/rob from homegrowers, employ homegrowers, rob/loot/set fire to rival weed stores or factories, take over weed factories, bribe truckers at commercial companies to ruin or lose shipments or give them a cut? Will cartels invest in or operate weed factories and weed stores? Will criminal organizations run weed factories? Weed farms? Weed stores? Head shops? How can you prevent criminal organizations from doing that? Will criminal organizations sell harder more profitable drugs out of weed stores? If less cartel weed is purchased on the black market in cities that have approved retail weed outlets, will cartels simply open, own and operate their own legal retail weed stores there? Will cartels use retail weed stores as fronts to fund the rest of their illegal activities or launder money? Will they be able to make a significant percentage of their profits perfectly legal (or appear perfectly legal)?
Will Proposition 19 put cartel California guerrilla growers out of work? Will cartels stop growing in California national parks? Will they continue in attempts to avoid permits, regulatory fees, licenses, insurance requirements, and electrical costs for commercial grows? Will cartels sell guerrilla grown weed to retail stores? In cities that have approved the existence of retail weed stores, will any weed purchased there be cartel grown? Will cartels sell it through retail weed stores they operate themselves? Will cartels funnel it through commercial growers?
Will cartel mules legally buy weed in California for transport out-of-state? Will mules be supplied by cartel stores? Will drug gangs attempt to corner the market on particular strains? Will cartels buy out the entire stock of certain strains in rival stores? Will cartels or gangs be able to manipulate strain supplies day to day? Will corporations?
Transporting over one ounce will still be illegal and transporting it over the California border into surrounding US states will still be illegal, but cartels and drug gangs deal with that already. If cartels can legally operate commercial weed factories in California, will they be able to transport more or less weed out of California into other states? In weed factories or commercial weed fields, will the low-paid workers be predominantly Spanish-speaking? Will there be a rise in new independent drug rings? Will it be easy to plant cartel moles in non-cartel factories? Will cartels be able to siphon off product, money, or get them into legal trouble? Will cartels sabotage competitors and their crops/seedlines?
Homegrowers might buy less weed on the black market. But not if a strain they want is only available on the black market. Or if they buy weed, seeds, or cuttings from their homegrower friends or online. In California will there be more legal "sharing"/trading/bartering for goods and services (and not just weed to weed)? Will Craigslist allow weed sales/trades? Will eBay allow weed listings? Will seedbay allow non-seed marijuana listings?
Will people living in California near the Oregon border travel across the border to buy their weed there to avoid paying sales tax or weed tax? Will crime rates go up? Will crime rates go down? Will violence go down? Will theft rise? Will motor vehicle theft rise? Will the number of meth labs rise? Will the price of heroin go up? Will hard drug use go down? Up? Will school shootings go down? Will pawnshops be allowed to buy/sell weed?
How will employers react? Can an employer refuse to hire someone based on the fact that they were seen entering a weed store or previously worked in one? Will people with certain professions be banned from ever using legal cannabis off the job? Will people be able to use food stamps to purchase weed?
How will it affect indoor and outdoor concerts in California? Outdoor festivals? Outdoor events? Sporting events? Extreme sport festivals? Street festivals? Will there be weed festivals? Cannabis talent shows? Marijuana beauty pageants? Will smoking contests be banned? Will the culture change in California?
How will the Internet change? Will Google allow people to mark favorite retail weed locations on Google maps and review them? Will Yelp allow reviews of weed stores? Will there be an explosion of strain/store review sites/blogs? Daily weed deal listings? Will Foursquare allow people to check in to weed stores? Will Facebook, Youtube, Twitter allow people to discuss marijuana use on their sites? Will videos of marijuana smoking/vaporizing in California be allowed on YouTube? On the TV news? Will such footage affect national legalization movements? Will people who live in California be able to legally order weed online? Will people in California attempt to sell weed online worldwide? Will home delivery be allowed? Weed on wheels?
Will adult film producers in California be able to lawfully make videos with on-screen marijuana use if everyone involved is 21+? Will they be able to sell those videos online? Air them on cable channels? Will it be illegal to view them outside of California? How about adult photoshoots involving marijuana use? Photoshoots available online? Will someone come out with Barely 420 Legal magazine? Cannabis snob magazines? Anti-Prop19 magazines or zines?
If Prop 19 passes, can we expect cover after cover of news magazines with marijuana on the cover? Possibly of a marijuana leaf shaking hands with a corporation? Can we expect tabloids to be full of celebrity opinions on marijuana and Prop 19? Can we expect a flood of news articles and books with titles like "How Marijuana Became Legal" "How Richard Lee Saved California" "How Prop 19 Went Wrong" "How NORML Sold Out" "How You Can Profit Off Prop 19" "Making Money In the New Gold Rush" "WeedWorld" "When Corporations Rule The Weed"? Will some marijuana book become the #1 seller on Amazon? Will cannabis entrepreneurs become celebrities? Will they appear on late night or daytime talk shows? Will guests on TV talk shows be allowed to smoke/vape marijuana while being interviewed? Will cooking shows based in California be allowed to air footage of cooking with marijuana? What kind of shows related to marijuana could be aired on TV? This Old Growhouse, Extreme Homegrow Makeover, Pimp My Grow, The Strain Hunter, Lifestyles of the Stoned and Famous, MTV Grows, Dank'd, Ace of Baked, Best Weed Ever, Cannabis Wars, $420 A Day, Good Weeds, Guy Off the Hookah, Have Pot Will Travel, Snoop Dogg's Father Hood, The Cypress Hill/Kottonmouth Kings Smile Time Variety Hour? Will High Times start a TV network? Will there be multiple cable channels dedicated to marijuana programming? Weed Network, FuctNews, Chillum, The Strain Discovery Channel, 420, THC, CBG, CBD, TokeTV, WeedyGuide, DIY Grow Network, JointVenture?
If someone comes up with an idea or invention under the influence of corporate weed, will corporations seek to obtain partial ownership of the idea or co-author status? Will someone invent/convert a vehicle that runs on weed or weed biodiesel or seed oil? Can cannabis seed oil be sold in any store? Will there be infomercials on how inventors can market/profit from their weed ideas?
If Proposition 19 passes, will all the people who voted for it be able to live with all the potential consequences? Will society breakdown? Will everyone live in peace and love and harmony? Will people who voted against Proposition 19 commit vandalism or violence against weed stores, commercial grow ops, or people leaving weed stores? If Proposition 19 fails, will it be more difficult to collect signatures for another initiative? If Proposition 19 passes will it turn out to be a disaster and stall legalization efforts in other states? Will the rest of America look to California for what not to do? If Proposition 19 passes, will users face serious stigma, perhaps nationally?
Will marijuana really be treated like alcohol? People are allowed to buy and possess more than one ounce of alcohol. Can alcohol and marijuana be sold in the same place? Can a bar with a liquor license also obtain a weed license or vice versa? Will it be illegal to sell marijuana on certain days, say, election days? Will retail weed stores have set hours of operation? Can a brewery use cannabis in their products? Will the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control be in charge of regulating alcohol products made with cannabis? Will that also apply to tinctures? Will California create a California Department of Cannabis Control? Will the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives become the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis, Firearms and Explosives? Will people be allowed to "fortify" weak marijuana like people fortify Salvia Divinorum now? 10x, 20x, 40x? Will any agency oversee fortified marijuana? Will products with over 90% THC be legal? What if a commercial weed store laces their product with illegal drugs? Will there be an increase of psychotic episodes with high THC products? Is it possible that more people in California will be diagnosed with schizophrenia?
Who will count the votes for Proposition 19? Stalin said those who vote decide nothing, those who count the votes decide everything. Will there be a paper trail? Is there a chance that Proposition 19 will pass but the media will report that it failed? If Proposition 19 doesn't pass will there be theories that the California government or federal government or mainstream media wouldn't allow it? If Proposition 19 does pass, will there be theories that corporate interests were behind it?
If Prop 19 passes, how will the mainstream media spin it? "Here we go..." "Finally!" "What have we done" "Noone knows how this new social experiment will play out..." "How will it affect you" "What does it mean for..." "In a time of economic crisis, California has chosen to" "Hidden dangers..."? Will it be used to drum up ratings with nightly scare stories? If Proposition 19 passes, how soon will there be a petition going around to collect signatures to reverse it? Will it be considered a failed experiment? If certain demographics overwhelmingly vote in favor of Prop19, how will that be spun by the media on television and radio and on the Internet? How will it be used as an issue by pundits on TV, radio, and the Internet? How long will Prop 19 remain in the daily news cycle? How will political parties, politicians, pundits spin it if Prop 19 passes?
If Proposition 19 fails, how will the mainstream media spin it? As just one particular flawed initiative? A momentum killer? By claiming that stoners must have "spaced the date"? That California "came to their senses?" "Stepped away from the brink"? "Hit the breaks"? That California "sobered up"? Will they spin a failure as a "return to sanity"? Will such descriptions harm future initiatives in and out of state?
Before the November election, will there be a flurry of anti-Prop19 ads on television? What's most likely to scare voters into voting no? Will Prop19 supporters have a response? Who's most likely to bankroll anti-Prop19 ads? Will there be a flurry of pro-Prop19 ads by corporate interests? Who's most likely to pay for pro-Prop19 ads? Will Proposition 19 lead to similar initiatives in other US states much like Proposition 215 did years ago? If Prop19 passes, how will politics change in California? If a political party comes out in strong opposition to/favor of to Prop19 before the vote, will they win votes among certain demographics? How will politics change in America? How will Proposition 19 affect television and movies coming out of California? News broadcasts? Talk shows? Will the news report on a new marijuana study every week? Will the news report on the effects in California every day, week?
If Proposition 19 passes, how soon will things change in California? Is it possible that looting/riots could occur on the day Proposition 19 passes/fails? Massive public smoking gatherings/demonstrations? Arrests at gatherings/demonstrations? Will it be challenged in court? Will there be a legal limbo for a few years? Will entrepreneurs jump the gun and possibly be incarcerated? If Prop 19 passes, in hindsight will it be seen as a vote for freedom or a vote for corporate profits?
The following questions are from this blog post post by me.
If Proposition 19 passes, will it the media say that California has voted to "open Pandora's box" or "open the floodgates"?
If the public votes in favor of Proposition 19, how will the California State Legislature respond? California has 58 counties: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba County. How will each county respond? California has 480 incorporated municipalities. If Proposition 19 passes, how soon after will cities/counties pass new legislation related to it? What if a municipal government disagrees with its county government? California has one consolidated city-county, San Francisco. Is it true that county ordinances do not apply to cities unless they are ratified by each individual city? How will Proposition 19 affect the 527 named islands off the California coast?
Will the passage of Proposition 19 initiate a cascade of cannabis legalization nationwide or worldwide? Will the passage of Proposition 19 unleash a legal nightmare? If Proposition 19 passes will it make it to the Supreme Court of California? The Supreme Court of the United States? What will the Office of National Drug Control Policy be able to do? The United States Congress? If Proposition 19 passes, what will the President of the United States be able to do? If Proposition 19 passes under the first black president, how will that be spun in the media and on the Internet?
How much money will local police departments lose in asset forfeitures? Will police departments continue to seize property despite Proposition 19? What will police do if a person calls 911 because someone stole their weed or robbed their homegrow? How will police respond to weed store robberies, burglaries, and theft? Can weed store owners have firearms for defense on site? Will California have to create a new separate police force to respond to the effects of Proposition 19? Will pawnshops be able to buy/sell growing equipment or seeds? How will insurance companies react to Proposition 19 passing? The headquarters of D.A.R.E. America are in Inglewood, California. If Propositon 19 passes, will DARE change their curriculum in California or nationwide, and if so how?
Will only California residents be able to legally buy weed in weed stores? Will weed stores or commercial grow facilities allow photography inside? Cellphones? Smartphones? Who would show their face in a weed store? Can weed stores plaster their walls with nug porn? Can weed stores have on display marijuana plants/trees with thick trunks? Can weed stores have on display marijuana plants that customers pick from themselves? Can customers share weed inside of weed stores? Will some weed stores be overwhelmed by customers? Will there be mob looting? Will certain weed stores often be out of stock? Will demand outpace supply?
Will weed photography or marijuana macro photography undergo a boom? Can a store legally sell a fog machine that uses cannabis oil or that actually vaporizes? Will stores be allowed to sell ornamental cannabis plants? Will people be allowed to legally display ornamental cannabis plants in public? Will landscapers be allowed to plant cannabis in existing home/business/city gardens or parking strips? Can home and garden stores legally sell pre-made marijuana growing kits/structures? What if they're marketed towards tomato growers?
What's the most/the least a city will tax commercial marijuana? Will there be a set monetary tax per gram, per ounce, per joint, per blunt, per pack, per bud? A percentage of the retail price? Will home gardens be taxed?
Can a real estate company sell a house with a grow room already set up? What if plants are already growing in it? What kind of personal vertical grows will be developed? Ones with towers, columns, spiral staircases, scaffolding? Can a homeowner or real estate company or landlord sell/rent a house/apartment that contains multiple harvests of homegrown weed? When people move out of a house or apartment, will they be required to take all of their weed with them? If someone owns a mansion or estate with multiple rooms or multiple outbuildings, can they grow 5x5 in each one? Can a repo company repossess growing equipment or plants or buds?
Which stores in California will do the most business? Will smoking lounges/weed stores near the Los Angeles International Airport do the most business? Will private shuttles take people from LAX to nearby weed stores/smoking lounges? Will pilots and air traffic controllers be banned from using marijuana off duty? How will Proposition 19 affect the stock market? Which stocks will go up or down? Will Proposition 19 lead to any Mexican cartel bosses becoming billionaires? Will it lead to any person becoming a millionaire or billionaire?
Will rich people hire in-house weed gardeners? Will rich people hire multiple personal gardeners around a city or area who will give/share most or all of their harvest to their employer? Will rich people hire marijuana shoppers? Can a celebrity carry one ounce of marijuana on their person, and each bodyguard or person in their entourage also carry one ounce? Will they have to ride in separate vehicles? Will rich people employ weed carriers? Will stoned celebrities be commonly shown on TMZ? What if someone is carrying brownies or other edibles made with one ounce of marijuana but the edibles weigh over one ounce? How will agents and PR companies manage celebrities who are out with their marijuana use?
How will the passage of Proposition 19 affect traffic within California? Traffic entering California? Could the passage of Proposition 19 affect air quality, smog, or visibility? If Prop 19 passes, will people who voted against Proposition 19 move out of Calfornia as they tire of its effects? Will California see an increase in spaced out people, drivers, workers, pedestrians? Will it be legal for drivers or passengers to smoke or vaporize in stationary or moving vehicles? Vehicles with tinted windows? Windowless vans? How will Proposition 19 affect elderly drivers and drivers under 25? Will rental car companies in California ban marijuana smoking/vaping in their vehicles? Will all of their rental cars smell like marijuana smoke anyway? Can someone lawfully make or sell an electric vehicle that emits marijuana smoke/vapor exhaust? Would cannabis vapor exhaust pass a California emissions test? Can someone lawfully manufacture a vehicle with a built in vaporizer? Can someone lawfully make/sell a cannabis vaporizer with a DC connector or that hooks up to a DC connector in an automobile cigarette lighter receptacle? Will cars manufactured in California after the passage of Proposition 19 omit cigarette lighter receptacles to discourage use as a joint or blunt lighter?
Can commercial truckers legally transport over 1 oz of weed? If a commercial truck carrying a weed shipment overturns on the freeway, will there be a special quick response team? Looting? What about marijuana field fires next to roads and highways? If commercial transport of over 1 oz is unlawful, will all commercial weed stores be located in the same building as commercial grows? Can a weed store employee lawfully carry over 1 oz of marijuana at a time? If possession/transport of over 1 oz of marijuana is illegal, will all commercial buds over that size have to be cut? Will commercial growers legally be allowed to grow Big Bud or Big Bud-related strains? If commercial growers/sellers are limited to selling buds under 1 oz, will there be a black market for buds over 1 oz? Will transport of marijuana (possibly over 1 oz) by balloons, kites, gliders, RC planes/copters/boats, UAVs, drones, robots, and automatons in-state and out-of-state increase? What if someone drops joints out of a balloon or plane onto a community? Will marijuana be parachuted in or out of state, manned or unmanned?
Will weed stores be able to offer free samples? Will there be free marijuana edibles samples in grocery stores? Will it be lawful to promote a company, store, product, club, show, or event by giving away free marijuana or marijuana products? Can a weed store offer free seeds with the purchase of certain products? Can any store? Will weed stores have "buy one get one free" offers? How about "buy one ounce get one free for your friend" offers? Will grocery stores be allowed to sell weed? Will it have to be sold next to alcohol or far away from alcohol? Where tobacco is sold? In a different aisle than tobacco but presented similarly to tobacco? Will barbershops and hair salons be able to legally sell weed? Existing tobacco smoke shops?
Will people be able to legally sell used smoking/vaping equipment at yard sales? Flea markets? Can they donate them to goodwill or secondhand stores? Can goodwill or secondhand stores sell smoking/vaping equipment? What about the sale of products at yard sales or markets which include a free gift of marijuana? What about raffles or contests with marijuana prizes? What about the sale of any new or used good that includes a free gift of marijuana or marijuana product?
How will the music industry change, the rap industry, comedy clubs, jazz clubs? Will there be an explosion of jam bands in California? Will the cannabis industry employ illegal immigrants who smoke that evil marihuana?
Can someone lawfully operate a cannabis catering company? Will there be a limit to the events they can legally cater? Will they be limited to 1 oz total of marijuana or 1 oz total of THC in their products? Could weed delivery guys lawfully transport over 1 oz? Can a pizza place also sell weed? Can they use weed as a pizza topping? Can the delivery guy deliver pizza and weed at the same time? Can any place that sells food offer weed on their menu? Who can lawfully make/sell marijuana-infused pastries? Cakes? Pies? Fillings? Jams? Frostings? Soups? Salads? Sandwiches? Cooking oils? Cooking sprays? Perfumes? Colognes? Incense? Candles? Scented stickers? Soaps? Shampoos? Lotions? Creams? Lip balm? Lipstick? Beauty products? Lubes? THC-dipped condoms and sex toys? Glass dildo pipes? Dildo bongs? Smokable/edible panties?
Can people legally consume marijuana in campgrounds? Can people legally grow or buy or consume marijuana on military bases? In ski resorts? Will it be lawful to smoke while cycling, skateboarding, rollerblading, scootering? What about consumption on stage, like in a play or musical? Does vaporizing or inhaling from a compressed vapor cylinder underwater at a beach or pool count as smoking in public? At outdoor festivals will sale/consumption of marijuana be limited to weed gardens? If smoking or vaping in public is banned, can someone be arrested based on a digital photo or video of themselves engaging in such activity? Photos or videos found online? Someone smoking from a bong in front of their house on Google Street View? How will vindictive exes use Proposition 19 to their advantage?
Will the THC content of commercial strains gradually rise? Will a commercial strain ever reach 30% THC content? 50%? Over time, THC degrades into CBN. Will commercial weed have sell-by dates? Will older stocks be sold on clearance? Will the usage of older marijuana contribute to accidents? Will there be a market for "aged" marijuana? Cannabis cured in certain environments or containers? Sprayed with scents or flavorings? Will California laboratories be able to legally synthesize THC and sell it? Can someone lawfully possess up to one ounce of pure THC crystal?
Will companies or people be allowed to make THC concentrates? Will homegrowers be allowed to make as much THC extract as they possibly can? Will there be an increase in deaths related to solvents used by homegrowers to make hash oil? Will the sale of butane increase as more people attempt to make hash oil themselves? Can weed stores sell 1 oz bottles of hash oil? On necklaces? What about hash oil in a glass-like form? Hash oil frozen into various shapes? Instruction guides/books on making hash oil? Refridgerated 1 oz (or smaller) pure THC rocks? How much will 1 oz pure THC rocks sell for? Can weed stores sell kief, kief screens/sieves, resin bricks, pollen presses? Do possession limits apply to male pollen since it contains no THC?
Will people throw or give weed to animals in zoos, parks, wildlife refuges, anywhere? Will veterinarians see an increase in pets brought in for marijuana-related incidents? If Proposition 19 passes, will any human or animal die from an overdose of THC? If some 60lb Labrador retrievers each eat 3/5th oz of pure THC, half will die. If some 6lb chihuahuas each eat 1.4g of pure THC, half will die. Will there be an increase in marijuana-related emergency room visits by people?
Will California employers no longer be eligible to receive federal government grants or contracts greater than $100,000? Will employers no longer be able to drug test for marijuana? Would an employer be unable to take any disciplinary action against an employee unless their marijuana use "actually impaired" employee performance? Will employers be unable to fire stoned workers until they prove their performance has been impaired? Can an employee fired for marijuana use sue their employer if they can prove they only used a month or week ago?
Will K through University schools in California lose as much as $9.4 billion in federal funding? How will Proposition 19 affect test scores in California? College rankings? Will colleges and universities allow smoking/vaping/growing in dorms or classrooms?
How will Proposition 19 affect holidays? Can we expect marijuana decorations in commercial stores prior to April 20th? Plastic marijuana plants? Marijuana turkey stuffing? Will there be marijuana Christmas trees? What if a minor trick-or-treating on Halloween comes home with a marijuana edible? Can someone lawfully make/sell Halloween costumes related to marijuana in some way?
If Proposition 19 passes, how many incidents will there be per year of minors bringing marijuana products to school? What about incidents of minors selling? If a minor brings marijuana edibles to school, what kind of charges will parents be facing? Is cooking with marijuana or a marijuana product in the space of a minor a crime? Is orally consuming a marijuana product in the space of a minor a crime?
Will there be an increase in incidents of people putting lit joints/blunts/pipes or automatic smokers/vaporizers/misters inside air conditioning or heating ducts? Will blowing marijuana smoke or vapor with a mechanical fan be outlawed in certain areas? What about with handheld fans? Will Proposition 19 trigger any incidents of mass hysteria? What urban legends will develop after the passage of Proposition 19?
Where can marijuana related jewelry legally be sold? Can people make pipe necklaces? Stash necklaces or rings? What existing commercial products can be legally converted into pipes/bongs and sold commercially? On what commercial products can a marijuana leaf be displayed? Where can leaf displaying products be sold? Will there be a marijuana fashion industry? What will marijuana fashion be like? Can someone legally make a dress out of a marijuana leaves? What if they're male leaves? Can someone lawfully make/sell cannabis seed husk pillows? Bud filled pillows or bedding? Marijuana inhalers? Suppositories? Can there be weed spas, saunas, yoga, acupuncture, earcandling, massage therapy? Can weed stores offer any of those in the same building? Can alternative medicine or healing centers sell marijuana, allow smoking on premises?
Will existing corporate clothing manufacturers use hemp in their products? Will clothing factories be relocated to California in order to make hemp products? Where can hemp clothing be sold? Hemp lingerie? What kind of products can lawfully be made from hemp? Backpacks? Dog collars? Will hemp jeans outsell denim jeans in California? Where can hemp rope be sold? What business sectors will allow the use of hemp rope? Can people manufacture hemp flags? Hemp books? Cannabis-based inks? Where can hemp books be sold? Can libraries stock hemp books? What kind of marijuana-related books and movies can libraries carry? Will it be lawful to burn hemp products in public? Hemp flags? Hemp books?
Will cannabis cultivar names be regulated by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants and have to be registered with an International Cultivar Registration Authority and have to conform to the rules of the International Society for Horticultural Science Commission for Nomenclature and Cultivar Registration? How will Proposition 19 interact with plant breeders' rights? Will a US office for cannabis be established in California where breeders can submit seeds and be granted exclusive rights for 20 years and be able to sue to enforce their rights and recover damages from infringement? Can they sue companies as well as homegrowers? Will the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 apply to cannabis strains in California, giving breeders 20 years of exclusive control over new, distinct, uniform, and stable cannabis plants? To be eligible for a certificate under the PVPA a plant variety must be new, meaning that propagating or harvested material has not been sold or otherwise disposed of for purposes of exploitation for more than one year in the US or more than four years in any foreign jurisdiction. Will every cannabis seed in the US qualify as a new strain since it hasn't been legally sold for more than one year in the US? Will any seed sold by a foreign seedbank since 2006 qualify as a new strain? Will any strain 5 years or older be fair game for any company or homegrower? Will no cannabis breeders be eligible for plant breeders' rights since cannabis is a Schedule IV drug under the international treaty Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs? Will any California company be able to exclusively profit from any specific cannabis strain?
Is a cannabis strain considered intellectual property? What about landraces? What about strains created pre-Prop19? Can cannabinoids be patented? Can THC to CBD ratios be patented? There are over 2500 strains of cannabis. Will weed companies start crossing them, creating an explosion of new strains? Will they cross all of them, producing over 6.2 million strains? Will someone release a Strain Bible? Will a company be started that analyzes strain lineages and genealogies in labs? Will there be niche companies that focus on specific cannabis strains? Niche stores? Niche growers? Niche magazines? Niche awards? Niche TV shows? Niche web shows? Niche websites? Will companies make shirts or other apparel for specific cannabis strains? Will supplies for every strain be nearly unlimited?
Will commercially sold marijuana cigarettes require filters? What's the cheapest price a 1 gram joint will be sold for individually or in 24 or 28-packs? What about 1.5 gram joints individually or in 18-packs? What will be the most expensive price? Can loose weed be sold in empty glass bottles or empty liquor bottles? Bongs? Gift wrapped? Will there be weed knockoffs? Which agency will ensure that commercially sold cannabis does not contain adulterants? How can consumers be sure that weed companies are not engaging in price gouging, price fixing, or dividing territories? How many fly by night weed stores will be set up? How will the Better Business Bureau be affected?
Will the commercial market be split between people in it for the love of money and people in it for the love of the plant? What will be the first weed company to gross over $100 million in revenue? $500 million? $1 billion? Will weed companies with the biggest revenue be targeted for raids by the federal government? Will the federal government or DEA only go against smaller growers since the bigger ones can buy political influence? Will they only go after the largest companies? Will the federal government wage war on California? Will the federal government use aerials UAVs in California for reconnaissance and surveillance? Will wiretapping all over California increase? If the federal government cracks down hard on California's commercial weed industry, will there be a movement by California to secede?
If Proposition 19 passes, how will it be seen by the green movement, environmentalists, anti consumerism proponents, etc? Will opposers have massive public protests? Would anyone commit suicide to protest after the passage of Proposition 19? Will there be a schism between "old skool" and corporate cannabis culture? Will people complain that marijuana became too corporate or too popular or too mainstream? Will Proposition 19 be seen as a corporate takeover of cannabis culture? Another attempt to co-opt or appropriate counter-culture for profit? If marijuana is no longer seen as counter-cultural or rebellious, which illegal drug will people flock to? Will there be vandalism of commercial weed stores/facilities?
Will existing marijuana awards be split into homegrown/seed company/corporate categories? Will people complain that cannabis award shows became "too corporate"? Will award shows be televised? Shown on YouTube? Shown on the Interent? Which stores can sell DVDs of award shows? Will we see a new subculture that breeds for the worst genetics and worst phenotypes, in order to fuck with or sabotage commercial weed companies? Will we see awards for worst commercially sold cannabis strain, like the Golden Raspberry Awards -- maybe called The Golden Blueberry Awards, The Ditchies, The Brickies, The Schwaggys?
Can a cannabis church legally have more than one ounce of marijuana inside their building and also allow smoking on the premises? Will it be protected by First Amendment rights guaranteeing freedom of religion? Which buildings can be designated cannabis churches? Can a home or apartment in a residential area be designed a cannabis church meetinghouse? In Islam, the use of cannabis is generally forbidden. How will Muslims in California react to the passage of Proposition 19? Will Rastas, Hindus, sadhus, sufis, Ethiopian Zion Coptics, and others be able to possess more than one ounce of marijuana according to freedom of religion under the First Amendment? Will Rastafaris see Prop 19 as giving their sacrament over to control by Babylon? Is Proposition 19 what Peter Tosh had in mind when he sang "Legalize it"?
Will growing or usage of marijuana be allowed in trailers on movie sets? Will actors or extras be allowed to be stoned on film? Will TV shows provide weed in green rooms? Will people under the influence of marijuana be allowed to appear or perform on live TV or on stage? Will there be weed reality shows? So You Think You Can Grow, Red Eye For the Straight Guy, Project Weedway, How I Met Your Grower, Big Brother: Hotbox Edition, The Ultimate Toker, Smokeout, Takhashy's Castle? What about marijuana use on existing reality shows located in California? Can a reality show be filmed in a weed store, bakery, confectionary, commercial growing facility, farm? Will there be TV infomercials for highdeas? Can cartoons or animated shows that depict marijuana use be lawfully aired in California? Who determines if an animated show is a cartoon or not? Can we expect a flood of primetime TV specials? Can we expect multiple documentary or fiction films based on Proposition 19? Will there be a rise in professional marijuana critics? Which media companies will feature their work? What about shows on the Internet?
Will cannabis seed oil be produced on a mass scale? Where can it legally be sold? Who can legally use it to cook with and where? Will it ever be produced on such a scale that a cannabis seed oil spill on the freeway is a possibility? Will there ever be cannabis seed oil pipelines?
How will hermaphrodite plants affect commercial growing facilities? Will weed stores sell seeded product for less than sensimilla? Will weed stores be required to separate all seed from their buds? Will weed stores willingly separate all seed from their buds to prevent free homegrowing?
What's the most powerful gun a personal homegrower can have at home? Is a homegrower within their right to kill home intruders? Can a homegrower legally set boobytraps on their private property to protect outdoor grows?
If Proposition 19 passes, will violent crime go down? Will murders in California decrease? Will Proposition 19 affect divorce or separation rates? AA meetings, NA meetings? Prescription drug usage? Will existing black market drug dealers transition to harder drugs? Will existing homegrowers transition to growing shrooms or cooking meth? How long until the first shooting inside a cannabis store or facility? Will theft of weed vending machines be a problem? Will there be a rise in date rape? Will hit-and-run accidents increase in California? Will drownings increase? Animals attacking people under the influence? How prevalent will shoplifting be at weed stores? Will seed theft be a crime? How often will weed stores have their windows broken? Will there be videos of people damaging or destroying marijuana plants on YouTube? Breaking pipes or bongs? Dissecting commercial smoking or vaping equipment? Will damage to other people's plants or growing equipment be considered property damage? Can it be taken to small claims court? Will there be drive-by shootings of weed stores or homegrowers? Will there be weed store or commercial growing facility bombings? Will anyone crash a plane into a weed facility? Will any cannabis entrepreneurs be assassinated?
Will marijuana still be a banned substance for athletes in California? Will cannabis specific sports be invented? Sports where participants will be required to consume marijuana beforehand? Will they be televised or shown on the Internet? Will there be a Canna Bowl? What about world records related to marijuana? What about world records broken under the influence of marijuana?
Will cities allow cannabis conventions or expos? Will colleges allow marijuana clubs? What kind of roadside attractions related to marijuana will be allowed? Can someone build a marijuana themed amusement park? Will marijuana museums or traveling exhibits be allowed? What about historic marijuana farms? Cannabis historical reenactments? Will there be a High Times dinner theater chain or High Times resorts? Will California or California cities advertise weedcations, potcations, vapecations? Will it be lawful to manufacture/sell Proposition 19 commemorative coins, plates, flags, mugs, spoons, collectibles, pipes, smoking/vaping equipment? Will the sale of 420 watt power supplies or 420 watt bulbs increase? 430 watt power supplies/bulbs marketed as 420 watt? If Proposition 19 passes, what kind of marijuana related apps will be allowed on smartphones? Will home glassware parties be lawful? Marijuana multi-level marketing companies? Will marijuana parades be allowed? Will there be any trample deaths at marijuana events?
Can bars with liquor licenses use cannabis extracts as add-ins or mixers in drinks? Only if they also have a weed license? Can stores sell buds submerged in glass bottles full of alcohol? Will people be allowed to legally homebrew with marijuana?
Will cannabis research increase by universities and corporations and private companies? If California passes Proposition 19, will it change the legal status of CB1 and CB2 receptor agonists/antagonists? Will it be lawful to manufacture a cannabinoid superagonist? Will a company be allowed to apply CB1 selective antagonists to marijuana products to eliminate psychoactive effects or counteract appetite stimulation? If marijuana cures cancer, what did Bill Hicks and Dennis Hopper and Bob Marley die from?
How many people in California used marijuana in the past month? If Propositon 19 passes, how will that number change over time? How many people in California currently don't use marijuana because it's illegal? How many currently don't use marijuana simply because they're dry? If Proposition 19 passes, would anyone in California ever be dry ever again? What about current and future usage in surrounding states? Will the use of Federal Reserve Notes to purchase marijuana be outlawed? Will local currencies spring up, perhaps backed by and redeemable in marijuana?
Will all cannabis waste have to be disposed of in California? Will it all be burned? Will new biomass plants be constructed in California specifically for cannabis? Can industrial cannabis waste be put on barges or transported out of state? How much cannabis green waste will end up in garbage cans, dumpsters, garbage trucks, and landfills? What about commercial cannabis packaging? Will all commercial cannabis packaging be required to be recyclable or made from recycled materials? Will waste cannabis plant matter be accepted by green waste facilities? How much fertilizer waste will go down the drain in California?
Why buy marijuana in a store when you can grow it for free at home? Why pay taxes on marijuana in a store when you can consume it tax free at home? Why grow marijuana at home when you can simply rip off someone's personal outdoor grow? Why buy marijuana in a store when you can just rob some grower's house? Why would teens buy marijuana from dealers when they could just rip off someone's personal outdoor grow or steal from their parents' grow? How often do people who grow their own tomatoes go to the store and buy tomatoes?
Will the homeless population of California increase? If a homeless person admits to growing marijuana, will they be imprisoned since they have no residence? If homeless people have no residence to legally grow in, will homeless people be the main customers at weed stores? If a homeless person lists a shelter as their residence, can they legally grow elsewhere? What distance outside a weed store can a homeless person legally panhandle at? Will it be lawful for homeless people to panhandle for weed? Will it be lawful for someone to give a homeless person weed? What if it turns out the homeless person is a minor? Will people have to check a homeless person's ID before giving them weed? How many homeless people carry ID? Will it be legal to busk for weed? Will it be legal to give buskers weed? If Proposition 19 passes, can someone be paid in weed? If Proposition 19 passes, consumption of cannabis by persons over 21 will be lawful in a "residence", which includes temporary dwellings on public property. Will it be lawful for homeless people to smoke in cardboard boxes on the street or elsewhere in tents?
There are nearly 100 Federal Indian reservations in California, over 100 federally recognized tribes, and about 40 Indian groups seeking federal recognition. According to the 2000 Census, there were over 220,000 American Indians living in California.(source) This map shows Indian reservations, rancherias, and colonies in California. If Proposition 19 passes, how will it apply to tribal lands and Indian reservations in California, or will it have no affect whatsoever? Can tribal councils come up with their own marijuana laws? Have American Indians always been able to legally grow marijuana on their reservations? If Indian reservations have no growspace limits, will corporate growers or criminals flock to them? Can Native Americans legally grow marijuana forests on tribal lands? Can tribes grow marijuana on their reservations for sale on and off the reservation? Would they have to pay county or city taxes, fees, licenses? Can Indian casinos legally grow/sell/make marijuana and marijuana accessories and allow smoking on site? Will Indian grown marijuana be sold alongside corporate marijuana in stores? If Proposition 19 fails, can Indian tribes grow or sell or consume marijuana (or allow outsiders to) on tribal lands and reservations anyway?
In unincorporated areas or census-designated places in California, will anyone be able to legally grow or sell as much as they want with no growspace limits? Will growing/selling in those areas be against the law? Will people living in such areas have to defer to county law? There are 469 census-designated places in California. What will the passage of Proposition 19 allow people to do in Cabazon, California which unincorporated in 1975?
Several lakes overlap California's border. Goose Lake is on the border between California and Oregon. Lake Tahoe is on the border between California and Nevada. Lake Havasu is on the border between California and Arizona. Will marijuana smuggling across lakes between California and Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona increase? Or will it be easier and simpler to smuggle across the California border on roadways? Can someone operate a weed store on the California shores of Lake Tahoe or Lake Havasu or Goose Lake? How close to the shore? What about weed stores on ships? Can people legally grow or consume marijuana on or in houseboats? Any other boats? Will there be an increase in boating accidents in California? There are two marinas on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. Will law enforcement increase interdiction efforts at those two marinas? If federal or Nevada law enforcement does lock down those two marinas, will Lake Tahoe smugglers simply head for other parts of the shoreline?
The California Department of Food and Agriculture along with county Agricultural Commissioners maintain over 63,000 detection traps statewide for exotic fruit flies. Federal and state quarantines protect against the entry of exotic pests which could damage California produce. There are 16 Border Protection Stations located on major highways entering California, operating under the authority of the California Food and Agricultural Code. If Proposition 19 is passed, will existing stations begin looking for pests and organisms that affect cannabis? Will temporary or permanent cannabis border protection stations or checkpoints be built on major roads leaving California and entering Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona in order to prevent smuggling?
Will smuggling into and selling in Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona be lucrative or will many residents of those states just drive to California to buy their weed? If Proposition 19 passes, will Weed, CA be an extremely popular drug tourist destination? Who will smuggle more marijuana out of California for sale, California residents or non-California residents? Will out-of-state residents mainly smuggle marijuana out for personal use or for sale? Will weed smuggled into surrounding states primarily be smuggled into further US states? Will California weed stores near the California state lines do the most business? Are California counties situated along the Oregon/Nevada/Arizona borders more likely to allow weed stores or not? Will weed stores in Calfornia border counties revitalize towns and communities? Will weed stores located near the borders of surrounding states allow cars with Oregon/Nevada/Arizona or other out-of-state license plates? Will they allow people to drive away with marijuana? Will police hang out at border stores and target cars with Oregon/Nevada/Arizona license plates? Will Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona lower speed limits on roads near the California border exiting California in order to set up speed traps in the hopes of interdicting marijuana and seizing vehicles?
Who will be dubbed California's "Prince of Pot" and end up in federal prison for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana like Marc Emery?
The following questions are from this blog post by me.
Tobacco products in the US carry health warnings on their packaging. Alcoholic beverage containers in the US carry Surgeon General's warnings on their packaging. Will legal marijuana sold in California carry health warnings, and if so, what will marijuana health warnings say, and can local governments create their own health warnings? Will health warnings only be displayed on packs of joints or blunts? If all marijuana sold must carry a health warning, will the sale of loose weed be banned, or be required to be sold in a container carrying a health warning, or be sold in a store displaying health warning signs? Will consumers acknowledge or dispute any health risks of smoking or using marijuana?
For years people have said "legalize it!" If Prop 19 passes, will it be as great as everyone imagined for all those years?
Can someone lawfully possess under one ounce of marijuana in multiple baggies, multiple containers, multiple joints? Will any of those qualify as possession with intent to sell? How many consumers in California will sell or give a commercial joint to a minor? Will mass produced commercial marijuana joints become the most used form of marijuana by minors in California? How many minors in California will be found in possession of commercial marijuana joints, or marijuana that was packaged in commercial marijuana joints?
Which venture capitalists/venture capitalism firms will invest in the legal California marijuana industry?
Will marijuana workers join or form unions? Will there be a statewide Calfornia marijuana workers union?
Will any marijuana monopolies develop in California?
Can passengers in stationary/moving vehicles lawfully use marijuana as long as the driver is not impaired? If a cop sees passengers in a moving vehicle using marijuana, will that be enough for him to pull the car over?
How will Proposition 19 affect Coachella and Burning Man?
Will marijuana be smuggled out of California on planes, helicopters, hot air balloons, or other aircraft? Can someone legally create a marijuana smoke-or-vapor-filled blimp? Will cannabis be dropped across state lines, or onto barges in the ocean, or into the Pacific? Will fishing vessels be a popular way to smuggle marijuana to Japan and other countries? Will inspections by the Los Angeles Port Police increase? Will the Los Angeles Port Police or other port police hire more officers? How often will underwater smuggling out of California occur? Will any tunnels be built under the California state line to facilitate smuggling? Will there be a movement to build a California border fence?
When a private jet enters California airspace, can the passengers legally light up?
Will it be legal to use marijuana in bathroom stalls?
Can a weed store sell vapor bags that contain cannabis vapor from two or more strains? Can a vapor bar legally vaporize two or more strains at once in a single vaporizer? Can a weed store sell joints or blunts that each contain marijuana from two or more strains? What can blunt wraps legally be made of? Will we see products like Blue Widow joints and Blue Widow deconstructed joints (which contain bud from Blue Widow's parents, Blueberry and White Widow)? What will be the maximum number of different strains that a single joint or blunt can legally contain? Could someone legally sell a one ounce blunt that contains bud from 28 different strains? 100 different strains? Will there be legal limits on the number of different strains that can be extracted and present in containers of oils, tincture, hashes, drops, or edibles? Will it be legal to consume hash oil, tinctures, drops, and other cannabis extracts in public or in private businesses? Can someone patent, trademark, or copyright vapor ratios or joint ratios (for example 1 part OG Kush, 1 part Super Silver Haze, 2 parts Strawberry Cough)? Will it be lawful to flash freeze marijuana buds, plants, seeds?
Will home and garden stores or nurseries be allowed to carry cannabis seeds, seedlings, or mature plants?
Can cannabis legally be used to make flour, pasta, bread, cake, cookies, chips, crackers, pretzels, donuts, bagels, gravy, sauces, glazes, pudding, granola bars, or italian ices, sorbets, popsicles, snow cones, granitas, gelatos, or other frozen desserts? Can someone legally sell deep fried marijuana or deep fried food made with marijuana? Does S.258 affect marijuana products that contain any sugar or other sweeteners? Will any marijuana products be required to carry nutrition facts, expiration dates, or sell-by dates?
Can ice cream trucks also sell weed? Will someone be able to lawfully operate a marijuana truck or WeedMobile for mobile sales, or a mobile headshop, or a mobile grow equipment vehicle? Will a local government enact a law or ordinance that allows for licenses for people or companies to transport over one ounce of marijuana and sell it out of a vehicle? Will there be limits on the other products they can sell out of the vehicle?
Will there be a restriction on various other products that weed stores will be allowed to sell?
Can we expect gift packages containing complete sets of High Times Cannabis Cup awards winners from the past decade and beyond? Complete lines of other cup winners? Can they be sold in California airports? Will they be a seasonal item that appears in stores before April 20th?
If Prop 19 passes, what will happen in California on April 20th, 2011?
Will old strains considered to be rare or no longer available, re-emerge commercially if Prop 19 passes?
Where can marijuana grinders and choppers, designer gravity bongs, designer roach clips, designer stash boxes, and weed diversion safes be sold? Will it be legal to transport diversion safes in vehicles? If a cop pulls someone over and discovers a diversion safe with under an ounce of marijuana in it, will the driver be charged with anything?
Will there be height or size requirements on bongs made/sold?
Will Proposition 19 allow local governments to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in their jurisdiction since many if not all dispensaries are commercial enterprises?
Will people be allowed to carry up to one ounce of weed on trains, including trains heading out of state, and can train passengers legally consume marijuana on trains?
If Proposition 19 passes, will weed stores be able to set up Facebook pages? Will minors be able to Friend them or Like them? Will weed stores be able to list prices and sales on Facebook or Twitter?
Can a California marijuana business set up an online store and accept online orders from California residents and ship to California residents? What kind of images or photographs or pictures or video or flash or HTML5 or content will they be allowed to display? Will minors be able to access the sites easily? Will users have to go through an extensive screening process or age verification or identity verification before being able to access the site?
Can a California company set up an online auction site specifically for person to person marijuana transactions? Will any local government or tribal council in California grant limited use marijuana sales licenses to sellers for such transactions, or perhaps allow a company to act as a some kind of broker or escrow service where a provider gives marijuana to the licensed broker, the broker accepts a donation from an interested party and keeps a commission, then gives the goods to the interested party, and donates money to the provider?
If Prop 19 passes, will there be an explosion of cybersquatting related to marijuana related domain names? Will California enact laws pertaining to the websites of weed stores and commercial growing companies? Will the United States Congress? What kind of online marketing can California marijuana businesses engage in? Can Calfornia marijuana businesses upload videos to Youtube, Google Video, or other online video sites? Will California marijuana businesses with a large online presence be targeted by the federal government?
Will it be legal to make/sell e-joints (electronic joints) or e-blunts (electronic blunts), much like e-cigarettes? Will there be laws on where they can be used? Can e-joints or e-blunts be used legally in public? Will it be legal to make/sell electronic bud changers (or hash, oil, tincture changers) which switch between strains for bongs or other devices? Will it be legal to make/sell cartridges for specific smoking/vaporizing devices? Will it be legal to make/sell USB devices or electronic storage drives shaped like marijuana leaves, joints, bongs, etc? An electronic device called a HotBox? Will it be legal to make/sell digital bongs or other smoking devices that connect to the Internet and send updates upon use? Will companies be allowed to sell marijuana themed computer casemods or equipment to perform them?
Will it be legal to make/sell a bong or pipe that looks like a firearm? Will it be legal to convert an existing firearm into a smoking device (a shotgun for example)? Will the sale of firearm smoking devices be limited to gun stores? Will there be limits on what legal pipes, bongs, and other smoking devices can be manufactured to look like? Will there be restrictions on smoking devices that perform additional functions? Can someone make/sell a cellphone that is also a vaporizer? Can someone make/sell an e-joint or vaporizer that plugs into a USB port or other port on a mobile electronic gadget or other computer device?
Will people in California applying for marijuana related patents or trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office be subject to federal prosecution?
Will it be legal to bring a gun into a weed store, marijuana bar, marijuana restaurant, or any business that sells marijuana products (including mobile businesses)?
Will there be an increase in 911 calls where people say someone stole their marijuana or growing equipment or is trying to break into their growhouse? Will police be able to do much about such theft? How often will police arrest the person who was robbed? What kind of 911 calls related to marijuana will be considered appropriate?
If Prop 19 passes, will it be legal for people to produce cannabis extracts and add them to other plant matter and sell it as potpourri or incense without a license?
Will companies be allowed to make/sell plastics derived from cannabis?
Will California residents who work for the United States Postal Service or other organizations that drug test be allowed to use legal marijuana when not at work? Any federal employees in California? People working for federally funded research and development centers in California? How about people employed or interning within the government of California or other state government agencies, departments, and commissions? Will employees in California have privacy rights regarding their cannabis usage when not at work? Will admitting to cannabis usage affect anyone's position in various organizations?
As of June 2010, the average retail price of electricity to consumers in California was $0.1551/kWh for the residential sector, $0.1498/kWh for the commercial sector, $0.1127/kWh for the industrial sector, $0.0839/kWh for the transportation sector, and $0.1441/kWh for all sectors. If Prop 19 passes and there is an increase in industrial growing and homegrowing using HID lighting, will power companies in California raise their rates to take advantage of the spike in power usage? Will they raise their rates to dissuade use or strengthen their infrastructure?
If Prop 19 passes, will the increase in industrial indoor cannabis production as well as homegrown indoor cannabis production, coupled with the popularization of electric vehicles, put a large strain on California's electrical infrastructure? Will increased electrical usage output more greenhouse gases or carbon into the atmosphere? What quantity of greenhouse emissions will be produced by electrical use by the indoor commercial marijuana industry or the indoor homegrow culture?
If Prop 19 passes, will cities and counties pass laws saying that homegrowers must have their indoor grow rooms inspected by a licensed professionals?
Can homegrowers legally burn waste cannabis plant matter in their yards? Will anyone make washing machine hash as described by Jorge Cervantes, but end up damaging their machine? Will anyone attempt it with a washing machine in a laundromat? If Prop 19 passes, will there be a large legal hash making industry in California? Will there also be a large underground hash making industry in California? Will commercial growers sell waste plant matter to hash making companies? Will it be legal to transport over one ounce of non-bud cannabis plant matter in California? Will the use of hash and other marijuana concentrates increase in California jails and prisons, and will it be evident by an increase in seized contraband?
How much more waste associated with marijuana growing will end up in landfills? Will any industrial wastewater end up in rivers, lakes, or groundwater? What about the effect of homegrow wastewater on water systems and water supplies?
If Prop 19 passes, will homegrowers without patient cards be able to sell their product to medical marijuana dispensaries? If Prop 19 passes, will dispensaries and collective stop buying product from patient members?
Will there be limits on how much marijuana can be bought by a customer daily in medical marijuana dispensaries? If there is no limit, will medical marijuana be priced higher than weed in legal weed stores to dissuade smuggling?
In October 2010, there was an incident on Falcon Lake on the US/Mexico border on the Rio Grande where Mexican pirates shot and killed a man jetskiing named David Hartley. The lead Mexican investigator in the case, police commander Rolando Armando Flores Villegas, was decapitated and his head was delivered in a suitcase to the Mexican military. If Prop 19 passes, will there be drug smuggling pirates on Lake Havasu and Lake Tahoe? Can we expect beheadings of California officers and detectives? Can we expect killings of people in California attempting to smuggle marijuana out of California, or people mistakenly believed to be smuggling and/or part of a rival organization?
If Prop 19 passes, what kind of lawsuits will be filed afterwards?
Will there be an increase in break-ins or thefts of cars that have marijuana and/or marijuana products inside? Will parking lots of weed stores be a popular spot for criminals?
If Prop 19 passes, eventually will California supply most of the cannabis consumed in the US, or possibly in the world? Years later will marijuana farming and/or marijuana product manufacturing be outsourced to low-wage or slave laborers in China or India?
How many substances can users combine with marijuana, and how many combinations of substances and 2,000 marijuana strains are there, and what effect will all of those combinations have on people?
Will companies be able to make/sell marijuana joints with menthol? Can a company lawfully use CYP inhibitors as an additive in their marijuana products? What additives can be used in the production of marijuana products? Will a company be allowed to purchase hashes, oils, tinctures, waxes, drops, or other cannabis concentrates and add them to their own products? Will a company be allowed to purchase hash oils wholesale in bulk and mix them all in any way they want? Will the Food and Drug Administration regulate marijuana products in California, or will local agencies perform that function?
If Prop 19 passes, will the security industry in California explode due to the security needs of marijuana businesses, with thousands and thousands of security contractors, ex-military, private military companies, and mercenaries entering California (including perhaps ex-members of the Mexican Armed Forces, possibly with ties to Mexican drug cartels, or security contractors with ties to any criminal organizations)?
Since Prop 19 claims intent to limit Health and Safety Code sections 11014.5 and 11364.5 relating to drug paraphernalia, does Prop 19 also legalize all drug pipes used in California, or provide a plausible cover story for possession of any and all drug pipes in California?
Will California companies be able to legally sell marijuana or marijuana products that were imported from foreign countries? What if the company selling the product didn't do the importing, someone else imported the product and the company purchased it from them for resale? If the sale of foreign cannabis imports is not allowed in California, will that also apply to imported cannabis seeds? If company in California is found to be selling imported cannabis seeds within California, will they simply have to pay a fine? What will happen if any of those seeds are found leaving California or found outside California?
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