Marijuana A Major Player On Ballots In November

Capital Public Radio: 52 Local Measures Seek To Tax And Regulate Marijuana 
There are 52 local measures on the November ballot. They propose a range of taxes and regulation of pot-related sales and business in cities and counties including taxing grow operations and limiting dispensaries. Tim Cromartie is a lobbyist for the League of California Cities. The League had previously opposed legislation regulating medical marijuana. But now - as Cromartie puts it - they've pivoted. (Mitric, 10/17)

In other news —

KQED: Not Your Parents’ Dealer: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Today 
The Green Door in San Francisco is one of the oldest medical marijuana dispensaries in the United States, having opened in 2003. Gone are the days of dark backrooms and transactions made in secret. Bright displays show off available products while daily menus offer unique-sounding flavors such as Bombay Cherry Doughnut and Platinum Cookies. (Hosea-Small, 10/18)

Sacramento Bee: Study: Sacramento Region’s Pot Economy Could Soar With Legalization 
Expanded legalization of marijuana could create a vast cannabis industry in the Sacramento region, accounting for an annual economic output ranging from hundreds of millions to potentially more than $4 billion if local governments endorse widespread marijuana production, according to a University of the Pacific study. The analysis, prepared by researchers for the university’s Center for Business and Policy Research, Eberhardt School of Business and McGeorge School of Law, was commissioned by a cannabis industry investment group co-founded by Daniel Conway, a former top aide to Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. The study comes as California voters are contemplating Proposition 64, an initiative to legalize adult use and sales of recreational marijuana, and as Sacramento city officials are drafting regulations to govern commercial marijuana cultivations, pot deliveries and other local cannabis businesses. (Hecht, 10/17)