AUMA revisited

You made a few errors about the [Adult Use of Marijuana Act] initiative. We should be able to possess 8 grams of concentrates legally. Cities can’t completely ban personal home growing anywhere in California. They have to allow indoor, greenhouse or in a secured location out of public view, even in places that have bans.

The current law for over an ounce has a penalty of $500 or six months in jail. This unfortunately doesn’t change under the initiative. It’s what we have now and will stay that way. Most other common penalties will be downgraded.

If the taxes prove to be too high (evidenced by maintaining an illicit market), then the legislature has the authority to fix that and downgrade that, along with downgrading penalties even further.

If Colorado and Washington are any indication, arrests have gone way down since the passage of their initiatives, and they also just allow possession of 1 ounce. Arrests should go way down in California if this passes, as well.

—Mikki Norris

Hello Mikki! Thank you for writing, and congrats on you and your partner Chris Conrad winning the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 Emerald Cup! You and Chris have been an unstoppable and inspirational combo when it comes to marijuana law reform and I thank you.

You are correct. The original wording had it listed at 4 grams of concentrates, but it has recently been changed to allow 8 grams. As to the growing ban, think about this: What defines a “secure area out of public view”? If you have plants in your backyard, but your neighbor can see them, does that count as public? If you have a 10-foot plant behind an 8-foot fence, will you be hassled by the cops? What defines an “open container” of pot? Does a baggie count? If I’m walking down the street puffing a doob, will I be subject to a fine? I am just wondering why we continue to treat marijuana like crack, and not like wine. I feel like this initiative does a lot of over-regulating. I would like a law that makes it easier for me to grow and use cannabis. We need farmers markets and bud-and-breakfast hotels, not sterile pot factories full of pesticides and greed. Colorado is having a huge problem with commercial pressures forcing growers to use pesticides. Is that what we want? California is already feeling pressure. At this year’s Emerald Cup, 15 percent of the entrants (and this is a contest for organically grown outdoor cannabis) tested positive for pesticides. We need to be creating space for our growers to make delicious natural cannabis, not sweating citizens over an ounce of weed. I could buy a van full of booze right now, and no one would blink an eye. Why should weed be different? Weed is safer.

All that being said, I want to support AUMA. I am hoping that Sean Parker and Co. will revise a few things and maybe throw a bone or two to the lifestyle cannabis user so that we won’t be mad at ourselves when we vote yes.