Pot Moves Forward in California

For the very first time, a state legislative body has voted on an approved a measure that would legalize and tax the use and sale of marijuana.

That's right, on Jan. 12, members of the California Assembly's Public Safety Committee voted 4-3 in favor of AB 390, a proposal to tax and regulate pot sales and use similar to the regulatory scheme in place for alcohol, filed by San Francisco lawmaker Tom Ammiano. The vote is historic, but, alas, is likely the end of the road for AB 390 – the bill is bumping up against a Friday deadline to get to the floor, and with one other committee still in line to consider the measure before that could happen, there's little chance that deadline would be met, said Aaron Smith, California policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Still, it is almost certain that Ammiano will file a similar measure soon (possibly before the end of the month, says Smith) and would be more likely to fast-track pot legalization now that it appears the measure has some traction in Sacramento, Ammiano's spokesman told the San Francisco Weekly. And Smith says that the bill moved as far as it did on a first try is encouraging: "Today's vote should give voters confidence that California's failed and unjust war on marijuana consumers will soon come to an end," he said. "It's an encouraging sign that most members of the committee presiding over the state's penal code have voted to toss marijuana prohibition onto the ash heap of history."