Hopes for recreational marijuana use went up in smoke on Tuesday after California voters said no to a ballot measure seeking the legalization of marijuana. The measure was defeated by 54 percent of voters with 80 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday.
Opponents feared passage of the measure, which would have allowed local governments to regulate and tax marijuana use, would have led to a growing problem with enforcement. While California voters approved medical marijuana use in 1996, this year’s proposition would have further strained the federal government’s enforcement efforts, which the U.S. attorney general vowed to uphold.
In a debate sponsored by Stanford NAACP on campus on Monday night, proponents of “No on 19” and “Yes on 19” debated the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana.
“The main argument is principle,” said Zaki Manian, regional director for the “Yes on 19” initiative. “And the main principle is the idea of limited government.”
Read the full story at the Stanford Daily.
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