Endorsement: Yes on L.A. County Measure C for regulated cannabis sales
Support from LA County is necessary for the passage of the proposed cannabis sales ordinance in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County voters approved marijuana on November 6, 2016, by a resounding 54% majority. This was the largest popular vote for any type of ballot measure in US history, and it was the largest margin in a federal election for a proposition on any ballot (see here, for example.
As expected, the vote was overwhelmingly supported by Los Angeles County, which encompasses the city of Los Angeles. About 56% of Los Angeles County precincts reported.
However, because the measure was only approved in approximately 38% of Los Angeles County, the City of Los Angeles and the City of Santa Monica filed suit to invalidate the measure on the basis of the following provisions of the state constitution:
The language in Article 12.1(f) of the state constitution is unclear. The clause that the plaintiffs attack on the basis of the state constitution provides: “The general assembly shall have power: to regulate the cultivation and sale of marijuana; to prohibit the manufacture of marijuana; to prohibit the use of marijuana for any purpose; and to prohibit the possession and use of marijuana, and whenever it is in the best interest of the people, to prohibit such use by any resident of the state….”
The state constitution provides in Article 7 that “No… law shall be passed regulating the business of dealing in tobacco…” (emphasis added).
The plaintiffs argued that, even if the measure passed, it would be unconstitutional for the state to regulate the retail marijuana industry.
The state does not regulate marijuana. The measure is to regulate the state’s cannabis industry. If the state regulates the marijuana industry, that would be allowed under the state constitution.
The state does not regulate tobacco. If the state regulated tobacco, the plaintiffs argue that it would be prohibited under the state constitution from doing so (since the state already has regulatory authority over tobacco).
The Supreme Court of California has already determined that regulating marijuana is not prohibited under state law.
Moreover, the measure was not placed on the ballot by voters through the initiative process, and voters could not have amended the state constitution in November