ACLU Assembles Panel To Study Marijuana Legalization in California

In California, the American Civil Liberties Union has assembled a high profile panel with the intention of studying every aspect of the legalization of marijuana in anticipation of such laws coming into fruition in the state.The reportedly “blue ribbon panel,” chaired by Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, will consist of “leading legal, academic and policy experts from across the state and nation” that will “engage in a multi-year research effort to help voters and policy makers as they consider proposals to enact a strict tax and regulation scheme that will enable California to benefit from billions of dollars of potential revenue annually while protecting the health and safety of our children and communities.” Newsom proclaimed that the panel in question will offer vital datum to activists and the general public with hopes of potentially shaping prospective marijuana laws. He says that 2016 would be the ideal time to course a legalization initiative in his republic.“We have to be thoughtful here,” Newsom avowed. “Do it right. Do it smart. Take a little more time. Real people are suffering. Real lives are impacted. This is serious.”On Wednesday, Tulchin Research released results of a poll they conducted that shows Californians support taxing and regulating recreational marijuana by a wide margin of 65 to 32 percent.“They see marijuana as widely available. People are using it,” Ben Tulchin of Tulchin Research explained. “The state is not capturing the revenue.”The American Civil Liberties Union is billing their panel building efforts as one of the most urbane efforts that has ever been assumed in regards to seriously studying the subject of marijuana legalization in the state of California.Editor's Note: This article was originally published on the 420 Times on Friday, October 18, 2013.