Photo by Sheila Fitzgerald via ShutterstockIt’s been three months since San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen urged state lawmakers in a proposed resolution to legalize sex work in California. “It is time to recognize this and move towards decriminalization and ultimately legalization and regulation of sex work,” she says.
A photo illustration of a young girl in custody. (Image: structuresxx, via ShutterstockThe woman, writing to Gov. Gavin Newsom about Senate Bill 233, called herself voiceless.In her letter she told the governor about rapes she’s suffered while homeless and on the streets. Pimps had beaten her. One once threw her out of a hotel, leaving her naked in the parking lot.She feared to call police. They never listened to her before, the unnamed woman wrote.
Marijuana plant. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.If California legalizes recreational marijuana, the state should develop a single highly regulated marijuana market—for medical and recreational uses. This is among the key findings of a report released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). It analyzes the regulatory approaches taken by Washington and Colorado — the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana.
A marijuana plant at an indoor farm. (Photo: Syd Cinema, via Shutterstock)In late October, the California and Hawaii chapters of the NAACP gathered for a convention in Los Angeles to discuss issues facing the African-American community. Among the bevy of politicians and suits, one attend stood out: Calvin Broadus Jr., better known as rapper Snoop Dogg, famous for singing “Smoke weed every day.”
The Marijuana Policy Project, a national group that seeks to legalize recreational marijuana use, says it intends to put the issue before California voters on the 2016 general election ballot. The group’s decision to file a committee with California Secretary of State Debra Bowen on Wednesday means it may start raising funds to help finance signature gathering and qualify the measure in California.