Not Long Until California Legalizes Pot

It's true that the recreational marijuana market would likely be enormous in California if it approves it in the upcoming election.

California has long been famous as a pot-friendly destination, even though the state has never completely legalized marijuana in the past. This may be changing soon though. Growing support in California for legalizing recreational use of marijuana has surpassed previous high levels to reach an all time record. A recent June poll published by the Public Policy Institute of California in the Golden State showed that 54% of potential voters favored legalizing marijuana this year. This represents another 3 percent increase over 2014's support levels.

Recreational Marijuana Support Grows in California

This may not be the first time that the majority of people in California were in favor of legalizing the recreational consumption of marijuana, but it proved to be a the record high level at the right time for the upcoming 2016 elections. This groundswell movement of support has grown by 6 percent with likely Californian voters since the year 2010, the policy group reported. In a sign of the growing shift of public opinion on the matter, for the first time in a survey, a full 52% of aged 55 years and older Californians believe that weed should be made legal, an increase from 42% back in 2010. For the age group of 18 to 34, 61% are in favor of legalization now. It sounds like the Southern California accident attorney offices may soon be busy cleaning up the mess.

The marijuana legalization camp across the U.S. has watched California for a long time with great expectations. They believed pot would flourish in the state. To their credit, California was the front running state in legalizing medical use marijuana back in 1996 in the days when just a few states even contemplated the idea. After California blazed the trail, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington followed in its footsteps after two years.

California to Be the Biggest Marijuana Market

It's true that the recreational marijuana market would likely be enormous in California if it approves it in the upcoming election. The state has 39 million inhabitants, making it the most populous state in the union. Already the medical pot market side rakes in over $980 million in California alone, per the San Francisco-based ArcView Group's 2014 report. With the addition of adults recreationally purchasing and using marijuana, the market would absolutely explode. The current legal market employs about 100,000 people already, while some experts believe this number would rocket to over a million in the coming years if weed achieved fully legal status.

While the ballot issue is not yet guaranteed in California, it certainly looks likely that the legalized marijuana will make it on in time. Two separate groups have already filed their ballot initiatives back in April and have since been busy acquiring signatures they need to be qualified for the 2016 election. It's true that similar efforts failed to achieve the threshold for the ballot five years ago, but things look promising for the fans of legalized drugs this time around.

California Blazing the Marijuana Trail

There is much more at stake than just California's decision on the issue. Observers have noted that similar legalization efforts in other states across the U.S. depend on what will happen in California in 2016. In other words, if California goes for weed, the domino effect across the country would be breathtaking to watch. The Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, who is notably in favor of legalizing marijuana in the state said, "A lot of eyes are on California. It's very different than almost any other state because of the scale and magnitude of the change and what it will represent across the country."

He is right in a very literal sense. Five states at least, including Nevada, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, and California, are all on the verge of voting to legalize marijuana in 2016. Washington state and Colorado both legalized recreational pot in 2012. Washington, D.C. and Oregon both voted in favor of it last year.

The Problems with Legalized Pot

None of this is to say that legalizing marijuana will not cause problems in California and other states; in fact it likely will. Recreational marijuana users are too impaired to safely drive. Yet as already happens with alcohol, undoubtedly people will indulge in marijuana late at night somewhere sometime and then foolishly decide that they are fine to drive themselves home. The end result will be an increase in motor vehicle accidents and accompanying tragic and senseless deaths. Welcome to the imminent legalization of pot in California.