It was a cold, cloudy day in Woodland.  Local folks were signing my California Cannabis Initiative petition in droves.  

Woodland is a small farm community just north of Sacramento International Airport.  It is situated in Yolo County, where some of the other local treasures are the cities of Davis and West Sacramento.  The entire county is chiefly agricultural.  The population is predominantly Hispanic, laid back, friendly and down to earth.  

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SAN DIEGO -- A signature campaign to put the legalization of marijuana on the ballot has begun in San Diego County -- with an unlikely person leading the charge, 10News reported.

Bay Park resident Erika Schinler has 4-year-old daughter and is a self-described soccer mom in the making.

Schinler is leading a local petition drive for the California Cannibis Initiative, which would legalize marijuana for adults and place a tax on it. Schinler does not smoke marijuana but would like to see it legalized.

"Bottom line, our state is broke and we need the money. My daughter goes to public school and I don't want her programs to be cut. I don't want her teachers to be laid off," said Schinler.

Full story continues on News10.com

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On September 8th, 2009, a network of true believers across the state kicked off the petition campaign for the California Cannabis Initiative, and the effort has been gaining substantial momentum ever since.  

Their goal is to gather enough signatures to get the CCI on the state ballot for the November 2010 election.  It won’t be easy, but the initiative’s broad reforms have won it a devoted following of volunteers who are ready to give this endeavor their all.

In basic terms, the CCI alters marijuana laws to mimic those for alcohol, legalizes hemp, sets up a taxation structure of $50 per ounce for retail marijuana sales, calls for the licensing of those in the commercial marijuana industry, releases adults imprisoned for state-level marijuana offenses and expunges previous convictions for such offenses.

The California Attorney General predicted that the state would save several millions of dollars per year by following this “no jail for pot” principle.  What’s less clear is how much revenue would be generated by the $50 per ounce tax.  While it sounds hefty indeed, it would only apply to marijuana for commercial purposes and not to cultivation for personal use.  Still, the CCI’s authors estimate that revenue generated through the tax could give the state $1.4 billion each year.  That money would be designated for public education, healthcare, environmental programs, public works and state parks.

In this way, the CCI is an ambitious attempt to make something out of nothing.  The campaign to get the initiative onto the ballot is entirely unfunded at this point, and it draws heavily on its single resource: dedicated volunteers.  

Outside grocery stores and inside festivals, these staunch supporters have been setting up impromptu petition tables with their ironing boards and trying to collect as many signatures as possible.  Their official goal is to gather 650,000 by the beginning of February, which would be an astounding success for an all-volunteer effort.

The members of the CCI’s ironing board brigade not only work for free, but they also pay out of pocket for each signature they collect.  It’s the opposite of the traditional model for a successful initiative campaign, which includes a budget to pay for the bulk pre-printing of the petitions and to pay petitioners on a per-signature basis.  Instead, the CCI’s petitions are printed on-demand as needed by county coordinators, costing them 18 cents per copy.

Such an organizational model is certainly atypical, and it’s bound to strike experienced petitioners as being doomed to failure.  But there’s more at work in this equation than just a group of devoted volunteers and true believers.  The force pushing the CCI’s effort forward is the public’s growing desire to tax and regulate marijuana.  At some point, this momentum will be massive enough to end the wasteful and destructive policy of marijuana prohibition.  Let us hope that time is now.

Get Involved!  www.CaliforniaCannabisInitiative.org

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On Wednesday, September 23, I collected signatures for the California Cannabis Initiative in front of Walmart in the City of Elk Grove, a suburb of Sacramento.  I had obtained prior telephone permission from manager Ryan.  I arrived at about 1:30pm.  Usually I try to start much earlier and catch the lunch crowd, but responsibilities at home precluded me from departing until then.  The weather was about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and there was no shade.  Luckily I had powerful sunglasses and a straw hat that shaded most of my head.  

I worked for less than an hour when two Walmart employees approached me.  They told me that I could not be there, because I was not written down on the schedule.  I replied that Ryan had booked me for that day, so I would be working that location on that day.  The employees tried several more bait and switch approaches to try to persuade me to leave.  I told them that I would pack up my table as a courtesy to them.  But as soon as I packed up my table I intended to speak with the acting manager on duty, and get it straightened out.  

Before I had a chance to get my belongings in my car, a cameraman and news reporter from channel 3 showed up.  They had been looking to do a story on the pot initiatives, and during a game of phone tag with the NBC affiliate I had informed them about my tabling schedule.  Emboldened by the presence of the press, I re-set up my table.  They filmed a brief interview with me, captured some people signing, and got a good, candid interview with a random signer.  The coverage was respectful, and was done well.  

After the media left, I went inside to speak with the manager.  After briefly explaining the situation to Manager Venus (actual name), she said it was fine, I could collect signatures there.  

So I continued working for another couple more hours, until the sun baked me through and through.  Hopefully I left before my sunburn got too bad.  

I arrived home in plenty of time to see myself on T.V.  It was the second story, broadcast at 6:00, and it played well.  

It was a good day.

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