Pot initiative still in play for November election

By Jason Cowan / The Union Democrat / @jcowan1031

Published Jun 10, 2016 at 11:09PM

One marijuana initiative remains in play in Calaveras County, having collected enough signatures to be placed on the November ballot.

Robin Glanville, a clerk-recorder-election coordinator with Calaveras County, said proponents for an initiative that would create a regulatory system for the commercial cannabis industry submitted 3,308 signatures on May 31.

Glanville said proponents were required to submit 1,571 signatures by June 1 to be eligible for the November ballot, but signatures must still be verified. Glanville said the elections office has 30 days to do so.

The initiative, if passed by voters, would establish a comprehensive marijuana regulatory system in Calaveras County. Provisions and operational requirements will be created for various cultivation categories.

An enforcement system will also be created, and violators will be fined $1,000 for each day they are not in compliance.

Registration fees will also be established. Personal cultivators will pay $100, primary caregivers $200, and commercial cultivators and those who fall under the “other” category will pay $5,000. A road-impact fee of $500 and renewal fees will also be charged.

A competing initiative that set out to ban commercial cultivation of marijuana was rejected, according to Rebecca Turner, the county clerk-recorder.

Turner said a raw count indicated they had enough signatures to be placed on the ballot, but the signatures were determined to be invalid. Procedurally, Turner said proponents included the title and summary of what they set out to do, but the full text of the measure was not included.

“I am told that they did have it available if somebody asked,” Turner said.