by CalMatters, CalMatters Network
February 27, 2023
In 2016, when California voters faced the choice of whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, they heard promises that it would help end a racist โwar on drugs,โ bring a violent illegal market out of the shadows and, by the way, bring in tax revenue. Gavin Newsom, then lieutenant governor and now governor, said so.ย
More than six years later, while Proposition 64 has cut arrests for marijuana-related offenses, it hasnโt lived up to its billing for the small cannabis growers in Northern Californiaโs famed Emerald Triangle.ย
