Editorial unclear about Proposition 64 purpose

I believe the Marin IJ Editorial Board is repeating a false narrative in its recently published editorial (“Cannabis caution continues in Novato, Marin,” Feb. 21).

Please know that Marin voters’ overwhelming endorsement of 2016’s Proposition 64 was not a vote for cannabis storefronts. Actually, the passing of Prop. 64 permitted adults 21 years of age and over to possess and grow specified amounts of marijuana for recreational use.

There is no wording in Proposition

64 that connects it to allowing local municipalities to implement “pot businesses.” I have seen polls and posts on social media sites used as measurements for justifying pot businesses. But I do not believe they truly measure how many residents of Marin want them in their city. In reading the wording of Proposition 64, you can see that it was a vote for allowing “local governments to ban nonmedical marijuana businesses as set forth in this act.”

The editorial states that “implementation of Proposition 64 has been slow across Marin,” but Proposition 64’s intention has been fully implemented in Marin. Adults (including those 18 and over with a medical marijuana card) are now legally able to possess and grow marijuana.

Prop. 64 was, for many, a vote for decriminalization, against mass incarceration and against the failed “War on Drugs.” It was not for cannabis stores in neighborhoods near schools, parks, bike paths and safe routes to schools. Facts matter.

— Michelle Leopold, Greenbrae