LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- An initiative to legalize marijuana in California has collected sufficient signatures to qualify for the November 2010 ballot, its supporters said.
The petition garnered more than 680,000 signatures, far more than the 433,971 needed, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
"It was so easy to get them," Richard Lee, the measure's main advocate, said. "People were so eager to sign."
Lee, the owner of several medical-marijuana-related businesses, said he spent at least $1.1 million to bring the issue in front of California voters.
If passed, the measure would authorize cities and counties to pass local laws allowing the growing and selling of marijuana, and impose taxes on those activities. Adults over 21 could possess up to an ounce of pot and could grow it in a 25-square-foot area for personal use, the Times reported.
In recent polls, a majority of California voters said they support legalization. An April Field Poll found 56 percent of voters in the state -- and 60 percent in Los Angeles County -- favored legalizing and taxing pot as a way to help solve the state's fiscal crisis, the newspaper said.
