Group eyes wider push to legalize marijuana

WASHINGTON — When it comes to politics, it's never too early.

The fate of marijuana legalization in two states and the nation's capital won't be decided until November, but advocates are already proceeding with their 2016 campaigns in three other states.

The Marijuana Policy Project, the advocacy group that played a vital role in helping to pass legalization in Colorado, has already formally announced committees to push legalization in Arizona, Massachusetts and Nevada and plans to file paperwork with the California Secretary of State Wednesday to form a campaign committee there.

In the years to come, the advocacy group has also set its sights on legalizing marijuana legislatively in Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, while using the initiative process to achieve the same goal in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada.

The Marijuana Policy Project of California will begin raising funds immediately to get a measure on the November 2016 ballot, the group says.

“A diverse coalition of activists, organizations, businesses, and community leaders will be joining together in coming months to draft the most effective and viable proposal possible,” Marijuana Policy Project Executive Director Rob Kampia said in a statement. “Public opinion has been evolving nationwide when it comes to marijuana policy, and Californians have always been ahead of the curve.”

In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana. The Field Poll, which specializes in public opinion research in the state, found last December that 55 percent of California voters support the legalization of the drug, the first time a clear majority supported such a policy since it began asking about the issue in 1969.

The legalization movement has largely been focused in the West, so far. Colorado and Washington were first to legalize the drug, with sales in both states having begun this year.

Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia will pose the question to voters this fall. An early-August survey by Public Policy Polling found that 49 percent of Alaska voters oppose legalization while 44 percent support it. Support in Oregon was pegged at 51 percent in a June poll by Survey USA. If approved there and, subsequently, in California, the entire West Coast would be legalized.