Judge James P. Gray and NORML founder Keith Stroup are among the backers of an initiative that would "Regulate Marijuana Like Wine" in California in 2012.

"It's the right thing," Gray (left) told the crowd at a fundraiser at Newport Beach Vineyard & Winery on Sept. 1. "If we do our jobs right, this initiative is going to pass. People are ready for this. They are beginning to understand."



Written principally by former police officers (Steve Downing, Diane Goldstein), the Act calls for "state taxes and regulations which may be similar and apply to the grape farming and wine industries" for marijuana sales and cultivation. It  "enjoins the search, arrest, prosecution, property seizure, asset forfeiture, eradication costs, and/or any criminal or civil penalty, or sanction, for activity authorized herein" and "does not control, repeal, modify or change statutes pertaining to medical marijuana statutes as set forth in Proposition 215." Use by those under 21 would remain illegal. Check out wording here.



"I'm very intrigued by (the initiative) that wants to model the system on the way they treat wine in California," says Stroup. "I say that because I'm somewhat of a wine connoisseur myself. I enjoy wine very much. I'm, of course, a marijuana smoker. It seems to me that the two work well together and I do think the model for wine is a good one to go after."



Also see:
Stroup Knocks Colorado's Amendment 40
Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011
Five Reasons Why Prop 19 Lost
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