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Adam Carolla Doesn’t Think California Will Legalize Marijuana In 2016 Election

By Coburn Palmer
Published on: 08:50 PST, Mar 20, 2016

Marijuana legalization is sweeping the nation and California voters will likely be asked to approve recreational pot in the November election, but may reject the idea because they love to take the fun out of everything.

Comedian Adam Carolla, star of Loveline, says voters in the Golden State will reject marijuana legalization because California loves to create needless regulations to control people’s lives.

In a recent interview with the Cannabist, Carolla, star of the Man Show, said that even though California is known for allowing great personal freedom, the state also has serious control issues.

“Every commercial that depicts California shows people running on the beach with the dog and the drink in their hand and having a big bonfire at the end of the night, all of those activities are things you’d be arrested for if you lived in California.”

Carolla, who hosts the popular daily podcast The Adam Carolla Show, told the Cannabist he smoked a fair amount of weed when he was younger, but now would rather have a glass of wine than a pot joint. That doesn’t stop him from smoking marijuana at parties, however.

Legalizing recreational marijuana would make that a whole lot easier, but Adam doesn’t think California voters will go for it because they love making rules to control other people’s lives, reports the Cannabist.

“Legalization is not a sure thing, because California loves telling people what to do and what not to do.”

Four states and the District of Columbia have already legalized recreational marijuana for adults while 23 other states have eased restrictions and a number of other states, including California, are likely to consider the issue in November.

Marijuana legalization is far from certain in California, however; the Golden State rejected the idea of recreational pot in 2010 and at least one group is actively fighting the upcoming 2016 ballot measure.

Roger Morgan and his StopPot2016 campaign argue marijuana causes irreparable brain damage to weed smokers under 25 years of age.

“Almost all of the mass murders we’ve had in recent years, the person has been a heavy marijuana user because it changes the brain.”

Carolla, doesn’t agree with such extreme statements nor does he want to ban marijuana use, but he did tell the Cannabist that the desire to regulate everything goes hand in hand with California’s carefree attitudes.

“We have more rules and regulations than any place in the world. It’s not as footloose and fancy-free as you think.”

California became the first state to endorse medical marijuana in 1996, but failed to create any regulation for the new billion dollar industry resulting in a kind of wild west environment where legal pot shops faced police raids.

Then, last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a series of bills creating the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation responsible for issuing permits, collecting fees, and overseeing the cultivation, storage, and sale of pot.

Now, as the November election approaches and marijuana advocates push for pot legalization, cities across the Golden State are clamping down on marijuana use and shuttering legal dispensaries.

Cities across San Diego county have moved to ban marijuana dispensaries while communities in the Central Valley are taking efforts to close already open legal pot shops in their neighborhoods.

In a recent poll, 58 percent of Americans and 55 percent of Californian’s supported legalizing recreational marijuana, but as Adam Carolla points out, Golden State voters love to over regulate.

Whether California will approve recreational marijuana in November is anyone’s guess.

What do you think? Will California voters approve legal recreational marijuana in November?

[AP Photo/Richard Drew]

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