California marijuana legalization act has signatures to make November ballot

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Legalizing marijuana could be on California's November ballot and it appears like an overwhelming number of people support a measure for adult pot use.

The Sacramento Bee reported that 600,000 signatures were raised for the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, far more than the roughly 365,000 needed for the Nov. 8 ballot.

Most people ABC7 spoke to were in favor of the measure, which would allow adults age 21 and over to have up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational use, as well as grow up to six plants.

"I don't really smoke myself, but the people that I know that do it really helps, especially going through chemo and stuff like that," Cassandra Gorum said.

"I think it would be great for the economy, great for the consumer, great for business," Cinthia Flores said. "I'm really for it."

A big supporter of the measure is Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. Back in 2014, he spoke about California being on the leading edge of marijuana policy and mentioned that California was the first in the nation to legalize medical marijuana in 1996.

Since then, Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon have legalized the use of recreational pot.

But not everyone ABC7 spoke to was for the idea.

"I understand there are economic benefits, and there's all different benefits, but these are people's lives that are being hurt by a drug that essentially can become incredibly addictive and lead to other drugs," Raquel Currie said.

The Adult Use of Marijuana Act was scheduled to announce that enough signatures were received during an event in downtown San Francisco on Wednesday, according to the Sacramento Bee.