Since Californians legalized adult cannabis use and sales 10 years ago in 2016, our state and its citizens have seen many benefits from the laws that Prop. 64 put in place.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE BENEFITS
- Prop. 64 has lead to reduced cannabis arrests and imprisonments. The CA DOJ reported 7,949 felony and 5,861 misdemeanor arrests in 2016 vs. 440 felony and 1,929 misdemeanors in 2024. Unfortunately, racial disparities in arrests remain.
- Over 215,000 past cannabis crimes have been expunged or reduced from people’s records, opening up job and other opportunities for Californians.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
- The California cannabis industry has created 80,000+ legal jobs in what was previously a criminal enterprise (Source.) Many of these are union jobs, and equity businesses are supported in many jurisdictions.
- Cannabis brings in over $4 billion in legal sales yearly.
- Cannabis sales generate $1 billion/year in tax revenues ($600M in state excise taxes and $400M in sales taxes) that fund programs across the state supporting law enforcement, environmental clean up, and youth substance abuse prevention. Since 2018, California has collected more than $7 billion in cannabis tax revenue supporting research, enforcement, and community programs.
- Local jurisdictions that allow legal cannabis businesses across California have also benefited from sales and payroll taxes, funding local programs.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
- California cannabis consumers can now enjoy products that are tested for contaminants and labeled for potency, purchased in safe environments. Crime rates have dropped in communities with legal cannabis retailers.
- Medical marijuana offers safe legal alternatives to opioids and other prescription drugs in the treatment of chronic pain and other medical conditions.
- Parents who are medical marijuana patients have their child custody rights protected under Prop. 64.
- Contrary to the prediction of critics, there has been no surge in auto fatalities since cannabis legalization. DUI arrests are down 21% from 2016 to 2024 (from 131,157 to 104,057). California has followed a general national trend, which was toward lower overall auto fatalities, until jumping up during the pandemic. As of latest data in 2023, California had a lower rate of auto fatalities than the national average (10.4 deaths/100,000 CA vs 12.2 for US).
- There has been no increase in cannabis use by school children post legalization. Licensed retailers don’t sell to minors, and Prop. 64 banned advertising directed at children and required child-proof packaging. A Kaiser study found significant increase in teen use in early years post-64, but the trend reversed with COVID. Adolescent use is down to 6.5% in 2024, slightly below 2016 rate of 6.8%. CA youth had lower cannabis use than national average as of 2019. Source: CDPH 2019. There has also been “No Significant Uptick in CA Adult Use After Legalization” (CA Health Interview Survey 2018-23; however CA has high rate of daily adult use of cannabis.
- Studies have shown decreased binge drinking by young adults. “Binge drinking down among young adults 18-25: LA County.” There is no clear trend in overall alcohol consumption following legalization – beer and wine consumption are down, but hard liquor is up.
- There has been an increased reported incidence of emergency room visits, cannabis use disorder and psychotic reactions, especially among young users, but Prop 64 is funding ongoing research and evaluation of cannabis and legalization. Cal NORML advocates for better education and labeling of cannabis products to reverse these trends, which may be bolstered by increased self-reporting and evaluation. We also advocate for increased research on vaporization and other safety measures.