Pot is in the air here on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Not in the smoke that drifts between the cafes, second-hand shops and indie music stores of legendary Haight-Ashbury. But in the headlines of local newspapers, the posters plastered on phone booths and the ads now airing on the radio.

It has been two months since a proposal to legalize marijuana was added to California’s fall referendum ballot, and the debate on the subject is in full swing. A similar vote crashed and burned in the 1970s, but proponents feel that this time they could win. Last week, councillors across the water made Oakland the state’s first city to formally endorse the move, and the latest polls show public opinion is almost evenly divided.

cannabisnews.org