California, Legalizing Pot | featured news

If a California company has its way, recreational marijuana users in Colorado and Washington state will one day be able to get their pot out of vending machines.

California voters rejected Prop. 19, but a post-election poll found that they still lean toward legalizing marijuana for recreational use and, if young voters had turned out as heavily on Tuesday as they do for presidential elections, the result would have been a close call.

Voters now oppose Prop. 19, which would legalize marijuana, 49% to 44%, and Prop. 23, which would suspend the state's global warming law, 48% to 37%.

Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department will prosecute distribution and possession of marijuana in California even if the state's voters approve a ballot measure to legalize the drug.

The city of Oakland, California on Tuesday legalized large-scale marijuana cultivation for medical use and will issue up to four permits for "industrial" cultivation starting next year.

With 48% opposed, legalization effort faces a difficult challenge, pollster says. Californians likely to vote in November are evenly split over whether to legalize marijuana, with only a small percentage of the electorate still undecided about the controversial issue, according to a poll conducted last week by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

A California voter initiative that would legalize possession and sale of marijuana has qualified for the November ballot, state election officials said on Wednesday, in what supporters called a "watershed moment" for their cause.