CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Drug Legalization Drive OKd

Marijuana and other illicit drugs would be legalized in California under proposedinitiatives now cleared for circulation among voters, Secretary of State March Fong Eu announced. Petitions bearing the signatures of 372,178 registered voters must be submitted to county election officials by June 29 to qualify each of the measures for the November ballot, Eu said. One proposal, by proponent Thomas Neece of Mendocino County, would “make null and void entirely and completely all and each existing law” prohibiting use, cultivation and transportation of marijuana. The other measure, also by Neece, would repeal all laws that prohibit “the use, cultivation, transportation, or possession of criminalized drugs, in any form.”