Prop 19 Backers Banking on 2012

Proposition 19 may have lost at the polls, but relax, dude: Its backers are more convinced than ever that a similar measure will pass in 2012. A post-election poll shows that Californians actually do favor legalization 49% to 41%, so now it’s just a matter of getting the young voters who overwhelmingly back the measure to the polls—and the Prop 19 campaign is already working on its comeback plan, which supporters hope will involve more money and a better, tighter message, the Los Angeles Times reports.

This year, the campaign only brought in about $4 million, but one organizer notes that “we found a lot of friends along the way that we will want to include from the get-go this time,” including businesspeople and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Even so, they are prepared to rethink the measure if it will help it to be more widely accepted; for example, they may remove a controversial clause aimed at protecting workers from being fired for smoking marijuana. For more on why Prop 19 failed, click here.
(More legalization stories.)