【赫芬顿邮报】你已经可以在加利福尼亚州合法地购买娱乐用大麻 [美国媒体]

LOS ANGELES ― Adults who are at least 21 years old can legally purchase recreational marijuana from select retail shops in California beginning Monday, a milestone that instantly makes the state the world’s largest legal marijuana marketplace.

来自洛杉矶的报道——从本周一开始，已满21岁的成年人可以在加利福尼亚州的大麻零售商店合法地购买娱乐用大麻。这一里程碑式的改变使得加州立即成为了世界上最大的合法大麻交易市场。

Sales begin just after 6 a.m. local time at shops that obtained a temporary adult-use retail license from the Bureau of Cannabis Control, the state agency that oversees the industry. Many more retail outlets will open in the months to come.

大麻销售从当地时间早上6点钟开始。销售大麻的店铺都已经从当地的官方监督机构，大麻管理局，获得了一份临时的成年人专用大麻销售许可。在接下来的一个月里，还会有更多的零售商店开张。

“This was another milestone in California’s voter-approved efforts to be smarter and more cost-effective about preventing real crime,” Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) told HuffPost. ”Now it’s time for California to transition a billion-dollar industry largely existing in the shadows of the black market into a tracked, traced, taxed and tightly regulated system.”

“这在加州选民追求采取更灵活、更节省的方式阻止真正的犯罪行为的尝试中，是一次里程碑式的事件”，加州副州长Gavin Newsom（民主党）对赫芬顿邮报的记者说道。“现在是时候让加州把这个很大程度上已经存在于黑市中、价值几十亿美元的产业真正转变成为一个被监管、被监控并且被课税的合法系统”。

California, the most populous U.S. state, began the nation’s medical marijuana trend in 1996, and holds an outsized influence in national policy as it begins recreational marijuana sales under an initiative approved by voters in 2016. The state’s new recreational marijuana industry has a projected value of as much as $7 billion ― enough to make it the world’s largest legal marijuana market ― and is predicted to eventually generate $1 billion annually in local and state tax revenue. 

加州作为美国人口最多的州，早已在1996年就引领了整个国家医用大麻的兴起。在2016年通过选举投票通过了合法销售娱乐用大麻的动议之后，加州对整个国家的大麻政策走向也产生了巨大的影响。根据预测，加州的娱乐用大麻产业总价值约为七十亿美元，这一数目足以使得加州成为世界上最大的合法大麻市场，并且预计将给地方和州政府最终带来约十亿美元的税收。

One of the few shops to obtain a permit to begin Jan. 1 sales of recreational marijuana was Berkeley Patients Group, in Berkeley, the oldest medical marijuana dispensary in the nation.

在众多办理了销售许可并于元旦当天销售娱乐用大麻的店铺中，就有位于伯克利的Berkeley Patients Group，这也是全美国历史最悠久的医用大麻经销商。

“We are thrilled to be one of the first recipients of a state license and are thankful for the opportunity to now serve quality cannabis to a larger community in a safe and welcoming environment,” étienne Fontán, vice president and director of the company, told HuffPost.

“能够首批得到销售许可，我们感到非常激动。同时我们也因为能够在一个更加安全和友善的大环境中为更多的人提供高质量大麻而感到欣慰”，Etienne Fontan，这家公司的副总裁，对赫芬顿邮报这样说道。

Fontán, a longtime advocate of marijuana legalization, said his shop has been adding inventory for what will likely be a busy day of sales.

Fontan作为大麻合法化的积极推动者，透露称他的公司正在为迎接可能随之而来的“爆买”而增加库存。

California produces vast amounts of marijuana, and has done so for years. Now, more than 20 years after the state legalized medical marijuana, 28 other states allow cannabis for medical purposes. Eight states, including California, and the District of Columbia, have also legalized the plant for adult recreational purposes. 

每年都有巨量的大麻在加州被生产出来，而且这一现象已经持续了许多年。在加州合法化医用大麻已经超过二十年的当下，美国已经另外有28个州也批准了医用大麻的使用。其中的八个州，包括加利福尼亚州和哥伦比亚地区，同时也将成年人娱乐大麻的种植合法化。

“California is going to have a major impact on the public’s view of cannabis, not just in the U.S., but around the world,” Mason Tvert, a proponent of progressive drug laws and a partner at VS Strategies, a communications and government relations firm focused on marijuana policy, told HuffPost. “California is our country’s number one tourism destination, with millions of people from around the country and hundreds of thousands from around the world visiting each year. A whole lot of people are going to witness this system. They will see that it works, and they will share their experiences with others back home.”

“加州将会对公众对于大麻的观感产生重大影响，这种影响不光仅限于美国，更会扩散到全世界”，Mason Tvert，宽松毒品政策的激进推动者，同时也是VS Strategies，一家专注于就大麻政策从事政府公关的公司，的合作伙伴，这样对赫芬顿邮报说道。“加州是我们国家首屈一指的旅游胜地，每年有上百万国内游客和数以十万计的国外游客来到加州旅游。其中许多人将会亲眼目睹我们的大麻产业。他们会发现这个产业非常棒，并且在回家之后与其他人一同分享”。

California’s new recreational marijuana law allows adults 21 and older to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana. Adults can also grow up to six cannabis plants at home for personal use. It remains illegal to openly use marijuana in public, and smoking pot is banned anywhere that tobacco smoking is banned, so recreational consumers will have to enjoy their new rights in private.

加州的新娱乐用大麻法律允许21岁以上的成年人合法拥有一盎司以内的大麻。成年民众同时还可以在自己家种植六株以内的大麻以满足个人用途。然而，在公共场合抽大麻仍然是非法的，而且在禁止吸烟的地方同时也禁止吸大麻。因此，大麻消费者们必须在私人场合享受法律新赋予他们的个人权利。

The law goes beyond the regulation and taxation of marijuana, and aims to repair damage from the country’s failed war on drugs. Individuals with prior marijuana-related convictions that wouldn’t have been a crime under the new law, or would have resulted in a lesser punishment, can petition courts to have their record reclassified, or cleared altogether. 

这项大麻合法化的法律不仅规范了大麻市场、增加了大麻税收，而且同时还旨在扳回这个国家失败的“毒品战争”所造成的伤害。在法律生效以前因为大麻相关的罪名而遭受指控的个人，可以因为这样的行为不再构成犯罪，或者是能够减轻处罚， 而向法庭提起上诉，以将过往的判决从他们的个人记录上加密或者抹去。

As of September, some 4,500 people had petitioned courts to change their marijuana-related sentences.

截至2017年9月，有将近4500人对法院提起上诉以修正他们和大麻犯罪相关的判决。

In addition, some local jurisdictions are giving priority or other assistance to marijuana business license applicants previously convicted of low-level marijuana offenses, or who come from low-income communities hit hard by harsh drug-war policies.

在此之上，某些地方执法机构已经为一些申诉人的处理提高了优先级，其中包括从前拥有低级大麻犯罪记录的大麻销售许可申请人，或者是在严厉的毒品政策下深受其害的低收入群体。

California’s regulated recreational marketplace begins as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a staunch opponent of marijuana legalization, continues to suggest that a federal crackdown of state-legal marijuana may be in the works.

尽管加州的总检察长，Jeff Sessions，一位坚定的合法大麻反对者，不断警告称联邦政府有可能已经在准备强制禁止大麻合法化，加州的合法大麻市场仍然按时开业。

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but states have pressed ahead with their own laws under Obama administration guidance that urges federal prosecutors to refrain from targeting state-legal marijuana operations. That policy could be reversed or altered by Sessions, who hinted as recently as last month that the Justice Department is looking to make changes. 

尽管大麻在联邦法律下仍然是非法的，但是奥巴马主政时期印发的行政指导已经明令联邦检察官不得干涉州内大麻的合法化的行动，也正因为此，许多州都走在了联邦的前面，并制订了自己的大麻监管法律。然而，奥巴马总统的这项规定有可能通过议会被撤销或者逆转，而联邦议会也已经在上个月暗示称司法部门正在试图修改这一规定。

A Sessions task force reviewed the hands-off approach to state laws this year, but its report largely reiterated current policy and did not push for a crackdown, according to The Associated Press. In May, Sessions urged Congress not to renew the federal law that blocks the Justice Department from spending money to interfere with states’ legalization of medical marijuana. Lawmakers rejected his request. 

根据联合新闻社的报道，联邦议会的一个工作小组正在审查这项对州大麻立法的“不干预”政策，但是工作小组的最终报告却重申了当前的政策，而且并没有提及强制禁止。在去年五月份，议会曾经建议国会不再延长这项禁止联邦司法部拨款以干涉州医用大麻合法化的规定。国会议员们投票否决了议会的这一建议。

President Donald Trump, as a candidate for office, said he would respect states’ rights on the issue.

川普总统，作为当时的总统候选人，声称他将会尊重各州的这一权力。

“Federal officials have been engaging in more cannabis-related dialogue than ever with state officials, and it seems like they recognize the catastrophe that would be caused by significantly interfering in state regulatory systems,” Tvert said. “These state laws are working, and it would be very difficult to justify disrupting them.”

“联邦官员正在以前所未有的热度与州政府官员展开关于大麻政策的对话。最终联邦官员似乎已经认识到，让联邦政府高度干预州内立法系统将会带来灾难性的后果”，Tvert说道，“毕竟这些政策运行得很好，改变这些政策是非常困难的。”

A recent Gallup poll found that 64 percent of Americans favor making marijuana legal ― the highest since the pollster first posed the question almost five decades ago. Majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents all voiced support for legal marijuana.

Gallup最近的一项民调显示，64%的美国人赞同大麻合法化——这一数据是近50年来大麻合法化被提上日程之后最高的。不论是在民主党，还是共和党，还是无党派人士中，赞同大麻合法化的声音都占据了主流。

Newsom said he expects some turbulence as California’s new regulatory system kicks in. Still, he said, “This moment presents an opportunity to separate responsible actors from the bad, crack down on cartels and abusers of the environment, and provide law enforcement greater resources and a clearer focus.”

尽管Newson也提及加州的这项新政策出台将会造成某些扰动，他仍然这样说道，“在这一刻，我们可以将遵守规则的玩家和坏人区分开，并强力打击贩毒集团和瘾君子。这一切都将为执法部门提供更多的资源和更明确的目标。”