Coronavirus has Kevin Smith pushing for changes regarding cannabis initiative

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The Hollywood celebrity and cannabis enthusiast is looking to change California laws

The outbreak of the COVID-19 is forcing people to stay home and, even though it is a nice break for both people and the planet, there are some things that still need attention due to their time-sensitive nature. That is why filmmaker Kevin Smith and actor Jason Mewes are seeking new methods to collect signatures for a marijuana initiative that was intended to be included in this year’s ballot in November. Smith and Mewes asked California officials to allow a digital signature-gathering campaign for the initiative called the “California Cannabis Hemp Heritage Act.”

In the past, other similar measures have attempted to become a law with no success. This initiative is aiming to allow more access to the cannabis industry in the state through changes in licensing and tax policies that exist in the current regulatory model. Through a video posted on Facebook last Saturday, Smith and Mewes requested the government to revise, at least temporarily, the process of gathering signatures so this proposal can be signed online instead of in person. Even though recreational marijuana has been legal in California since 2016, Smith stated that “it has kind of rolled back some of the rights and the access the people had to the plant prior to that” even when only medical cannabis was allowed.

“In legalizing weed recreationally, it kind of took a step back and now there are people who don’t have access to it,” Smith, whose pilot for a cannabis-themed web series “Hollyweed” aired last year but wasn’t picked up, said. “Worse, there are some people being criminalized again.”