Fresno County authorities sound off on proposed marijuana legalization in California

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Voters will once again get to decide whether recreational marijuana should be legal in California.

Proponents of the measure gained enough signatures to get it on the ballot this November.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims says she would still try and enforce their local moratorium on marijuana to try and prevent pot use locally even if it's legalized.

We did talk to some medical marijuana users who said they will be heading to the polls this November to throw their support behind the legalization of marijuana in California.

For the second time since 2010, voters in California will decide whether the most populous state in the United States should legalize recreational marijuana.

"I think it's a good idea," a medical marijuana user who did not want to be identified said. "So, we won't have too many of the neighborhood drug dealers."

The Fresno resident says she just got her medical marijuana card Wednesday to help her relax and relieve pain.

She thinks it'll create a safer environment for people who want to smoke or ingest marijuana and cut down on crime.

"And I don't vote," she said. "This time, I will vote."

The proposed new law promises lower crime rates and increased revenue from the taxes placed on legal pot.

Mims, though, doesn't think the measure will pass, adding if people have learned anything from Colorado and Washington where marijuana was legalized in 2012, they'll vote against it.

"Now you have a whole new set of regulations and that says people under 21 can't smoke marijuana but they do," she said. "You can't smoke it in public but they do. You can't do a lot of things but they are and law enforcement are busier than ever dealing with marijuana areas."

She also says, according to the organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana, more children are trying marijuana in those states because it's more accessible.

While the Fresno County Sheriff's Office can't enforce federal law, Mims says the county can create its own zoning regulations to prohibit marijuana.

"Local municipalities can still fashion their own ordinances, so that's a good thing," she said. "We need to be able to have that ability."