Aaron Smith, executive director of the 1,100-member National Cannabis Industry Association, says he believes California voters will back legalization because they have seen it evolve in other states, where he said tax revenues have swelled without a significant increase in crime.

“The sky hasn’t fallen,” said Smith, a part-time Santa Rosa resident. “Anybody who has any relationship with cannabis understands it is safer than alcohol, tobacco and many prescription drugs.”

Legalization will turn the thousands of jobs in the state’s cannabis industry into “solid, taxpaying jobs,” while sales, advertising and other aspects of the business are tightly regulated by the new law, he said. State-licensed dispensaries “would have a lot to lose by selling to minors,” he said.

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