The LA Times is reporting that the "legalize pot" initiative unleashed by local pot baron, Richard Lee (proud owner and operator of nearby correspondence school, Oaksterdam University), may qualify for the ballot today. At last count, the measure still needed 15,000 signatures. Los Angeles County, which collected signatures from more than 140,000 stoned lay-abouts, is required to hand them over to the state today. It's expected this will more than likely push the measure past the 433,971 signature threshold needed to bring it to the ballot.

As you may recall, the initiative would allow anyone over the age of 21 to keep a personal stash of up to an ounce, or, for those of the Gavin Newsom/Alice Waters school of personal orthorexia, to grow their own on a plot no greater than 25 square feet in size. Of course, local municipalities would be welcome to tax the hell out of legal pot. (Yay! Drug dollars for MUNI!)

Professor Lee has thus far chucked out 1.3 million American dollars in support of the measure, which in the latest polls shows a slim majority of Californians all gung ho for its passage. The biggest demographic holding out on a yay vote for legal weed? Gen X ladies with kids. Huh. Picture Ur-Xer and proposed demographic archetype, Janeane Garofalo, thinking of the children. Now picture Janeane Garofalo, with bong in hand. Right. We think this one is more than likely to pass. Congratulations hippies.