This November the voters of Colorado will likely be deciding whether or not to legalize marijuana in their state.

Today the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is turning in nearly 160,000 signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State office to get their marijuana legalization initiative on the ballot. That is nearly twice the 85,853 valid signatures required by state law to get an initiative put on the ballot.

While a significant percent of the 160,000 raw signatures are likely to be thrown out due to duplications or invalid signers, the campaign is almost assured to have turned in enough valid signatures to qualify. That will ensure their initiative gets placed on the 2012 general election ballot.

If approved by Colorado voters, the initiative would legalize marijuana use and possession for individuals age 21 and above. The measure would create a system of regulation and taxation for the production and retail sale of marijuana similar to that currently in place for alcohol. In addition it would allow for the legal production of industrial hemp in Colorado.

This is the second marijuana legalization ballot initiative campaign this cycle to turn in enough signatures to get on the November 2012 ballot. Last week the New Approach Washington campaign turned in over 340,000 signatures for their marijuana legalization initiative, well in excess of the 240,000 signatures required by Washington state law.