activists have called for the state’s secession, or a so-called “Calexit”.

So, could California actually form its own country?

Well, in California, calls to leave the union are nothing new.

There have been more than 200 secession proposals since the state’s formation in 1850.

Many have called for the state to break into different sections before leaving the union,

for instance creating two separate Northern and Southern Californias or an autonomous

“Coastal California”.

In 2013, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist spearheaded a proposal to split California

into six new states.

However the measure died before making it to the 2016 ballot, as only two-thirds of

its signatures turned out to be valid.

Today, the most significant secession movement is ‘Yes California’.

It argues that the state has become so economically strong and ideologically distinct from the

rest of the US, that it ought to be its own country.

And in fact, according to 2015 IMF figures, an independent California would be the sixth-largest

economy, just ahead of France.

According to the campaign’s unofficial manifesto, California suffers from the federal government’s

trade policies, and pays more in federal tax than it receives in funding, all while the

state itself is in debt.

The solution, they say, is a “peaceful secession from the United States” by way of a 2019

referendum, which will then lead to a “constitutional exit from the Union”.

But how probable is California's exit plan?

Well, there is no part of the U.S. Constitution that deals explicitly with state secession.

This ambiguity has led to a number of unsuccessful attempts, one of which made it all the way

to the Supreme Court.

In the 1869 case Texas v. White, the court ruled that all states are perpetually contracted

to the US, and cannot secede “except through revolution or through consent of the States.”

So in theory, an independent California is possible, however the path to secession is

narrow.

So narrow that it would literally take a constitutional amendment to accomplish.

This is what activists are aiming for but, its passage would require a two-thirds vote

from both the House and Senate, along with the approval of at least 38 states- a feat

experts say is unlikely.

What’s more, Yes California is still considered to be on the fringe, with only about 3,000

official supporters.

But the movement has gained momentum after Donald Trump’s victory, with its twitter

followers increasing from 650 in June 2016 to more than 15,000 in November.

After the election, Yes California’s president stated that Californians were offended with

Trump’s statements about minorities, and that the outcome was just further proof that

the state is more progressive than the US as a whole.

To be certain, California voters did err on the progressive side in the 2016 election,

opting for tax increases, stricter gun laws and marijuana legalization.

But the state is far from ideologically unified, with more than 3 million votes for Donald

Trump in the 2016 election.

This, combined with the legal legwork between statehood and autonomy, means California is

far, far away from an actual Calexit or some call it a Califrexit.

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With California passing recreational marijuana, we visited the Golden State’s weed farms

to find out what this means.

Check it out here.

I think a lot of it really does have to do with this area and that cannabis has thrived

here because of the culture and the community, but I think there's also a uniqueness to the

climate and this region and typography here that really brings out an amazing expression

of the plant.

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