California Medical Association, the influential lobbying group representing more than 40,000 members statewide, has officially thrown its support behind a proposed November ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana.

The doctors’ endorsement, announced Monday, was more of a formality given that one of the measure’s proponents, Dr. Donald Lyman, helped draft its policy calling for decriminalization of the drug in 2011. The organization has long agitated for full legalization, with some doctors complaining that they’ve grown weary of being gatekeepers for healthy people seeking pot recommendations via a flawed medical marijuana system.

CMA officials, in a statement released by the legalization campaign, which is funded by billionaire venture capitalist Sean Parker and supported by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, said their rationale was twofold: Under a legal market, cannabis could be monitored, researched, regulated and mitigated to protect the public health; and improper diversion by healthy patients into the medical marijuana system could reduced. They stressed they do not encourage marijuana use and discourage smoking. [Read more at the Sacramento Bee]