Posted on 02/23/2009 10:50:40 AM PST by SmithL
California may be going to pot - literally.
Marijuana would be grown and sold openly to adults 21 and older under legislation introduced this morning by a San Francisco lawmaker.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, said the cash-starved state could generate more than a billion dollars by taxing pot growers and sellers.
Ammiano predicted that the public would support loosening marijuana laws that require substantial public funds to enforce.
"I think there's a mentality throughout the state and the country that this isn't the highest priority," he said. "And that maybe we should start to reassess."
Before California could legalize marijuana, however, it also might have to persuade the federal government to alter its prohibition on cannabis.
Ammiano said federal officials may be receptive to such changes under the administration of President Barack Obama.
"We may be on a parallel track here," said Ammiano, a freshman legislator who was sworn into office less than three months ago.
The Drug Policy Alliance, an advocate of loosening pot laws, applauded Ammiano's proposal.
"Marijuana already plays a huge role in the California economy," said Stephen Gutwillig, the group's California state director. "It's a revenue opportunity we literally can't afford to ignore any longer."
Ammiano's bill, Assembly Bill 390, would allow marijuana to be sold openly - like alcohol - in retail outlets statewide.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
The war on some guns may overtake that effort in the Obama regime.
YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID!
About time. I’d love to know just hom much money has been wasted since 1937 attempting to keep it illegal. Pretty obvious how ineffective it’s been.
On the contrary, Obama has told the narcs to slack off on those using it medicinally....hungry as he is for tax $$ to roll in, he will look the other way.....there aren't enough feds to handle the marijuana sales in Berkley, let alone the entire state.
Not a user but, hey why not? It’s not going away.
People are touted as criminals in some cases.
And above all..... tax the hell out of them.
Of course the DEA might not want to give up their cut.
ooooooh, that’s a good one.
I, for one, would prefer not to drive on roads with lots of potheads as well as drunks.
Nor would the border agents.
You already do.
Are people seriously going to be buying government taxed pot? People would grow their own rather than pay taxes. Now the feds are going to arrest the people not for possessing the drug, but for not paying yet another tax.
OK, if we all hold out breath waiting for an answer to that one, we’ll be blue before it arrives.
Face it, the Reefer Madness types have been slinging that “Marijuana will end Civilization” nonsense since 1937.
So look out your window, when you see a flock of Pigs flying passed, the Drug Warriors will be able to put up some evidence for their hyperboli.
The dopers, who are constantly wailing about the 1937 marijuana tax law, now want to bring it back. Dopes.
Out of the baggie you mean.
No I meant box. I don’t mess with this stuff but if I did I would buy in bulk...cheaper:’)
lol
How did we survive for the first 150 years, numbskull?
It’s the rational thing to do. Which is why it will never happen.
I’m all for legalizing pot. Cleans out the prisons, puts farmers to work and reaps big tax revenues.
Good pot is no worse for you than good wine (same goes for bad pot and bad wine).
I say go for it!
You are mixing apples with oranges.
If politics is the art of what is possible, we have to look at what is realistically possible. If we can't control drugs in prisons, how are we going to control drugs in a free society? We have tried for for the last 70 years, it's cost us billions and it hasn't worked. We lost "the war on drugs" a long time ago, but refuse to admit it.
Our California prisons now are so overcrowded, that violent criminals are being released just to keep pot smokers in jail. We no longer have enough money to build new prisons.
So if there is just "one jail cell" to protect society from evil, who do you want in it? A child molester/rapist? Or a pot smoker who never harmed anyone? Because that is precisely the choice we are currently faced with, and I know without a shadow of a doubt where my choice is!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.