Can Marijuana Help Rescue California's Economy?

Could marijuana be the answer to the economic misery facing California? Democratic State Assembly member Tom Ammiano thinks so. Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale - a move that could mean billions for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion in annual sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity - milk and cream - which brings in $7.3 billion annually, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion in much-needed revenue a year, offsetting some of the billions in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.

“I don’t know, you have to buy it. Hiding out in your house you may be pretty much fine, although there is still some risk. But you have to buy the stuff.”

That's true. Most pot isn't sold on street corners though. Most transactions occur behind closed doors. The buyer will go to the seller's house, or the seller will drop by the buyer's house. Buying it off the street is dangerous and that's why most people wouldn't do that.

There are about 700,000 marijuana possession arrest in a year. That sounds like a lot, but according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 25 million people will smoke pot in a year. That's a survey where government workers come to people's homes and ask them questions about illegal conduct. It's supposed to be anonymous, but I bet there are lots of people who don't feel comfortable admitting illegal conduct to government workers who come to their homes. I bet their estimates are on the low side, and I know that in studies the ONDCP has done they haven't trusted the numbers from the NSDUH and have inflated them to come up with consumption estimates. But for these purposes, let's say the numbers are right. If only a little over 25 million Americans smoke pot in a year and around 700,000 get arrested for possession each year, then less than 3% of pot smokers get arrested each year.

And I can tell you from many years experience in the criminal justice system, and I've worked both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, a lot of the people who get arrested every year are people who have been arrested for pot one or more times in the past. Some have had ridiculous numbers of marijuana arrests. Most who are arrested have done something stupid. They were driving around in their cars smoking in plain view or they got in trouble for something else and happened to have pot on them when they were arrested. A lot of those people who get arrested several times are criminal types who happen to break the marijuana laws in addition to all the other laws they break. There are some fluke arrests where people just get unlucky, but the average otherwise law abiding pot smoker generally doesn't ever get caught. That's the conclusion the numbers point to and that's what I've seen in real life.

One other thing I should add to my last post is that a lot of pot smokers either don’t ever buy it or they only buy it every once in a while and often they’re just buying some from a friend who has some. According to the 2007 NSDUH, about 80% of people who smoke marijuana made their most recent purchase from a friend or relative, not some stranger on the street. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k7NSDUH/tabs/Sect7peTabs1to58.htm#Tab7.43B

Over 10 million of them got their most recently smoked marijuana for free from a friend or relative. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k7NSDUH/tabs/Sect7peTabs1to58.htm#Tab7.44A

So no, pot smokers don’t actually have to buy it. If they want to do it very often of course they are going to have to buy it, but more often then not people will just buy some from a friend who may or may not even be the actual dealer. Technically if the person takes money for it he’s committed a delivery of a controlled substance, but often what is going on is that two people are going in on it and the one who knows the dealer is going to get it or a friend is selling a friend part of what he has, or he’s just sharing it. A few puffs from a joint or a pipe is usually only going to be pennies worth. Most people aren’t going to some crack house type place or some street corner to get their marijuana.

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