WEEDING OUT THE BAD SEEDS OF LEGISLATION

If Marijuana Is Legalized in California, Taxing It Could Potentially
Benefit the State's Budget

Last week's proposal by California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San
Francisco) to decriminalize the possession and sale of marijuana
under state law and to set up a system to tax it couldn't have come
at a better time.

The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act (AB 390) would
look to exploit California's number one cash crop which is estimated
to have a $14 billion industry, leading to a potential $1.3 billion
increase in annual tax revenue for the state of California, which
according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will reach a $41.8 billion
budget deficit in June 2010.

Of course Schwarzenegger is no stranger to smoking joints, but
whether or not marijuana could be a solution to California's growing
deficit is up to our state's ability to turn a profit on scorned habits.

The 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found the inevitable:
Marijuana is by far the most frequently used illicit drug in the
United States. Of course the majority of users reside in California,
totaling 3.3 million, many of which fall into the college-age crowd.

A 2006 U.S. Justice Department survey reported that 16.3 percent of
college-age respondents said they had used the drug within the last
week that they were surveyed. However, the data could also be a
dramatic understatement to just how many students actually use.

These percentages have fueled our current administration on
re-evaluating our drug laws and war on drugs. According to FBI
Uniform Crime Reports, the government spent about $41.8 million on
law enforcement for more than 800,000 marijuana arrests in 2007.

Under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, cannabis is a Schedule 1
drug, meaning it is similar to crack, meth and LSD. It has no medical
use and cannot be prescribed by a physician.

The fear of marijuana by the feds surpasses the fear of harder
substances such as cocaine and amphetamines, which are surprisingly
Schedule 2 drugs. The real kicker is the fact that the active
ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), can be sold in pill form as a
Schedule 3 drug. So how heinous is the plant?

According to the FBI's annual UCR, it's dangerous enough to arrest
approximately six million Americans on marijuana charges since 1992.
That's greater than the entire populations of Alaska, Delaware, the
District of Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont
and Wyoming combined.

Former President Jimmy Carter told Congress in 1977 that "penalties
against a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the
use of the drug itself." Ammiano's proposed bill calls for a portion
of tax revenue to fund drug-education programs, ones that even the
sons of politicians could benefit from.

The son of Randy Cunningham (R-Calif.), a congressman who advocated
the death penalty for drug dealers, was convicted for possession of
400 pounds of marijuana. The son of former Vice President Al Gore was
caught smoking what appeared to be marijuana by school authorities at
St. Alban's School.

And who can forget our Olympic champion Michael Phelps, who recently
had to apologize about his "misconduct" after photos surfaced of him
using his super-human lung strength to consume weed out of a glass bong.

Proponents of the war on drugs, marijuana in particular, have tried
to sway our society into thinking that marijuana makes your brain
soft and your feet fall off. In actuality, many people from all walks
of life who have experienced the effects of marijuana have been able
to move on and succeed in life--Barrack Obama, Bill Clinton, Cheech
and Chong, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and many others.

However, there are still the vast majority of college-age pot users
who will continue to take up room on their parent's couch while
eating cereal and watching cartoons. Marijuana usage should be a
health issue, rather than a criminal one.

As adults, we can go home tonight and drink 10 martinis and smoke two
packs of cigarettes. It's not a healthy thing to do, but it's not
illegal. Whether or not you think marijuana is the killer of
America's youth, or it's the best thing since sliced bread, one can't
deny the urgency our state is in to find the proper resources to fund
an adequate budget.

For more information on The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and
Education Act (AB 390), visit these Web sites:

www.leginfo.ca.gov : The California Legislature's official site with
information on AB 390 and other bills.

www.canorml.org : A Web site dedicated to informing the public and
legalization of marijuana.

www.oas.samhsa.gov : The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, Office of Applied Studies Web site includes
information from surveys showing the frequency of marijuana users.