LEGAL MARIJUANA? ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Calls to legalize marijuana have ebbed and flowed since the 1960s,
when smoking the leaves of cannabis sativa first became immensely
popular among the so-called counterculture.

The National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws has
existed for nearly four decades, attempting to provide rationale
toward legalization. The group's efforts pretty much have gone
nowhere, perhaps because of a perception of the membership as a
bunch of pot-smoking hippies.

Others have picked up the cause for different reasons, including
economists who have argued that by legalizing marijuana, untold
amounts of money could be diverted toward legitimate interests,
rather than organized crime.

Such ideas have been dismissed by those who subscribe to the theory
that marijuana is a "gateway drug," the use of which leads to
experimenting with heavier-duty substances.

But in these financially troubled times, the revenue-generating
aspect of legalization is being revisited.

California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has introduced a bill that would
legalize marijuana in his state and regulate the substance in a
manner similar to alcohol. The reasoning is simple: The California
Board of Equalization concluded the state would collect
$1.3 billion a year from tax revenues and a $50-an-ounce levy on
retail sales if marijuana were legal.

That would represent one heck of an economic shot in the arm.

The proposal, of course, is being met with resistance on several
fronts, not the least of which is a vision of untold numbers of
"stoned" individuals staggering around and about.

But think about the income generated from alcohol, particularly in a
state where its sale is controlled as heavily as in Pennsylvania. Or
the tax revenues derived from another "vice" product, tobacco.

The long-standing stigma against marijuana is likely to prevent its
legalization anywhere in the United States in the short term.

If legalization were to occur, California would seem to the natural
place. Limit it to the Left Coast, and let Pennsylvania stick to liquor.