GOVERNOR SAYS HE'S OPEN TO DEBATE ON LEGAL POT

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the time
is right to debate legalizing marijuana for recreational use in California.

The governor's comments were made as support grows nationwide for
relaxing pot laws and only days after a poll found that for the first
time a majority of California voters back legal marijuana. Also, a
San Francisco legislator has proposed regulating and taxing marijuana
to bring the state as much as $1.3 billion a year in extra revenue.

Schwarzenegger was cautious when answering a reporter's question
Tuesday about whether the state should regulate and tax the
substance, saying it is not time to go that far.

But, he said: "I think it's time for debate. I think all of those
ideas of creating extra revenues - I'm always for an open debate on it."

The governor said California should look to the experiences of other
nations around the world in relaxing laws on marijuana.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has introduced a bill to
regulate marijuana like alcohol, with people over 21 years old
allowed to grow, buy, sell and possess cannabis - all of which are
barred by federal law.

California voters in 1996 legalized marijuana for medical use with
permission from a physician.

Ammiano said he was pleased the governor is "open-minded" on the
issue and added that he was sure the two could "hash it out."

Under Ammiano's proposal, the state would impose a $50-an-ounce levy
on sales of marijuana, which would boost state revenues by about $1.3
billion a year, according to an analysis by the State Board of
Equalization. Betty Yee of San Francisco, who chairs the Board of
Equalization, supports the measure.

"This has never just been about money," said Ammiano, who has long
supported reforming marijuana laws. "It's also about the failure of
the war on drugs and implementing a more enlightened policy. I've
always anticipated that there could be a perfect storm of political
will and public support, and obviously the federal policies are
leaning more toward states' rights."

An ABC News/Washington Post poll last week found that 46 percent of
Americans favored legalization of small amounts of pot for personal
use, double the number who supported that a decade ago. A Field Poll
also released last week found that 56 percent of California voters
supported legalizing and taxing marijuana.

In March, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the federal
government would take a softer stance on medical marijuana
dispensaries, with drug enforcement agents targeting only those who
violate state and federal law. California is one of 13 states that
allow marijuana use with a doctor's recommendation.

Many law enforcement organizations oppose changes in marijuana laws.
The California Police Chiefs Association, in a report last month,
concluded that marijuana dispensaries constitute "a clear violation
of federal and state law; they invite more crime; and they compromise
the health and welfare of law-abiding citizens."

But the head of that association said he, too, is open to a debate on
legalizing pot.

"We keep walking around the 5,000-pound elephant in the room, which
is should marijuana be legal?" said Bernard Melekian, president of
the association and chief of police in Pasadena.

The Board of Equalization analysis predicts that legalization would
drop the street value of marijuana by 50 percent and increase
consumption by 40 percent.

Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which
advocates legalization, said the governor's comments about marijuana
are part of a "tectonic shift" in attitudes toward the issue.

"I think, frankly, the public is going to drag the politicians into
doing what is right," he said.