SCHWARZENEGGER URGES A STUDY ON LEGALIZING MARIJUANA USE

LOS ANGELES -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the
discussion over whether to legalize and tax marijuana for
recreational use in California would benefit from a large-scale
study, including international case comparisons, to show the possible
impact of such a change.

Pressure to mend the state's fractured budget along with growing
public support of marijuana legalization moved him to support such a
study, Mr. Schwarzenegger said.

"I think it's time for a debate," he said. "I think all of those
ideas of creating extra revenues; I'm always for an open debate on
it. And I think we ought to study very carefully what other countries
are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs. What effect
did it have on those countries?"

A Field Poll from April showed 56 percent of the state's registered
voters in support of legalizing and taxing marijuana for recreational
use to fill some of the budget deficit. Mr. Schwarzenegger told
reporters at a fire-safety event in Davis, Calif., that he did not
support sweeping legalization, but that more information would help.

Marijuana advocates said the governor's invitation to have a
discussion at all was a landmark.

"What stands out about Gov. Schwarzenegger's comment is not that he
thought it, but that he said it," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive
director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "There has been enormous fear
at a political level about saying out loud and on the record that we
should think about this."

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, Democrat of San Francisco, introduced
legislation in February that would legalize the cultivation and sale
of marijuana for recreational use. Mr. Ammiano's proposal has been
shelved this session, but he has said he would reintroduce it next
year. Sales could raise $1.2 billion to $1.34 billion in annual tax
revenue, some estimates say.

But that would be little salve for the state's deficit, which could
reach $20 billion in 15 months if ballot initiatives proposed by the
governor do not pass, said Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, Republican of
Irvine. Mr. DeVore said he did not support legalizing marijuana, and
was surprised to hear the governor's comments.

"I think this shows the governor's growing desperation over the
budget," Mr. DeVore said.