PROPOSAL WOULD CREATE HAVOC

Re "Governor asks: What if pot's legal and taxed?" (Page A1, May 6):
San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's proposed bill to legalize the
sale and use of marijuana has Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seeing green.

But very rarely do politicians look beyond the benefits of any
particular bill or its potential impact on society in general.

First of all, if the sale and use of marijuana were to become legal
in California, the population of California could double within five
years. The Bee's Dan Walters has suggested many times in his past
columns that California has become ungovernable. Imagine a few
million more people coming to California because marijuana is legal
to buy and use.

Secondly, imagine a society where half the population is stoned on
any given day. Would you want to get on a bus if the driver is
stoned? An airplane? Would you let your children stay at a day care
center where the workers were stoned?

If marijuana were legalized in California, service in restaurants,
gas stations, hotels, casinos, etc., would all be significantly
diminished. Business in every aspect of society would be seriously
affected. Beyond the big payoff in state revenue, a law like this
would create havoc of great magnitude. This proposal is a very bad idea.

- - Scott R. Hadley, Marysville