LEGALIZE IT? MAYBE, BUT THINK FIRST

It sometimes seems like you can't go more than a few conversations
without talking about pot in the state of California.

Whether it's jokes about someone's cousin who went to Humboldt State,
a news item about a dispensary busted by federal drug enforcement
officers or the seemingly endless series of proposed legislative
measures to legalize the plant, it is, well, a burning topic.

The facts are relatively well known. Pot is California's cash crop
and a product worth tens of billions of dollars nationally. A few
counties -- Humboldt, Trinity and Mendocino -- claim up to two-thirds
of their economy is dependent on the marijuana trade, according to a
2009 report done by NBC.

The plant has a dark side, too. Mexican cartels have moved into
Northern California to cultivate the drug, bringing violence with
them. Availability is still rampant for young users -- a 2008 study
by the state's Attorney General's office said by 11th grade 31
percent of students admitted to trying marijuana -- and cases of
abuse and psychological addiction, while rare, do occur.

And, lest we forget, it's not like everyone is using. According to a
recent National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, about 1.6 million
Californians use the drug on a semi-regular or regular basis. That's
all of about 4 percent of the state's population of 37 million.

Anecdotally, personal stories of pot use and the trade in weed
abound, even locally. It's a poorly kept secret that some local ski
resort lifties accept a "green pass" -- a joint -- in exchange for
overlooking the fact you didn't buy a ski pass. Ditto for workers at
golf courses and bicycle repair shops -- who are occasionally paid
and tipped for their services in marijuana.

So, with those tidbits and figures in mind, it's time to make up our
minds about how pot fits into the fabric of life in California, to
have a mature conversation about the controversial plant.

Do we want to legalize and tax it? Are we being honest about our
current medical marijuana laws? What are the implications of legalizing weed?

In our current economic climate legalization is certainly attractive
to the dollars-and-cents types. Why allow a major cash crop go to
waste because it gets people high? Why allow those dollars -- dollars
given every day to dealers in Tahoe -- to continue to go untaxed?
We're letting an incredibly valuable, incredibly desired product
stuff the pockets of some questionable types without benefiting our
cash-strapped state. Some, like State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D- San
Francisco, say the taxation of marijuana could net the state more
than $1.3 billion annually.

But, Ammiano's proposed legislation exposes something we probably
already know -- Californians haven't been totally honest about
medical marijuana. If we legalize the drug, doesn't it render our
current marijuana laws a farce and make us own up to the fact medical
pot was just a first step toward total legalization? What was the
point of calling it medicine when a few doctors will write a
prescription for just about anyone who can fake a good case of
insomnia or persistent migraines? It's an interesting progression,
first calling something a medicine for the deathly ill, then
prescribing it under dubious pretenses and finally legalizing the
whole shebang.

Finally, what are our consequences? What do we stand to lose if pot
is legalized? Use will go up, for sure, as increased, easy supply
will no doubt match the demand of those who wouldn't have bothered
for legal reasons. It'll mean more stoned people -- and stoned youths
- -- walking, driving and interacting in society on a daily basis. And
then there's maybe the most important fact of all: In the eyes of
Uncle Sam, pot possession, growing and use is still illegal. That's
the reason the Feds raid California medical marijuana dispensaries
with impunity and disregard for state law.

These and other issues must be thoroughly vetted if we are to
honestly say -- or one day vote -- yes to marijuana. Anything less
than a statewide conversation will be a disservice. Before we sprint
toward new revenues, let's race first to think about the consequences.