Even as the battle rages over medical marijuana in Orange County,
activists and advocates in California are busy gathering signatures to
get as many as three different pot-legalization initiatives on the
2010 ballot.

If one of these initiatives passes, California would become the first
state to legalize marijuana and impose a tax on it, a move proponents
say could help get the state out of an unprecedented budget crisis.

So far, there are three known initiatives that propose legalizing
marijuana. One is the California Cannabis Hemp and Health Initiative,
which would make use of all cannabis hemp legal for industrial,
nutritional, medicinal, religious and recreational purposes.

The other is the California Cannabis Initiative, which would make
marijuana legal for medicinal and recreational purposes.

And yet another initiative – the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis
Act – would allow adults 21 and older in California to possess up to
one ounce of cannabis and give local governments the ability to tax
and regulate the sale of cannabis to adults 21 and older – just like
alcohol.

Proponents of these initiatives hope that at least one will get on the
2010 ballot. They say the time is ripe for change as Sacramento
battles budget problems and an increasing number of Californians and
Americans are showing support to legalize pot.

Supporters say sales tax from marijuana would rake in at least $1
billion in revenue for the state.

A Zogby poll earlier this year indicated that 52 percent of Americans
support legalizing marijuana. The same poll indicated that six out of
10 people in California favored pot legalization.

Support to legalize marijuana has been finding steady support among
Americans over the years.

A USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll in August 2001 indicated 34 percent
favored legalizing marijuana use. That was the most support for
legalization since pollsters began asking the question in 1969.

According to the USA Today report, the support for legalization had
been constant at about 25percent for 20 years before the USA Today
poll recorded an increase to 31 percent in August 2000 and 34 percent
in August 2001.

Joseph Rogoway, a San Francisco criminal defense lawyer who formerly
practiced in Orange County, is one of the key proponents of the
California Cannabis Initiative. He contends the people of California
are ready to vote on the matter, given the growing support over the
years.

I can tell simply from the overwhelmingly positive support we've been
getting not only from San Francisco, but across the state," he said.
"Recent polling shows that the people of this state support
legalization of marijuana."

Rogoway also cites a State Board of Equalization report, which
estimates that taxing marijuana sales in California could rake in $1
billion a year in sales tax revenue.

Along with fellow defense lawyers James Clark and Omar Figueroa,
Rogoway believes that making pot legal is the solution to preventing
crimes involving the drug.

Our initiative is the best way to keep marijuana away from children
because you treat it like alcohol," he said. "You regulate the
distribution and sale of marijuana. Right now, this market is
unregulated and completely ruled by the drug cartels."

Also, as a defense attorney, Rogoway said he wants to stop defending
those accused of possessing marijuana.

It's a waste of precious resources," he said. "This initiative, if
passed, is going to save the state millions in criminal justice
expenditure."

But a majority of law enforcement officials have a different
viewpoint. Garden Grove police Chief Joseph Polisar says that
legalizing marijuana would create a problem for local law enforcement
members, who would be caught between state law and a federal law that
says it's illegal. Polisar strongly recommended to the Garden Grove
City Council that it pass an ordinance banning all medical marijuana
clinics, saying they are a breeding ground for crime.

Under federal law, marijuana is illegal, period. The U.S. Supreme
Court has also ruled that federal law enforcement agents have the
right to crack down even on marijuana users and distributors who are
in compliance with California's medical marijuana law. Law enforcement
officials such as Polisar fear that if marijuana is legalized in
California, it could set the stage for a groundbreaking clash with the
federal government over U.S. drug policy.

Polisar says legalizing marijuana is going to make his job of
interpreting the law harder. And it won't solve anything, he says.

It's the same as if you try to legalize prostitution," he said. "Even
if it's made legal, there will still be a stigma attached to it.
People are still going to seek out drug dealers in street corners
instead of going to a pharmacy and purchasing marijuana with their
credit cards."

Besides, marijuana is a gateway drug, Polisar says.

Activists are merely using the budgetary crisis as an excuse to
legally use narcotics," he said.

Federal officials have consistently tightened marijuana regulations
over the years. That did not change until several states, with
California leading the way in 1996, passed initiatives legalizing the
use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The use of marijuana was regulated in every state through the Uniform
State Narcotic Act in the mid-1930s. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937
made possession or transfer of cannabis illegal throughout the United
States under federal law, excluding medical and industrial uses, in
which an expensive excise tax was mandated.

The Narcotics Control Act of 1956 made first-time cannabis possession
an offense with a minimum of two to 10 years' imprisonment and fines
of up to $20,000. However, Congress repealed mandatory penalties for
marijuana-related offenses in 1970.

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 regulated the prescribing and
dispensing of psychoactive drugs including stimulants, depressants and
hallucinogens. This act lists five categories of restricted drugs.
This law classified cannabis as having a high potential for abuse, no
medical use and not safe to use under medical supervision.

On Nov. 5, 1996, California residents passed Proposition 215, also
known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which legalized the
medical use of marijuana in the state.

Despite Prop. 215, the law is still murky. Individual cities still
have the power to decide whether they want marijuana dispensaries in
their communities.

Garden Grove has imposed bans on medical marijuana dispensaries.
Laguna Woods has allowed dispensaries to open and operate in the city.
The Lake Forest City Council recently initiated action to shut down 14
dispensaries in the interest of public safety.

Still, many Southern California activists believe that the solution
lies in legalizing not just marijuana, but the entire cannabis plant,
which has a wide variety of uses. Industrial hemp, which comes from
the cannabis plant, is used to make a wide range of products, from
diapers to handbags.

Buddy Duzy, a Simi Valley resident who is raising money for the
California Cannabis Hemp and Health Initiative, says the proposal will
make use of all cannabis hemp legal for industrial, nutritional,
medicinal, religious and recreational purposes.

I think the timing is good for this type of an initiative because
Californians now understand the true value of the plant," he said. "We
believe the time is ripe to bring this issue to voters."

While other initiatives would limit the cultivation and use of
cannabis, this initiative would make the cannabis plant completely
legal and a "nonissue," Duzy said.

It'll be no different than any other crop like corn or wheat," he
said.

La Habra resident and activist Jason Andrews says he is ready to
become the local hemp farmer in a heartbeat. Andrews cultivates
marijuana in his home as part of a medical marijuana
cooperative.

As a patient, I felt that the prices being charged at medical
marijuana clinics were atrocious," he said. "So I started growing my
own and it's legal in California, thanks to Proposition 215."

Andrews says he started using and cultivating marijuana for medical
purposes after he was injured in a car accident five years ago.

I got strung out on prescription pills," he said. "With marijuana,
there are no side effects, just relief."

However, marijuana cooperatives are treated as nonprofits and
therefore exempt from tax, Andrews says.

That's ridiculous," he says. "Marijuana should be taxed, and that
could provide valuable revenue for the state."

Still, legislators balk at the idea of making what's listed as a
narcotic on the federal schedule of drugs legal just so it can be
taxed, although marijuana advocates maintain that taxing pot can solve
the state's budgetary problems.

Assemblyman Van Tran said he will not support legalizing marijuana.

First, I'm against taxing products and services as a means to raise
revenue," he said.

Secondly, I'm against legalizing marijuana because I believe it's a
gateway drug and will lead to serious public safety issues at the
local level."

The best way to solve the budget crisis is by streamlining government
and reducing waste, not raising taxes, Tran said.

We need a fundamental change in California," he said. "We definitely
do not need to legalize marijuana to solve our money problems."