BILL TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA ADVANCES THROUGH ASSEMBLY PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

In a historic vote, a panel of California lawmakers Tuesday approved
legislation to tax and regulate marijuana sales similar to how alcohol is sold.

But even while celebrating its passage, supporters of the bill
acknowledged it would not become law this year.

Still, Stephen Gutwillig, California director of the Drug Policy
Alliance, a pro-legalization group, called the vote the beginning of
the end for marijuana prohibition in the country.

"This is not only the first time any legislative body in the nation
has formally addressed ending decades of failed marijuana
prohibition, but also actually voted to end it," he said.

The Assembly's public safety committee passed the bill 4-3 on Tuesday.

The committee's vice chairman, Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino
Hills, called the legislation one of the worst bills he has seen the
committee pass.

"It is astonishing in this day and age we could pass something this
bad. It is a good sign of how far liberal this Legislature has
become," he said.

He blamed liberal members of the committee - four Bay Area Democrats
- - for the bill's advancement.

But for the bill to go further, it would have to pass the health
committee before Friday. That is considered an unlikely scenario,
considering debate has not been scheduled.

The legislation would allow adults 21 and older to legally possess,
grow and sell marijuana. The state would charge a $50-per-ounce fee
and a 9 percent tax on retail sales.

The end result could be a rise in cost to end users. Typically an
ounce of marijuana retails for between $300 and $400. Taxes like
those proposed by the bill's author, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San
Francisco, could add an additional $100 to purchases of an ounce.

"What happens as a result is that the very poorest are the most
directly affected," said Phil Morris, director of the Canto Diem
Medical Marijuana Collective in Los Angeles. "Many collectives don't
have the cash flow to absorb increased fees."

State tax collectors have estimated the legislation would produce up
to $1.4 billion in annual revenues - $990 million from the $50 per
ounce fee and $392 million in sales tax revenue.

Under the bill, much of that money would go to fund drug-abuse
education and prevention programs.

"A big group of people is saying that this will help the state
budget, but the tax goes directly to rehab programs and state
education," Hagman said.

Rather than generating revenue, Hagman said it would cost the state
through increased health care expenses and the costs of combatting
what he said was an inevitable black market for drugs.

"I don't think we have all thought through the consequences of this
legislation," he said.

Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Claremont, agreed.

"The suggestion that we should take illegal activities and make them
legal for the purposes of attaching fees and penalties so the state
can make more money is absurd," he said. "At what point do we
legalize prostitution because it has fundraising potential?"

But the manager of a planned medical-marijuana dispensary in South El
Monte said legalization could be an economic stimulus for the state,
from production of fertilizers to plastic bottles.

"It could give a lot of people legitimate jobs," said Monica Cress,
the manager of San Gabriel Valley Compassionate Care.

And Gutwillig said momentum is moving in the direction of
legalization. He called 2009 a watershed year in the once
marginalized movement.

"Gov. Schwarzenegger called for a debate on marijuana legalization;
we saw the carnage in Mexico spilling across the border; and the
tanking of the state and national economies really put wasteful
policies like marijuana prohibition on the table for the first time," he said.

If the bill does die, a spokesman for Ammiano said the assemblyman
would hold off on reintroducing legislation until after the November
election, which could feature a marijuana legalization ballot proposition.

Oakland medical-marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee, the initiative's
main backer, has said supporters have far more than the necessary
434,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

The Tax and Regulate Cannabis 2010 campaign is expected to submit
those signatures for approval later this month.

The ballot measure is more narrow than the Ammiano bill. It would
legalize recreational marijuana under limited circumstances.

Although a Field Poll last April found that 56 percent of
Californians would support legalizing marijuana for recreational use,
Gutwillig said the initiative's passage is hardly a sure thing.

Instead, 2012 may be a more hospitable year for such a proposal, with
more young voters heading to the polls for a presidential election.

Whether the ballot initiative advances, or another legislative vote
occurs later this year, Gutwillig said Tuesday's vote should not be
understated.

"It sends the signal throughout the country that serious people take
this issue seriously," he said. "It is clear that there is more
stomach in Sacramento than anyone thought for discussion of this
crucial issue and its fiscal impacts on the state."