TAKE YOUR TIME ON THIS QUESTION

Our view: Voters have more than seven months to figure out whether
legal marijuana really would be a good thing for California.

California voters have a second chance to prove they aren't dopes.

Back in 1996, voters approved Proposition 215, the medical marijuana
law. Proponents of the measure, most of whom were more interested in
liberalizing marijuana laws than in health care, got it passed by
using a simple, compassionate argument: Shouldn't sick people be
allowed this medicine to ease their pain and suffering?

It's hard to deny sick people. Voters passed it with 56 percent approving.

Voters mostly ignored the fact that the law was poorly written, that
it conflicted with federal laws, that it didn't specify how much
people could grow or whether suppliers could sell it.

The law has been a disaster. You don't even need to be sick to get a
medical marijuana recommendation, you just need to know the right
doctor. Cities and counties wrestle with the question of whether to
allow pot dispensaries. Marijuana farmers try to make their crop
legitimate by saying they're growing a plantation for a cooperative
of sick people. People who grow marijuana in their yards get ripped
off by armed intruders. Neighbors of growers sometimes have to deal
with armed heists in the neighborhood. Then there's the smell around
harvest time, like a family of skunks just moved in.

Meanwhile, the people who might use marijuana for the intended
purpose -- say, a cancer victim in his or her 80s who just wants
occasional relief from nausea and pain -- has no access to this medicine.

Perhaps the problems were intended by those who wrote the bill. Now
they argue that all the headaches would disappear if the drug was just legal.

Legalization proponents delivered more than 400,000 signatures to
Sacramento, and this week the secretary of state announced the
question of legalization will go before voters in November.

The election should be close. Attitudes toward marijuana are more
permissive these days, and proponents of legalization can argue that
this would be a financial boon for the state. They say if marijuana
is regulated and the sales are taxed, it could add $1 billion or more
annually to the state. Yes, so would prostitution, state-owned
casinos and legalized sports betting, but nobody's rushing to do
that. It can't be all about the money.

Besides, can you see growers who sell a quarter-million dollars in
marijuana every year claiming that on a federal tax return,
especially since marijuana would still be illegal under federal law?
Don't count on it.

What about the fact that it's illegal in 49 other states. Would
stoners from 49 states come flocking her for vacation, like gamblers
go to Nevada?

The election isn't until November, so there's plenty of time to
analyze the proposition. Let's hope voters actually do that this
time, unlike Proposition 215.