CALIFORNIA MARIJUANA PLAN UNLIKELY FOR INDIANA

California will vote in November on a proposal to tax and regulate
marijuana like alcohol or tobacco, but local legislators said any
similar initiative in Indiana remains remote.

"The current system is an utter failure," said Aaron Smith, Marijuana
Policy Project California policy director. "More teens are smoking
marijuana than cigarettes."

If approved by the people, the proposal would allow adults 21 and
older to posses up to an ounce of marijuana and for the state, along
with counties and cities, to tax marijuana sales.

Smith said revenue from the taxes could reach $1.4 billion.

In a state where government employees and even teachers are being
laid off, Smith said the tax would bring in much needed funds. Also,
by regulating its production and sale, the business of marijuana
could be taken out of the hands of drug dealers.

"This is about whether we should take a drug that's already used and
popular and bring it into the regulated market," Smith said.

Counties and cities would also be able to ban the sale of marijuana
within their boundaries, similar to dry counties in which the sale of
alcohol is banned.

Next to tax revenue, money could also be saved by the calming the
police's war against marijuana, which Smith said soaks up hundreds of
millions of dollars from the state's budget every year.

Other states could soon consider similar ballot measures.

"California is traditionally a trailblazer on these issues," Smith
said, adding that western states would be the first to follow and
that shifts at the federal level will likely follow.

State Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, did not share similar enthusiasm.

"I don't think you'll see anything like that in Indiana in the near
future," Alting said.

As the father of two teenagers, he said he needs to "live in the real
world" and realize the possible negative impacts to society that
would negate the benefits of regulation and taxation of marijuana.
Instead, Alting sees a different method of expansion to marijuana usage.

"What would get most states' attention would be the medical use
rather than what they're doing in California."

State Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-West Lafayette, expressed similar
convictions saying that legalization "won't happen in Indiana for
quite some time," and she would not support it now because it is too
controversial.

Yet, like Alting, she said legalizing marijuana for medical use would
be acceptable.

"I think everybody would look at that."