CALIFORNIA SHOULD VOTE YES ON POT REFERENDUM

The debate for marijuana has been a persistent one, lasting for
decades. Groups have been formed, and rallies have been heard, and
now it seems that the work put into legalizing this drug may be
starting to pay off.

On Nov. 2 the state of California is holding a referendum regarding
whether marijuana should be legalized. After receiving enough
signatures to put it on a ballot, the question will be most likely
be put on the ballot during state-wide elections, with
the possibility of making marijuana legal. And considering all of
the benefits for the state from legalizing marijuana, this
legalization would be a very progressive and influential change.

We've probably all heard those students in high school or college
give a speech or write a paper on making marijuana legal, due to
it's medical advantages or because we shouldn't make something
that's not addictive illegal. Funny story about those people is that
nine times out of ten they use marijuana recreationally on a fairly
regular basis. But as someone who's never smoked pot or eaten a
special brownie, I would still agree with the argument that
it should be legal.

Especially considering that putting tax on it (like cigarettes and
alcohol) would an estimated one billion dollars to state revenue,
and it's predicted that it would become California's biggest cash
crop. In addition to that, money spent on imprisoning
people producing and selling marijuana would drastically decrease
- -- cutting back $300 million. Plus, it would create less drug
trafficking problems, and would most likely be even safer to use, as
there could be even lower chances of it being laced with something
more harmful. Not to mention that there would definitely be some
new jobs waiting.

While there seemed to be a lot of hypothetical "woulds, shoulds and
coulds" in the last paragraph, don't let the word choice fool you. A
recent poll showed that 56 percent of Californians agreed with the
legalization of marijuana, and the petitions signed to get it on the
ballot got 200,000 more signatures than necessary. Even Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is open to the idea of
considering legalizing marijuana. A reason for this could be due to
the restrictions that would come with legalization. For example, one
would have to be 21 to use or grow, and people could not use it in
public or have it on school grounds. So basically, it would be
treated very similar to alcohol purchase and usage.

Hopefully, all of this will work out, and the vibes of change will
spread. In economically-hard times such as these, legalizing
marijuana seems like a very financially smart decision. For these
reasons, it would be even smarter if this trend were to spread
across the country.

Wisconsin is currently looking at potentially making the practice of
medical marijuana legal, which is a considerable step in the process
to end the overreaction of this currently illegal drug. Not to
mention, once again bring a lot of money into the state. While the
struggle to make it legal has been a long one, the timing could not
get any better. With such changes as the massive health care reform
just recently taking place, and now the possibility of marijuana
becoming legal (even if it is only in one state), 2010 might turn
out to be an incredibly progressive year.