PROP 19 GOOD FOR FINANCES, CIVIL LIBERTIES

On Nov. 2, residents of California will vote on whether to approve
Proposition 19, which would legalize limited recreational use and
growth of marijuana for anyone over 21. The law would also allow the
government to license distributors to sell limited amounts of
marijuana within state borders. Proposition 19 would limit personal
possession to one ounce or less and restrict growth to no more than 25
square feet of cannabis, though the law allows for the local
government to authorize the production of larger amounts of marijuana,
including commercial production.

It would remain illegal for private citizens to sell marijuana.
Similar to laws governing the sale of alcohol, sellers would be
required to obtain a license from the state government to operate an
establishment that sells marijuana, and such establishments would be
subject to government regulation. The sale of marijuana would be
limited to one ounce per transaction. The Daily supports the passage
of Proposition 19, as legalizing marijuana is a sensible step toward
both expanding the civil rights of residents of California and
improving the state's financial situation. Like marijuana, alcohol
consumption was once considered a vice so destructive that its use was
banned in the United States. And as anyone who has studied U.S history
knows, the Prohibition of 1920 was a spectacular failure that led
not to a more temperate society but to a vast underground market for
alcoholic beverages characterized by violence.

The prohibition of marijuana has similarly failed. Its criminalization
in the United States has done little more than spur the creation of a
massive black market. Rather than curbing the use of marijuana,
prohibition merely prevents the government from collecting any
potential revenue from marijuana's sale and taxation.

The legal status of other, significantly more dangerous substances
like alcohol and nicotine creates a stunning hypocrisy when it comes
to Americans' civil rights. Why is it within our rights to consume
alcohol, which causes about 2 million deaths worldwide each year, but
not marijuana, which several studies have shown to be minimally risky
and unhealthy? The passage of Proposition 19 would be a significant
step toward addressing this hypocrisy. California already has some of
the laxest marijuana policies in the nation. As in Massachusetts,
possession of less than one ounce of marijuana has been decriminalized
and is currently punishable only by a $100 fine. Use of marijuana in
California is extremely common compared to in many states, and its
recent decriminalization measures indicate that the state government
takes no issue with it.

And yet, by failing to legalize - and therefore regulate -
non-medicinal marijuana use, the government of California would fail
to profit from this permissive attitude. Legalization would create a
profitable new industry, creating jobs for sellers and commercial
growers alike, while providing a new source of tax revenue for the
state government.

The federal government is strongly opposed to the legislation, and
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said the federal government will
continue to enforce in California federal laws that prohibit the sale
or growth of marijuana. According to Holder, Proposition 19 would
complicate the federal government's attempts to crack down on drug
traffickers because many traffickers who deal in marijuana also deal
in more dangerous substances like cocaine and heroine.

But Proposition 19 would legalize such small amounts of marijuana that
prosecuting citizens who use or grow it within the boundaries
stipulated by the new law would be a waste of federal law enforcement
resources - it is highly unlikely that anyone caught with less than
an ounce of marijuana is part of a major drug trafficking network.

Landmark legislation in the United States often appears in California
before the rest of the nation catches on. If Proposition 19 passes
there, you should expect similar propositions to crop up throughout
the United States, as it may be the first step toward widespread
legalization of marijuana, which has been a long time coming.