California's budget turmoil is the worst in the nation. Sacramento closed a $42 billion deficit this summer only to face tens of billions more red ink already. Most expect another round of tortured budget balancing that further slashes aid to the most vulnerable, raises taxes and fees and kicks the can down the road with billions more in borrowing.
Meanwhile, California's largest cash crop is being largely ignored in the frenzied search for politically-viable revenue. The state's marijuana yield is conservatively valued at $14 billion annually — nearly double the combined value of our vegetable and grape crops. The state Board of Equalization estimates that taxing adult marijuana consumption like alcohol would generate $1.4 billion in new revenue for the state. While that's only a modest contribution toward our fiscal woes, it's one more incentive to end decades of failed marijuana prohibition. In fact, the financial and human price that we currently pay for criminalizing pot is far too high.
California, which decriminalized low-level marijuana possession in 1975, arrested more than 78,000 people for marijuana offenses last year alone, a nearly 30 percent increase since 2005. Of those arrested, four out of five were for simple possession, and one in five was a child under the age of 18. Police disproportionately arrest young people of color, many of whom permanently enter the criminal justice system and suffer severe limitations to their educational and employment opportunities.
California spends hundreds of millions of dollars to enforce marijuana prohibition. While law enforcement focuses ever-increasing resources on arresting marijuana users, there were 185,173 reported violent crimes in California in 2008, but only 125,235 violent crime arrests. Where are our priorities?
Opponents of marijuana reform have mostly abandoned "reefer madness" rhetoric and allude instead to "societal costs" associated with marijuana consumption. They assert that revenues generated from taxing alcohol and cigarettes don't approach the damage those substances cause. It's a fair issue. However, marijuana is objectively far safer for adults to use. Regulation, which has dramatically decreased cigarette use among all age groups, is precisely the way to address concerns about youth access, potency and consumer safety — as well as take the financial incentive away from the violent black market.
Despite the enormous death and suffering wrought by alcohol and cigarettes, who thinks we should abandon regulation and cede control to violent cartels by making them illegal? And who is measuring the profound societal costs of criminalizing tens of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens each year simply for smoking marijuana?
The U.S. ended alcohol prohibition just over 75 years ago, when its failure — in the form of unchecked violence, official corruption and routine violation of the law by millions of Americans — could no longer be ignored. But what finally hastened its demise was the Depression itself, as public opinion and a progressive new president insisted the waste of resources and potential revenue had to stop.
The sheer scale of our current fiscal misery demands a similar reality check: Marijuana already plays a huge role in the California economy. It's time to end the unjust charade of marijuana prohibition, tax this flourishing multibillion dollar market and redirect criminal justice resources to matters of real public safety.
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
Author: Stephen Gutwillig and Mary Moreno Richardson
Contact: SignOn San Diego
Copyright: 2010 The San Diego Union-Tribune
Website:Legalizing and taxing marijuana would benefit society
Meanwhile, California's largest cash crop is being largely ignored in the frenzied search for politically-viable revenue. The state's marijuana yield is conservatively valued at $14 billion annually — nearly double the combined value of our vegetable and grape crops. The state Board of Equalization estimates that taxing adult marijuana consumption like alcohol would generate $1.4 billion in new revenue for the state. While that's only a modest contribution toward our fiscal woes, it's one more incentive to end decades of failed marijuana prohibition. In fact, the financial and human price that we currently pay for criminalizing pot is far too high.
California, which decriminalized low-level marijuana possession in 1975, arrested more than 78,000 people for marijuana offenses last year alone, a nearly 30 percent increase since 2005. Of those arrested, four out of five were for simple possession, and one in five was a child under the age of 18. Police disproportionately arrest young people of color, many of whom permanently enter the criminal justice system and suffer severe limitations to their educational and employment opportunities.
California spends hundreds of millions of dollars to enforce marijuana prohibition. While law enforcement focuses ever-increasing resources on arresting marijuana users, there were 185,173 reported violent crimes in California in 2008, but only 125,235 violent crime arrests. Where are our priorities?
Opponents of marijuana reform have mostly abandoned "reefer madness" rhetoric and allude instead to "societal costs" associated with marijuana consumption. They assert that revenues generated from taxing alcohol and cigarettes don't approach the damage those substances cause. It's a fair issue. However, marijuana is objectively far safer for adults to use. Regulation, which has dramatically decreased cigarette use among all age groups, is precisely the way to address concerns about youth access, potency and consumer safety — as well as take the financial incentive away from the violent black market.
Despite the enormous death and suffering wrought by alcohol and cigarettes, who thinks we should abandon regulation and cede control to violent cartels by making them illegal? And who is measuring the profound societal costs of criminalizing tens of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens each year simply for smoking marijuana?
The U.S. ended alcohol prohibition just over 75 years ago, when its failure — in the form of unchecked violence, official corruption and routine violation of the law by millions of Americans — could no longer be ignored. But what finally hastened its demise was the Depression itself, as public opinion and a progressive new president insisted the waste of resources and potential revenue had to stop.
The sheer scale of our current fiscal misery demands a similar reality check: Marijuana already plays a huge role in the California economy. It's time to end the unjust charade of marijuana prohibition, tax this flourishing multibillion dollar market and redirect criminal justice resources to matters of real public safety.
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
Author: Stephen Gutwillig and Mary Moreno Richardson
Contact: SignOn San Diego
Copyright: 2010 The San Diego Union-Tribune
Website:Legalizing and taxing marijuana would benefit society
