Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
California can legalize and regulate recreational marijuana use under state law, but doing so would not change the drug's illicit status under federal law, proponents and opponents agreed at a hearing Wednesday at the state Capitol on a measure to legalize marijuana.
State financial experts testified that imposing taxes and regulations could bring in hundreds of millions to more than a billion dollars to state coffers, but several law enforcement officials also told the Assembly Public Safety Committee that legalizing marijuana under state law likely would lead to an increase in violence.
AB390 would allow possession, sale and cultivation of marijuana for people 21 years and older. The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, says the state would wait for the repeal of the decades-old federal ban on marijuana to create a regulatory system and impose a $50-an-ounce sales tax on marijuana, much like taxes on tobacco and alcohol.
Several ballot measures to legalize adult recreational marijuana use under state law are circulating in California and several recent polls show support amongst a majority of state voters. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed a public debate on the idea, although he said he personally opposes it.
Ammiano, who chairs the committee that heard the proposal, said the issue has "really developed a set of legs" since he introduced it in February.
"We feel that this issue in many ways in the past has been somewhat trivialized, but we're sensing ... there's a gravitas to this issue that probably it is going to be inevitable that there is some change in the way marijuana is viewed legally," Ammiano said at a news conference before the hearing.
Legal experts testified that nothing in the U.S. Constitution prohibits California from removing state penalties for marijuana use and predicted a law doing that would not be automatically struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"If California decides to legalize, nothing in the Constitution stands in its way," said Tamar Todd, a staff attorney for the Drug Policy Alliance Network.
Marty Mayer, attorney for the California Peace Officers' Association, said he agreed with that assessment, though with one big caveat.
"The state of California cannot unequivocally legalize marijuana," he said, noting that removing state penalties would not alter any federal laws.
Use, possession, sale and harvesting of marijuana is illegal under federal law, even for medical use. But U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said last week that federal authorities would refrain from arresting or prosecuting people who are complying with their state's medical marijuana laws.
One major argument made by supporters is the benefits regulation would have on the state's finances. Financial experts cautioned that their estimates were based on a number of assumptions - as real numbers for how many people in the state use marijuana and how much they use do not exist - but said using models for estimating revenues for alcohol and tobacco shows significant gains for regulating the drug.
The State Board of Equalization estimated that excise, sales and income taxes combined would bring in $1 billion to $1.4 billion, while the Legislative Analyst's Office said generally it would bring in a few hundred million dollars annually.
But John Standish, president of the California Peace Officers' Association, predicted those revenues would be offset by the cost of drug abuse treatment, the costs of people who drive under the influence of the drug or commit other crimes and other social and environmental impacts.
"In 30 years of law enforcement in California, I have seen nothing good come" of marijuana use, Standish said.
And an official with the state attorney general's office said there was a real possibility that legalization would empower Mexican cartels and drug trafficking operations in the state.
"We may experience a spike in violence," said Sara Simpson, acting assisting chief of the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.
More policy hearings on the issue likely will occur after the Legislature reconvenes in December.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: sfgate.com
Author: Wyatt Buchanan
Copyright: 2009 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: Contact Us — SFGate, news and information for the San Francisco Bay Area.
Website: State debates legalizing marijuana
State financial experts testified that imposing taxes and regulations could bring in hundreds of millions to more than a billion dollars to state coffers, but several law enforcement officials also told the Assembly Public Safety Committee that legalizing marijuana under state law likely would lead to an increase in violence.
AB390 would allow possession, sale and cultivation of marijuana for people 21 years and older. The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, says the state would wait for the repeal of the decades-old federal ban on marijuana to create a regulatory system and impose a $50-an-ounce sales tax on marijuana, much like taxes on tobacco and alcohol.
Several ballot measures to legalize adult recreational marijuana use under state law are circulating in California and several recent polls show support amongst a majority of state voters. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed a public debate on the idea, although he said he personally opposes it.
Ammiano, who chairs the committee that heard the proposal, said the issue has "really developed a set of legs" since he introduced it in February.
"We feel that this issue in many ways in the past has been somewhat trivialized, but we're sensing ... there's a gravitas to this issue that probably it is going to be inevitable that there is some change in the way marijuana is viewed legally," Ammiano said at a news conference before the hearing.
Legal experts testified that nothing in the U.S. Constitution prohibits California from removing state penalties for marijuana use and predicted a law doing that would not be automatically struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"If California decides to legalize, nothing in the Constitution stands in its way," said Tamar Todd, a staff attorney for the Drug Policy Alliance Network.
Marty Mayer, attorney for the California Peace Officers' Association, said he agreed with that assessment, though with one big caveat.
"The state of California cannot unequivocally legalize marijuana," he said, noting that removing state penalties would not alter any federal laws.
Use, possession, sale and harvesting of marijuana is illegal under federal law, even for medical use. But U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said last week that federal authorities would refrain from arresting or prosecuting people who are complying with their state's medical marijuana laws.
One major argument made by supporters is the benefits regulation would have on the state's finances. Financial experts cautioned that their estimates were based on a number of assumptions - as real numbers for how many people in the state use marijuana and how much they use do not exist - but said using models for estimating revenues for alcohol and tobacco shows significant gains for regulating the drug.
The State Board of Equalization estimated that excise, sales and income taxes combined would bring in $1 billion to $1.4 billion, while the Legislative Analyst's Office said generally it would bring in a few hundred million dollars annually.
But John Standish, president of the California Peace Officers' Association, predicted those revenues would be offset by the cost of drug abuse treatment, the costs of people who drive under the influence of the drug or commit other crimes and other social and environmental impacts.
"In 30 years of law enforcement in California, I have seen nothing good come" of marijuana use, Standish said.
And an official with the state attorney general's office said there was a real possibility that legalization would empower Mexican cartels and drug trafficking operations in the state.
"We may experience a spike in violence," said Sara Simpson, acting assisting chief of the Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.
More policy hearings on the issue likely will occur after the Legislature reconvenes in December.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: sfgate.com
Author: Wyatt Buchanan
Copyright: 2009 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: Contact Us — SFGate, news and information for the San Francisco Bay Area.
Website: State debates legalizing marijuana
