Californians who are part of the Marijuana Policy Project have launched
an ad campaign pointing to marijuana as a way out of the state's budget crisis. Just make weed legal, they say, and tax it.
The state faces a $26.3 billion budget deficit. By some estimates, a marijuana tax would bring in $1 billion in taxes. Not exactly a fix, but as an old friend of mine used to say, "it ain't nothing." The Marijuana Policy Project said taxes on marijuana would pay the salary of 20,000 teachers.
The Marijuana Policy Project said some TV stations, including KABC-TV in Los Angeles, KGO-TV of San Francisco and KNTV-TV in San Jose refused to sell them airtime.
Marijuana is becoming less taboo in legislative circles these days. Recently, Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) filed legislation called "
The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009." The legislation would eliminate penalties for the not-for-profit transfer of 1 ounce of marijuana and for possession of 3.5 ounces or less.
Many have compared the prohibition against marijuana to the prohibition against alcohol. It is an apt comparison, especially now. Prohibition of alcohol coincided with the Great Depression and it was in that economic downturn that Congress sent the 21st Amendment to the states to lift the 18th Amendment.
At the time,
Walter Lippmann argued that "beer would be a great help in fighting off mental depression, which afflicts great multitudes." Others argued that the federal and local governments could make a good deal of tax revenue off the legal sale of alcohol.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has said:
"Passage of this act would provide state lawmakers the choice to maintain their current penalties for minor marijuana offenses or eliminate them completely. Lawmakers would also have the option to explore legal alternatives to tax and regulate the adult use and distribution of cannabis free from federal interference.
"To date, thirteen states have enacted laws 'decriminalizing' the possession of marijuana by adults. Minor marijuana offenders face a citation and small fine in lieu of a criminal arrest or time in jail."
You can go to the U.S. Department of Justice's Web site to get the
government's estimates of how much pot is seized in your state.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy estimated that in 2006, 14.8 million Americans smoked pot, making marijuana "the most commonly used illicit drug." And still, the government says there has been a 29 percent decline in the percentage of the workforce that tested positive for marijuana use between 2000 and 2007.
But there has been a steady increase in treatment center admissions where marijuana use was the "primary substance of abuse."
One reason may be that marijuana potency has steadily risen in the last decade. Regarding marijuana use for medical purposes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an interagency advisory in April 2006 stating that it had "not approved smoked marijuana for any medical condition or disease indication."
You can read more about the statistics cited in the preceding paragraphs here [PDF].
NORML's Web site has links to a number of
studies that say there is no proven link between decriminalization and an increase in marijuana consumption.
Here are some additional links to polls about decriminalization of marijuana laws:
