From Reason’s Hit and Run blog:

It looks like a marijuana legalization initiative will be on the ballot in California this fall. Today the backers of the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act turned in nearly 700,000 signatures; they need just 434,000 to qualify the measure for the ballot. The Los Angeles Times notes that “a Field Poll taken last April found that 56% of voters in the state and 60% in Los Angeles County want to make pot legal and tax it.” It also suggests that “if passed, the initiative would put the state in conflict with federal law,” which is not strictly speaking true.

As Drug Policy Alliance attorney Tamar Todd noted in response to a Los Angeles Times editorial that made a similar claim a couple weeks ago, California is under no obligation to replicate federal drug prohibitions. Under the Supreme Court’s expansive reading of the Commerce Clause, the federal government would have the authority to prosecute people for growing, distributing, and possessing marijuana even if the drug were no longer banned by state law. But it would not have the resources to do so consistently.

[Via Jack Liberty]




  1. Breetai says:

    We need to change the wording of this stuff. It’s Not “Legalizing Pot,” It’s “Ending Marijuana Prohibition.”

    Toss a little real world history in there instead their fraudulent reefer madness crap and point out the obvious.

  2. Faxon says:

    Swell. A state full of fucking potheads that can now run the whole place. Great.

  3. McCullough says:

    That is some quality shit in that picture…..at least that’s what I’ve heard.

  4. ray says:

    A lot of kids will be smoking pot. Who knows what affect this will have in the future. In any case, society is going downhill anyways.

  5. ethanol says:

    Legalize, regulate, and tax. Removes the crime syndicates (mostly), brings the forest in California back from illegal cultivators, helps to bridge budget deficits, and brings some sanity back. As long as alcohol and tobacco are legalized, regulated, and taxed, so should marijuana.

    And this is from someone who hasn’t smoked weed since college and doesn’t care to until I am elderly.

  6. pilgrim says:

    A lot of kids are smoking pot ray, because it is being sold and distributed through the underground.
    Legalize it and control distribution to adults only. Take the profit away from gangsters that then gone on to sell the kids crack and heroin.

  7. LibertyLover says:

    The big question is will CA defend anybody arrested on Federal Charges.

  8. LibertyLover says:

    Re: Taxing Mary Jane

    Don’t tax it too much or you’ll end up paying more in “other” taxes to enforce the first tax.

    http://tinyurl.com/yf7bb3y

  9. RTaylor says:

    Everyday you read that some bonehead drunk killed or try to kill someone. I’ve never heard of an individual, that was high on cannabis alone, getting angry and shooting or stabbing someone. I had rather deal with a pothead than drunk any day.

  10. rezyde says:

    I think they should just legalize the stuff. Alcohol is worse than then mary jane at least when you take a couple of hits all you want to do is watch a movie or game.

  11. Dallas says:

    Those buds are beautiful.

  12. ray says:

    Pilgrim,

    Exactly, its underground. Bring it onto the surface and it’ll be more accessible to a wider audience. I already has friends who smoke pot and can’t remember shit I told them like 2 minutes ago (annoying as hell). Maybe from an economical perspective, it works, but from a societal and developmental perspective could have adverse affects.

    To #9: how about a drunk pothead?

  13. Benjamin says:

    I think it is stupid to smoke marijuana. It makes you stupid when you get high. Why do you think they call it dope?

    Go ahead and legalize it please. Let those pot heads smoke it all they want. Meanwhile, I will be able to drive along without having some cop say they smell pot that is not there to get probable cause to search my vehicle when I said no in the first place.

  14. RBG says:

    Take pot away from them and the gangsters will be forced to sell only hard drugs to the kids. They’re not going to become Maytag repairmen.

    RBG

  15. Greg Allen says:

    Let’s not make the same mistake we made with tobacco companies.

    The growers and suppliers of marijuana must start paying NOW into a fund for victims of lung disease.

  16. Dr Dodd says:

    The stated goal is to get more revenue to the government so they can solve the financial crisis created by overspending.

    California already taxes alcohol sales and it’s not enough. In fact, California taxes “everything” often multiple times and it’s not enough.

    Why would anyone think collecting taxes on pot sales will solve the financial problems in California?

  17. Benjamin says:

    #16 “Why would anyone think collecting taxes on pot sales will solve the financial problems in California?”

    Because most Californians are potheads?

  18. Greg Allen says:

    >> Dr Dodd said, on January 29th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
    >> Why would anyone think collecting taxes on pot sales will solve the financial problems in California?

    The marijuana growers should at least pay into a super-fund for the inevitable lawsuits they are going to get for selling a dangerous drug.

  19. chuck says:

    Don’t tax the pot sales.
    Put a $10/bag tax on Cheetos.
    The munchies will balance the California budget.

  20. hoot says:

    #15 & #18 Please provide one case of someone dying from cannabis.

  21. Dr Dodd says:

    It’s easy to see why the government might go for something like this. Keep everyone buzzed and the people won’t notice or ever care how bad a job they are doing.

    Heck, if politicians set the price low enough no one will notice when third world status arrives.

  22. Rick Cain says:

    Put marijuana in pill form and I might actually believe its “Medicinal”.

  23. RSweeney says:

    I suspect that anyone who wants to smoke pot is smoking pot. Having worked in Holland in the 1990’s, I can say that their drug problem is not worse than ours and that there is a complete lack of mystique there, seeing stoners out in the open, it’s clear that the pothead life is not something to aspire to.

    American kids say it’s easier to get illegal drugs in school than hard liquor. And the drug dealers deliver.

    So let’s not believe this law enforcement BS, they just don’t want to be out of jobs and bribe money.

    Legalize in CA and see how it goes. Certainly they can clean out the prison and legal system.

  24. AdmFubar says:

    will the pot come in bottle with;
    child proof caps?
    stoner proof caps?

  25. Loupe Garou says:

    Legalize everything! Smoke, blow, huffing spray paint, suppositories, whatever, I am tired of listening to people yammer about it. Let Darwin sort them out.

  26. deowll says:

    If guys want small gonads and breasts I say let them have them and tax them to boot while making the drug dealers poorer. You still need to make them live a week on bread and water if they get caught driving high and if they show up for work high fire them.

  27. Ryan says:

    #15 and #25, There are other ways to get high BESIDES smoking it. If someone was to prefer eating it, and never smoke it, why should they have to pay a ‘lung tax’? If anything, a warning on the outside of the product would suffice. Do alcohol companies have to pay a ‘liver tax’? How about McDonalds, a ‘heart tax’? Remember, obesity is the number one killer in America.

  28. Cursor_ says:

    Again, the end justifies the means.

    Give a monkey a brain.

    Cursor_

  29. Mr. Fusion says:

    #25, RBG,

    Good post.

    My issue is that marijuana is not smoked repeatedly all day. With the potency of current cultivars, very little needs to be smoked to get high. Also, marijuana may be cooked and eaten. Therefore it loses much of its comparison to tobacco.

    BUT, I am not a scientist and do not know how these studies were done. You raise some good points that should be taken into consideration.

  30. Jess Hurchist - in Marxist mode says:

    In future will marijuana be the opium of the people?


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