The next session of our legislature will be dealing with a proposal to legalize and regulate pot, ostensibly making your neighborhood convenience store truly a one-stop shop. Get your pot and munchies and slushie at the same time! Grab a case of beer, some chips, maybe a 1/4 pound hot dog, two packs of cigarettes and a liter of Mountain Dew then drive 10 miles an hour back to your apartment. There may be more accidents in motor vehicles because of this, but no one dies in a 20 mph crash, so the real winners are the insurance companies (as usual) who will continually raise your rates.
This is a measure devised for purely economic reasons, make no mistake. There's a bale-load of tax money just waiting to be collected on the sale of pot, something that the government has been missing out on for years. The amount of tax revenue to be collected is an unknown, and I don't suspect they will be taxing the medical marijuana stores that now outnumber Starbucks in LA. In fact, it may well put those places out of business entirely since they will become pretty much unnecessary. Whatever the number of dollars is, it far exceeds what they can collect on income tax, especially with unemployment at record highs, losses of jobs, no new industries coming in, and the crash of the real estate market. It's really a no-brainer.
There is one minor issue involving the fact that pot is still illegal under federal law, but what's the DEA going to do, arrest everyone in California? Raid every 7-11 and liquor store? Sheer numbers will prevent them from enforcing the law. Besides, this is a state's rights issue and we should be left alone on this one.
So, I say go for it. If it doesn't work, change it back. There's gold in the hills of Humboldt County, and it's about time we cashed it in.
HP
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