A measure to put legalize marijuana has enough signatures and could be placed on California’s 2010 election ballot, according to NBC Bay Area. The Tax and Regulate initiative has 56 percent more than than the required signatures, with more than 650,000 signatures.
If voted into a law, the proposal would legalize marijuana up to one ounce for those 21 years and older and allow residents to grow gardens up to 25 square feet. Taxation on marijuana would be decided at the city and county government level.
An April poll revealed that 56 percent of Californians support legalizing marijuana to help with the state deficit.
Marijuana is already California’s largest cash crop bringing in $14 billion dollars a year, according to Time. State tax collectors estimate that taxation from marijuana, if it were made legal, would bring in about $1.3 billion dollars a year.
Legalizing marijuana not only increases state revenue by direct taxation, but it allows police forces to focus on hard crimes instead of victim-less and nonviolent crimes. By not pursuing the arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of nonviolent marijuana users California could save $1 billion dollars, according to estimates by retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray.
Making marijuana legal could change the dynamic of the drug war, by allowing police to put more effort into searching out traffickers of hard drugs. Furthermore, legalizing marijuana allows police to put more focus on preventing the harms that come when drugs are used irresponsibility. Making marijuana illegal has not made it go away, but legalizing it opens it up to regulation.
Society progresses out of need. If California votes to legalize marijuana they will lead the nation toward the progression it needs to not only pull itself out of the recession, but also toward the progression needed to reform the nation’s criminal justice system.
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