This is the real deal. California is bankrupt, and the prison system is a fantastic place to retrieve billions of misspent dollars. Not only that, but a bankrupt state can stand to tax luxury items a little. This legislation is exactly the ticket for recovery… FINALLY.

RTFA: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/02/get_up…

Ammiano and the assembled speakers at San Francisco’s State Building also spoke calmly and methodically, at one point being drowned out by a floor-waxer. The famously funny lawmaker reined himself in, presenting “The Marijuana Control, regulation and education act (AB 390)” as a simple matter of fiscal common sense. If you believe Ammiano and his straitlaced panel, it is.

In a nutshell, here’s what the bill would do: “Remove all penalties under California law for the cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession, and use of marijuana, natural THC and paraphernalia by persons over the age of 21,” “prohibit local and state law enforcement officials from enforcing federal marijuana laws (more on that later)” and establish a fee of $50 an ounce on marijuana on top of whatever pot will cost in a legal future – which legalization advocates say is about half what it costs now. This tax rate figures at about a buck a joint.

Betty Yee, the chairwoman of the Board of Equalization, called Ammiano’s proposal “a responsible measure on how to work out the regulatory framework of the legalization of marijuana.” Her board’s research indicated $1.3 billion in tax dollars could immediately head into the state’s coffers from the fee on marijuana and the sales tax on medical pot. She figured the halving of marijuana’s street price would cause a consumption increase of 40 percent, but the $50 per ounce levy would cut use by 11 percent.

Steve Gutwillig, the state director of Drug Policy Alliance, noted that regulatory measures like Ammiano’s bill can work: Teen smoking is way down, and he claims juveniles report it is easier to obtain marijuana than purchase smokes. “Marijuana arrests actually increased 18 percent in California in 2007 while all other arrests for controlled substances fell,” said Gutwillig. “This costs the state a billion dollars a year and taxpayers are footing the bill. Meanwhile, black marketers are laughing all the way to the bank.”

RTFA: http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/open_for_question…

Q: “Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?” S. Man, Denton

A: President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.

Booooo!

Terrible show. This question was far and away the most supported question submitted to change.gov, and it received the least substantive response from Obama. A little explanation would have been nice.

Granted, there are all sorts of political reasons to dodge the question, but it’s really disappointing that we can’t have a reasoned discussion about this topic. At least provide a reason why legalization isn’t supported. Did he miss the part about creating jobs and boosting the economy?

Oh – I forgot the part about the prison industry being a growth sector of the economy… woo-freaking-hoo… That will create useful jobs!

Anyway, with an attitude like that, it sounds like we’re up for more of the same… which amounts to little more than authoritarian thuggery.

As someone pointed out on reddit, Dr. Ron “The Last American” Paul has a few choice positions on the topic:

Paul favors the use of marijuana as a medical option. He was cosponsor of H.R. 2592, the States’ Rights to Medical Marijuana Act.[225][226] He opposes federal prohibition of this option in states such as California under Proposition 215.

Paul has joined prominent liberal Democrats in urging that states be allowed to permit farmers to grow industrial hemp, which currently is defined as a controlled substance.[211] He contends that this would help North Dakota and other agriculture states, where farmers have requested the ability to farm hemp for years.[211]

In 2005 and 2007 he introduced the Industrial Hemp Farming Act “to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana, and for other purposes”[227]; it currently has eleven cosponsors. This bill would give the states the power to regulate farming of hemp. The measure would be a first since the national prohibition of industrial hemp farming in the United States. The Economist wrote that his support for hemp farming could appeal to farmers in Iowa.[228]

Pretty sad, really…