California May Be First State to Legalize and Tax Marijuana

Two controversial bills were thrown out, even though the revenues would've been good for what ails the California budget. Those were cutting about $1 billion in transportation funding from local budgets and the other was to allow off shore drilling to resume for the first time in 40 years.

Governor Schwarzenegger is going to have to dig deep to come up with big bucks to balance the budget, but with everything already cut til it's bleeding, he's run out of places to nip and tuck.

Last Tuesday, Oakland voters passed a bill to tax proceeds on medical marijuana. According to CNN, the growers of medical marijuana led the campaign to get the medical marijuana tax approved. Steve DeAngelo says his business will be hit with a $350,000 tax bill next year, but felt it was time to "step up to the plate and make a contribution to the city (of Oakland) in a time of need."

Tom Ammiano, representative from San Francisco, has introduced a bill to legislature that would legalize and tax the cultivation, possession and sale of marijuana by people who are 21 or older. Growers and wholesalers would be charged $5,000 franchise fees and retailers would pay fees of $50 per ounce.

CNN reports that the law, if passed, would bring in an estimated $13 billion in tax revenues. The California Governor just signed a $130 billion budget on Friday that painfully increases sales and income taxes while slashing spending across the board.

Marijuana is the largest unregulated agricultural crop in America. What a wonderful way to keep the tax free money in the hands of drug dealers and reward them for keeping under the radar. If they do get caught, they get free room and board, courtesy of the US taxpayer, and are let out to continue business as usual.

Arguments against legalization

There are several major arguments against legalization. Some people are afraid it will send the wrong message to our children. These people must be worried that our children will become Olympic swimming champions or the President of the United States. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol or cigarettes. Could it be that the alcohol and cigarette industries are worried about the competition and lobby to protect their markets?

Lobbyists against legalization also say that smoking marijuana is ruining our society and leads to use of harder drugs, such as heroin. I don't know where they get their information, but even if some marijuana users do go on to use heroin, I would venture to say that smoking marijuana does not cause people to move on to more dangerous drugs.

Others seem to think that legalizing medical marijuana will is immoral and hypocritical. They're concerned that the government was happy with illegal marijuana when it served their purposes and they were making money from arrests, fines, and other judicial services. Now they feel that the government is changing its tune because it can make more money from legalizing it. Let the government take the rap for being hypocritical and start raking in the tax dollars. Does this not remind anyone of the prohibition of alcohol?

Even if marijuana is legalized at the state level, it will still be illegal on a federal level, which could make taxation of the marijuana a problem. It's illegal to tax something that isn't legal. The federal government could confiscate those tax dollars which would leave the state back where it started. Will states trust the federal government to turn its head for the greater good? The only way to make this work is to get other states on board with legalizing marijuana to reduce the possibility of lengthy legal battles with the federal government.

Arguments for legalization

There are too many to list them all, but the major arguments for legalization of marijuana are:

Tax revenue would give a major boost to the government piggy banks and cut spending on the war against marijuana growers, which has been a losing battle for quite some time. Savings will be made on the costs of sending marijuana users to court and marijuana dealers to jail.

Regulated marijuana will be safe and not "laced" with any additives that are harmful to the user.

If the legislature is worried about marijuana not being good for us, then why are alcohol and tobacco still legal? They've already printed warnings on the labels that cigarettes are dangerous to our health. Print it on the packs of marijuana, too, if that's all it takes.

Fast food and mini-market businesses will see increased revenues due to more cases of the munchies. It's a trickle down effect. The government will get the biggest piece of the Twinkie, but even the small businesses will benefit.

It's only a matter of time

If California doesn't manage to legalize marijuana, it's only a matter of time before another state will. I personally would like my state to be recognized for its progressive thinking, especially since it will ease the tax burden now placed on each and every one of us through sales and income tax increases. We may have to wait for the older generation of conservatives to be pushed out of the legislature by the marijuana friendly baby boomers, but we'll eventually see marijuana legalized and taxed.

Sources:
CNN Politics http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/22/california.pot.tax/index.html
Guardian.co.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/deadlineusa/2009/feb/24/california-marijuana-legalisation-legislation