Schwarzenegger's Open Debate on Marijuana Legalization

California assemblyman, Tom Ammiano, is currently doing what would have seemed unthinkable only a few years ago: He has proposed a way in which to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana in his home state. What may be even crazier is that the idea seems to be gaining traction. Recently, a pro-marijuana-legalization initiative cited a poll of voters that found 56% of them would be fine with legal marijuana in California. Today, even the Republican Governor of the state, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was quoted as saying he was open to debating putting the initiative into effect.

Ammiano's initiative, The Inalienable Rights Enforcement Initiative, is seeking to decriminalize and tax California's largest cash crop, marijuana. As the state has fallen on dire economic times, the notion of a possible $1.3 billion bonus in taxes is starting to sound not so crazy. As Ammiano reminds us, it's certainly not any crazier than thinking the war on drugs is winning.

The craziest part of the history of marijuana and the criminal justice system may be how it became illegal. The notion to criminalize marijuana was first put forth by conservative lawmakers in southern and western states, who were seeking to jail and possibly deport the Mexican residents of those states. At the time, there were no reports of marijuana being dangerous, habit-forming, or, to use a now-infamous term from the war on drugs, a "gateway drug."

Schwarzenegger's recent openness to the debate may be a shock to his Republican base, but not to those who have followed what the "Governator" says in his interviews. In a 2007 interview with GQ magazine, Scwarzenegger attempted to explain his drug-free past, in spite of video taken during his weight training days that shows him smoking a joint. As he retorted, "That is not a drug; it's a leaf."

While he claims the quotation was a bad attempt at a joke, it is obvious that marijuana's legalization is not something that would terrify Governor Schwarzenegger, and, in the economic turmoil in which he is finding himself at the moment, the extra money might be a persuasive reason to pass Ammiano's initiative.

Schwarzenegger has already famously broken with Republican party lines in his praise for Obama's stimulus package, in his openness to gay marriage, his concern for the environment, and his pro-choice stance. Giving Ammiano's marijuana-legalizing initiative a public forum is just the latest in a long trend of Republican-party-line-breaking actions taken by Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenneger: Marijuana's Not A Drug, www.cbsnews.com

State Voters Add To Gridlock , Poll Says, www.sfgate.com