Editorial:
Proposition 19: Legalizes Marijuana Under California But Not Federal Law. Permits Local Governments to Regulate and Tax Commercial Production, Distribution, and Sale of Marijuana. Initiative Statute – Majority Approval Required
The war against drugs is a total failure and the use of marijuana is on the rise. Drug cartels are omnipresent in Mexico, making billions selling the drug to US consumers. A recent poll has Prop 19 winning the California electorate by nearly a double digit margin.
Supporting a controversial proposition which redefines a 97 year “illegal drug” definition is not easy. But then again, I have memories of my sweet Grandmother who had a marijuana plant growing in her garden. She wasn’t a pot head, but a very hardworking woman who raised nine children. Her first husband was a sheepherder; her second husband was a farm hand.
To my grandmother, marijuana was a medicinal herb. She used it to relieve the aches and pains of a hard life and for other various aliments. This was despite the fact that in 1913, California passed the first state marijuana prohibition law.
It has been determined that marijuana use is less harmful than the consumption of alcohol. One study published in the journal Clinical EEG and Neuroscience shows that alcohol has a stronger effect on teen brain development than marijuana. The study was undertaken by Squeglia, Jacobus and Tapert in a San Diego State University/University of California San Diego joint doctoral program.
To be clear: if this proposition passes it will still be illegal for anyone under 21 to use or grow marijuana. Marijuana would be regulated much like the consumption of alcohol is presently regulated.
If marijuana is legalized, there could be a huge impact on the illegal selling of drugs, the criminal element, and hurt the drug cartels. Legalization, more than anything else the United States has tried and failed at in the war on drugs, may have a substantial impact.
Lastly, the tax benefit from the selling of marijuana could increase state and local government tax and fee revenues, potentially in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually. At the same time save, our state could save money currently being spent on jailing and imprisoning minor drug offenders for marijuana use and sales.
It wasn’t so long ago that gambling was an illegal activity. Now, not only does the state make millions from Indian casinos, these casinos have become substantial business and community partners.
It is time to turn a negative into a positive. The change from “illegal” to “legal” designation of using and growing marijuana could cut into the business of underground, criminal activities and provide much needed funds for the state and local cities.
We support the passage of Prop. 19