It seems the governor is finally listening to the more than half of California residents who support the legalization of marijuana.
This week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said it’s not time for action, just chatter. He suggested a dialogue should start and “we ought to study very carefully what other countries are doing that have legalized marijuana and other drugs, what affect it had on those countries, and are they happy with that decision.”
We should start by telling the truth about marijuana. Stop feeding us a cleaned up, not-so-obvious version of “Reefer Madness”-esque propaganda.
For instance, the absurd commercials that push ridiculousness into our faces have got to go. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s an example. A teenager comes home and her dog starts a conversation with her. He tells her he wants her to stop smoking pot because she’s not the same and he wants his friend back.
It’s apparent the dog represents a friend who is afraid of confronting her about smoking. But a talking dog? Talking dogs are for children — very small children. Don’t tell me someone out there actually thought a teenager might look at that and have an “Aha” moment.
Furthermore, pot is not a gateway drug and does not cause you to rape or kill. We can start seriously talking about legalizing this drug after the myths are cleared up, once and for all.
State Assemblyman, Tom Ammiano (D) San Francisco, brings Bill AB 390 to the people of this great state. The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act states it would “legalize the possession, sale, cultivation, and other conduct relating to marijuana and its derivatives by persons 21 years of age and older … It would set up a wholesale and retail marijuana sales regulation program.”
Schwarzenegger said the only ways to solve our budget problems are to cut spending and raise taxes. If Californians were allowed to legally puff we would achieve both — simultaneously. The state would gain by taxing the green stuff and could cut spending by decriminalizing the substance, releasing thousands of prisoners and preventing future wasteful arrests.
The bill essentially calls for marijuana to be treated like alcohol. This seems appropriate considering we are in the worst economic times since the Great Depression, which happened around the same time as Prohibition. The problems of the 1920s and ’30s were similar to our problems today — just substitute alcohol with weed.
Clearly, Prohibition took money directly from the states. Because alcohol was illegal and still in demand, gangsters and violence thrived. The millions of dollars that went into gangsters’ pockets could have gone to the governments. The Volstead Act made criminals out of regular, everyday people. Let’s just say most people on this campus would be in trouble if Prohibition were still the law.
Think what it would be like if weed were legal. Hundreds of thousands of people arrested each year would be free. According to Socialworker.org, the last 10 years saw close to 15 million people arrested for weed, 89 percent of those ‘criminals’ were charged with simple possession.
The state paid an average annual operating cost of $22,650 per inmate in 2001, according to various government websites. That’s a lot of savings.
Today, we are in the midst of a drug war — and an expensive one to boot. We are creating criminals because we are not thinking logically.
Serafina Costanza is a senior journalism major and an assistant opinions editor for the Daily Forty-Niner.
This article was updated at 1 p.m. on May 11
I say keep it illegal to produce, and decriminalize it. Now that Medical Marijuana is legal, how many more people grow it than did 10 years ago? You want to call it medical and tax it. Then have the dispensaries set up in County Hospitals and let them sell it and tax it. Or make it only available through a licensed pharmacy. Cannabis clubs should be called Pot Stores or Weed Markets like a Liquor Store. California is now flooded with weed and the only outlet is driving it to other states where it is illegal and it brings a higher value. This is a problem. What other medicines are you allowed to manufacture for yourself without government safety approval? If Marijuana is to be legalized lets do it for the whole country not per state. That is where the problem is. One other thing.. Hemp, how do you think the petroleum companies will like it if Hemp is legal. Just think of all the money Hemp products will take from these huge companies. It seems that any smoke in your lungs is bad for you, and a health hazard. Don’t get me wrong, I love pot and use it everyday. I just feel it should be all states or no states. Lets ask Obama not Arnold. How many Tobacco users grow their own? What % of drinkers make their own?
TAX and Regulate it, its much safer than Alcohol, and Tobacco. Stop treating our own responsible citizens like they are criminals, just because they enjoy smoking a little bit of pot here and there. To most regular or daily smokers, pot doesnt really even do much to them, it is just relaxing and calming. And most smokers prefer it to Alcohol. It is great for anxiety and depression, and is probably much safer than all those fricking pills kids are popping now. Eliminate the black market, create an entirely new industry that will create BILLIONS of dollars and thousands of jobs.
Sour DIesel, some fine beers & 2 girls is all I need!!
Marijuana…It Needs To Be Legalized Because There Hasn’t Been Any Reported Accidents Of People Using It. It Is Just A Big Thing With The Government Because They Can’t Find A Way To Tax It And Make Money Off It. I Have Yall Know That I Am A Pot Smoker And I Am In College And I Have Straight A’s And B’s. There Is Nothing Wrong With Smoking Pot. And I Can’t Wait Til It Becomes Legal. It Would Improve The Economy A lot. Look At Cali. They Ain’t Even Suffering From The Economy Because MARIJUANA IS LEGAL. They Can Have 5 Plants In Their House And They Can Have A Ounce On A Person At One Time. They Tax It. So Why Cant The Rest Of Us?
Its not a drug its an herb that just grows that way and if you so happen to set it on fire there are 3 main side effects, Happy, Hungry, And sleepy. It is impossible to overdose on marijuana because for that to happen you must smoke your entire body weight, and as far as I know that’s never happened. I toke and I’m a computer tech. I am not dumb, I haven’t made my parents cry, and I’m not useless. The truth is that cigarettes are the real gateway. If I had never started smoking cigarettes I wouldn’t have smoked weed. If anything should be outlawed it should be Alcohol or tobacco which unlike marijuana, kills thousands or more a day
what i want to know is why are cigerettes still legal? they cause more premature deaths then anything. How many people has weed killed? Better yet how many responsible people has weed killed? Of course the government is going to point out all the accidents from people driving and under the use of marijuana. But does it really cause lung cancer? Does it really kill brain cells? I need better proof then studies done in the 90’s. The gateway theory has been disproven twice so far. I have pot smoking friends who just so happen to be some of the smartest poeple i know. And health wise come on. Michael Phelps. There you go disproven. If the government can’t make better arguements then why isn’t it legal already? What i want to know is; who outlawed it in the first place and with what legitament proof?
If any such comments disappeared – which I assume that they weren’t posted – you can blame College Publisher 5.0 for that. I’ve seen comments randomly appear and disappear today and sometimes comments are approved and others are queued up for approval – I don’t know what algorihim they use but it’s weird.
Looks like the d-49er is back to its old censorship games. There were some remarks criticizing the paper and abracadabra, they disappeared.
Yeah read the Union Weakly Thank You/Fuck You letter from “Beefhead” Now there’s some journalistic excellence; great grammar and spelling throughout. And that’s the editor in chief.
So the question is, do we want to spend billions on putting marijuana useres in jail, or collect billions in taxes on the use of marijuana? Sales tax is one approach, but it’s going to be politically important to identify a way to tax personally cultivated marijuana so the money can flow to the public treasury and the rebuilding of America.
We all know the gang violence and destruction of public lands caused by criminals operating outside of the prohibition laws would end if individuals could legally grow a few plants of their own at home.
One approach: support a personal use and cultivation permit, for example $100 for twelve plants, with the revenue split between the Federal and State governments.
Let’s let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own backyards and put the criminal cartels out of business.
We the people in order to form a more perfict union………..Need we say more!
I think many of the latest anti-pot commercials targeting youth are quite effective. The talking dog commercial and the one where the person is deflated on a couch were good because they focus on the real dangers of marijuana, not being liked by people who don’t like the way you act when you’re high. I certainly don’t agree with the Federal government spending the money on those adds, or any adds, but as far as anti-pot commercials go, those are just fine with me.
Sorry, I forgot to copy edit the article (again, sigh.) That should be “reefer” because it makes no sense when it says “refer.”
Your Name– No, no there is not. Typos in the headlines are a tradition at the 49er…I personally have witnessed “The” misspelled in a print copy. Journalistic excellence!
If anyone needs their palate cleansed, check out the Union Weekly, CSULB’s other paper…its funny, interesting, and well written.
Marijuana is not perfectly harmless. No drug is. But it doesn’t have to be harmless to be made legal; it just has to be less harmful than prohibition. And what has prohibition gotten us? Ruined lives, high tax bills, and police breaking into people’s homes. The deprivation of liberty is a cost, and that cost is too high. You’d have to be smoking something nasty to think that locking people up for pot is a legitimate use of government power, or a responsible use of taxpayer money.
The only valid argument that I have heard against marijuana legalization will be the possibility of more accidents if marijuana use and driving are combined. Personally I’ve gotten a toke in once or twice while driving but I want studies, measurements, etc to show the motor skill impact of marijuana with or without driving. Marijuana intoxication is less serious than a person who has had two beers but it is more powerful than a cup of coffee. There must be a way to test and prosecute people who are inebriated to a point where they are a danger to society. Some people drive well while high but usually they are good driver to begin with. The people who are stupid stoners and who suck at driving where probably stupid and crappy at driving before they smoked weed but cannabis doesn’t typically enhance a drivers ability.
Isn’t there an editor that knows the difference between “reefer” and “refer”?
And I hate the Gateway Drug Argument. Alcohol is THE gateway drug. It’s most peoples first buzz. And if they like it, they want more. Also, most of my successful friends that smoke, never got into anything heavy like coke. I wonder what % of pot smokers ended up addicted to crack or coke. 10%?
Legalize it and treat it like alcohol – plain and simple. If legal, it will be exciting for the 1st 6 months. But after that, people who smoke now, will still smoke and people who don’t, won’t. Not much will change…..