The secretary of state confirmed last night to everyone the voter initiative to legalize marijuana received around 523,531 legitimate signatures-over 433,971 were needed to get it on the November ballot. The California legalization initiative has supporters that argue pot legalization will not only save the cash-strapped California economy cash, but will bring in the instant cash of tax revenue. Quite a few of the people who don't support the bill argue that legalizing the drug will end in more crime and great health impacts. Others worry that making legal gray-market marijuana will make the quality of marijuana go down and really hurt the budding marijuana industry. Part 1 of this article covers the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act in California and the arguments for its passage. Part 2: Arguments against Marijuana Legalization in California covers the arguments against marijuana legalization in California.
History of marijuana legalization in California.
The first law in the state criminalizing marijuana in the US was passed in California in 1913. Most other states quickly acted upon their lead. The federal law made transfer and possession of "Marihuana" illegal for all things apart from industrial and medical use by 1937.
The US Federal government put marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 although the act was declared unconstitutional in 1969. California made medical marijuana legal with Proposition 215 in 1996, reigniting the national debate. Marijuana remains an illegal Schedule I narcotic and is considered to have "no valid medical use" on the federal level.
The California marijuana legalization measure.
The California voter initiative to legalize pot, known as the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act lays out several limitations on the legal use of marijuana. Anyone 21 or older would be authorized to "possess, cultivate, or transport marijuana for personal use." Marijuana would be taxed and regulated through commercial sales or production by local governments in California. It would be illegal still to drive when under the influence of marijuana, have the drug on school grounds, to smoke in public, to give it to any underage persons, or to smoke while any minors are present.
The debate consisting of cost-savings for marijuana legalization
Supporters of the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act argue the legalization of marijuana would conserve the State of California a significant amount of cash. California has been using payday cash advances on the state spending budget to cover all their costs because they’re in a huge budget deficit.
The savings estimates are anywhere from $ 156 million to $ 1 billion. Supporters claim that once the already-stretched-thin law-enforcement system stops prosecuting individuals for growing, possessing or selling marijuana, they can focus on crimes and criminals that are more violent or dangerous. Those for the act also point out the fact that few deaths in California are due to marijuana while hundreds of death each year are due to alcohol.
Taxation for cannabis legalization assertion.
The Regulate, Control, and Tax act will give the government the ability to tax marijuana as when as saving California millions of dollars in law enforcement. Those for the act estimate that $ 15 billion gray-market and black market marijuana is being sold every year in California.
Just one excise tax on the retail purchases of marijuana would bring in about $ 1.3 billion a year or perhaps more. Some counties and cities within California currently tax medical marijuana dispensaries. These city and county taxes bring in as much as $350,000 per dispensary.
The jobs argument for legalizing pot
Some areas of California, such as Humboldt County, already have a thriving marijuana tourism industry. With services from medical marijuana dispensaries to schools focused on how to grow marijuana, the area brings in several million dollars a year in tourism revenue. As pointed out by proponents, if the marijuana tourism industry grew to just one third the size of the wine industry, it would create up to 50,000 jobs. Marijuana being legalized would also make it legal to produce hemp in state which might add to the agricultural base in California.
California’s Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act is due to go on the November ballot. If you were interested in the arguments against the legalization of marijuana in California, I’d suggest you see Part 2: Arguments against Marijuana Legalization in California.
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