AB 390 headed to health committee
Image from Wikimedia Commons.
The California Safety Committee today passed AB 390, a bill that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana. AB 390 passed 4-3, and now it goes to the health committee. AB 390 calls for regulations similar to those placed on alcohol, and it would legalize marijuana for personal recreational use.
California has had gigantic budget problems, and when the news was first released that the state had a huge budget gap, many people suggested that if marijuana were taxed in California it would help decrease California’s tax debt.
Marijuana to go up for a vote
Most sources appear pretty certain that AB 390 will get killed at some point in the process, maybe even very soon in health committee. However, in the November election, California will put the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 up to a statewide vote. California voters will have the opportunity to legalize marijuana for recreational use and become the first state to do so.
People argue that legalizing marijuana would help the state’s budget as well as decrease crime and weaken drug cartels. Others argue that marijuana is too dangerous to be legalized. There are also a lot of arguments about whether regulating it would be feasible because marijuana is easy to grow.
Marijuana money
An article from Time Magazine says that marijuana is California’s biggest cash crop, and statewide sales are estimated to be about $14 billion per year. The same article says California could make $1.3 billion in taxes if AB 390 or a similar bill is passed.
Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996, and the state currently collects taxes on about $200 million per year in medical marijuana sales. On a federal level, the Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske had a reputation for letting marijuana possession slide and not prosecuting people for it when he was police chief in Seattle, Wash., so it might not be long before we see changes in federal marijuana law.
Memo to ipone scale; "What is it good for"? Gee, where do I start? Insomnia, Hypertension, pain relief, shall I go on? As for the rest of us that "use it for the wrong reason"…TO GIGGLE LIKE A LITTLE GIRL!!! lol!!!
It's about time… I have lost faith in my country from this one concept… let's see, pot is bad, because "they" say it is bad… alcohol is "ok" because "they" say it's ok… But yet, alcohol and cigarettes kill more people… hmm, sounds like stupidity to me.. I just want the freedom to choose… George Washington would be turning over in his grave if he seen how america the free turned out… Also, for you that say pot "makes" people lazy, think again… didn't we get pot from the natives? Were they lazy? I think not… I smoke a lot, since i was really young, and Im about to graduate with an associates in programming and two computer certificates with a 4.0
It's funny cause there are huge numbers of people who use marijuana and even more folks than want to make it legal, but since the war against marijuana started a long time ago everyone lost track of what is really important.
What is it good for?
cynthia
you are a prude. there is nothing wrong with the recreational use of marijuana. there is always a time and place for everything. there is nothing wrong with smoking in your free time. if you believe people shouldn't smoke because there actions are impaired while high, then i guess you are saying that america should make alcohol illegal too. i don't know about you but i can smoke a lot more weed and still be completely functional rather than being intoxicated by alcohol and even trying to do such a simple task as dialing a phone number. if you think it's bad because of the long term effects, then take a look at alcohols first. heart disease, liver cancer, liver failure just to name a few. thats not to mention all the benefits of them taxing it. there is too many pro's compared to con's for it not to happen. how do u think cigarettes became legal? to bring america out of it's first depression.
I have to agree that Devan is right Cynthia get educated on both side of a cause before stating your opinion. The plain truth,it is a schedule one drug,and being a schedule one drug legally researchers can not use it for medical testing. How ever the AMA has asked the federal govt to reschedule marijuana for testing. Keep in mind, knowledge is power,yet people do not have the knowledge. It may cure caner but under Cynthia way we are all doomed. lol! ok Im not that naive but “give pot a chance”
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“In the November election, California will put the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 up to a statewide vote. California voters will have the opportunity to legalize marijuana for recreational use and become the first state to do so.”
You read that part right! This means its guaranteed to pass! Every person that smokes weed in California is definatly going to get registered to vote and will ALL go vote yes on this. There are more people that smoke weed than that don’t. This is fact. Everyone start scheduling your next vacation to go to California! Now they can change those Arnold Advertisement. Make them California, “Where america really started”.
yippy. cant wait till the rest of the country follows suit. hopefully it will be soon. the world would be a much better place,
i hope it passes. but i live in indiana!!! it will be the last state to legalize lol.
I don’t agree that marijuana needs to be legalized, the current law is fine the way it is. This drug should only be available for the patients who need it for their pain. If legalized many would feel free to smoke it and use it for the wrong reasons. Legalizing a drug to fix our dept would be a sleezy way of doing so.
"Smoke it and use it for the wrong reason"? Oh, you mean like alcohol? "Sleazy"? Oh, you mean like legal cat houses in Nevada?
Most people that have Medical cards are teenagers that in fact don’t have any medical problems. If Prop 19 or AB 390 does not pass, numerous amounts of people are still going to be getting club cards not because there is in fact a medical problem with them, but just because they want to smoke a bowl and get high.
How would people use weed for the wrong reasons?? Smoking it just makes you want to chill and hang around people that are also chill and not really do anything. Alcohol is also technically a drug too and that alters your personality way more than smoking a bowl does. Does that mean that we should ban alcohol too??? People use alcohol as an escape and for all the wrong reasons too, there is no right reason to use alcohol. Don’t be an idiot and post stupid comments on $h!t that you don’t even know and doesn’t even make sense. I bet if you went and smoked a bowl right now you’d realize how nice it is, and you’d probably change your whole stance on not wanting weed to be legalized in CA.
thank god. the good guys always win. let the people vote to free the people
To be honest I never really thought that this would happen. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.
I think it is a good to lealize marijuana. There’s nothing wrong to smoke it