Could the legalization and taxation of marijuana rescue California's sagging economy? Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't endorsing the idea but today said he would be interested in a robust debate on the topic.
(NEWSCOM/FILE)Photos (1 of 1)
Dude… Schwarzenegger says it’s time to debate marijuana
By Jimmy Orr | 05.05.09
Although President Obama last month dismissed the possibility of legalizing marijuana, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says it’s time to talk about it.
Speaking at an event to promote wildfire safety, the governor was asked a question about “wild life” safety. Specifically, if it was time for the state to start legalizing and taxing marijuana use.
“Well, I think it’s not time for that, but I think it’s time for a debate,” Schwarzenegger said. “I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues, I’m always for an open debate on it.”
Poll
A recent poll showed that 56 percent of Californians supported legalizing and taxing marijuana.
One bill in the California State Assembly would tax marijuana at $50 per ounce. The bill’s author claims the state would make over $1 billion per year on the tax.
Money
But it just can’t be the money, Schwarzenegger Press Secretary Aaron McLear told The Vote . The governor is fine with a robust debate — with two caveats:
“Shouldn’t debate it solely on fiscal terms,” McLear said. “[And] we should talk to European countries that have legalized and see what they have learned—how’s it working out for them.”
Roll back
Schwarzenegger brought up his native Austria and perhaps some recent dissatisfaction with more open drug laws.
“For instance in Austria, I’ve heard that they are unhappy with that and they want to roll back some of the decisions that were made in European countries. I’ve had dialogue with experts over there where I was born.
“It could very well be that everyone is happy with that decision and then we can look at that. And if not, we shouldn’t do it,” he added. “But just because of raising revenues, we have to be very careful not to make mistakes at the same time.”
Obama
Last month, President Obama was asked if he favored the legalization of marijuana to help the ailing economy. In fact, it was the most emailed question the White House received in the online town hall meeting he hosted.
“I don’t know what this says about the online audience,” the president said. “But, no, I don’t think that is a good strategy to grow the economy.”
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2. AdamG | 05.05.09
In California, would the legalization of marijuana open the door for new users? No, it wouldn’t, because everyone who would use legal marijuana already uses it illegally or through a medical prescription.
Marijuana laws are very liberal in the Bay Area, and since their loosening, we’ve not seen an increase in crime nor a need for extra law enforcement. What we have seen is a revitalization in areas of Oakland and San Francisco from the business that pot dispensaries produce.
5. Tom | 05.05.09
Good god, could it be possible that some rational thinking has entered national politics? If so, then I think I love that big goofy Austrian musclehead. Now, once the Governator has straightened out the great state of Cal-E-fornya, he can move on to get the cultivation of hemp as a food/fuel/textile on the ballots and into practice.
GO Arnold!
6. wtobias | 05.05.09
its good first they almost bad smoking saying how many deaths it causes and the argument about second hand smoke then alcohol how many get run over by dwi and how much it cost . now this so why dont California just say it we dont give a dam about your health just your money
7. wtobias | 05.05.09
don’t worry poor people im sure they will come up with a pot stamp program like food stamp might as well make the tax payers pay for that too
8. Erik Higa | 05.05.09
I smoke pot every day. Are you going to put me in jail just for that? Go ahead and do it.
9. Matt | 05.05.09
Has any body look at Stevi why it was illegal up till a couple of months ago. We wonder why we have so many diabetics like my self today. Its big money and profits its time to let people choose Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
10. Scott | 05.05.09
@wtobias - food stamps don’t cover alcohol or cigarettes, so why would they cover marijuana? You’re arguments don’t make any sense. Do you even know what you’re talking about?
11. renkent | 05.05.09
Well ..I think they should legalize weed..whats the difference between smoking a joint and taking a muscle relaxer and depressent drugs..pot is much safer…..and politicians especially should be pushing for it…because once the truth is out there how most politicians been scamming the american public for most this centuary….with american scoiety as a hole is about to collapse from exhaustion…I think a nice joint would take the edge off of it all..
12. Josh | 05.05.09
There is a multimillion dollar pharmaceutical industry keeping lonely housewives high on their expensive and addictive prescription drugs. Cheap marijuana as an alternative will threaten their business model and they will throw everything they’ve got against legalizing it.
13. Erik | 05.05.09
wtobias ESL maybe? You may want to stay away from pot and go back to school to get an education.
$50 an ounce tax though? really? You used to be able to buy an ounce for that.
Then there’s all the other stuff you can make from hemp - linens for clothes that is higher quality than cotton, tofu like products that are more nutritional than soybeans, oil that can be refined to cook with or run diesel engines. And it grows just about anywhere, and cleans the air at the same time. Why is this illegal?
Oh yeah, it was made illegal because Mexicans and Africans used it back before it was illegal and the white folks needed something to keep em down and in jail.
Now that all the races use it, we should decriminalise it.
15. what a dope | 05.05.09
the cigarette and alchohal lobby will never let them do it. It’s competition for them and it’s a better product. Don’t forget the Dr’s and pill companys who will also be agaist it cuz it cuts into their profits too.
Nobody OD’s, no ‘mean highs’ like ‘mean drunks’, driving is usually slower than normal, unlike after drinking when you want to go really fast or are too drunk to see straight.
16. SteveK | 05.05.09
There is a recently published study about Portugal which is the country of most liberal drug laws of any western nation(*). In Portugal drug use is treated under national health issue, instead of crime. Over the years drug use is actually in decline and those results are indisputable. Needless to say, mild drug use in U.S. is more common - in all age groups - thank it is in Portugal. It is time for a debate. Take the huge profits out of the drug trade and you will remove the criminal element. For now, we are loosing the battle.
(*) Drug laws in Netherlands are more strict but they are rarely enforced.
17. andyb | 05.05.09
I encourage the legalization. There will always be individuals who obsess, abuse, whatever it is. A younger brother of mine od’d years ago, on the synthetic opiate they gave him through a ‘recovery program’. He was never real interested in marijuana, alcohol was the entry level drug for him. Along with it came car wrecks and much more. Prohibiting everything except the ‘corporate ‘ drugs makes the more lethal substances more attractive. Not to mention the outrageous jail sentences and lives ruined. I have not seen marijuana lead anyone down that road.
18. Nancy Abraham | 05.05.09
I am not going to say that Marijuana is better or safer. Just like a cigarette, you inhale the smoke and its invades your lungs and system. Just like alcohol, you lose your touch with reality, your mind is unclear and you make bad decisions in life.
However, the point is not how bad marijuana is for you. Because if mind-altering substances were bad, alcohol, illegal prescription drugs and the like should also be banned. The point is that we are creating a new mafia that is stronger and better-equipped than any army in the world-the drug mafia. Making marijuana illegal is putting money in strengthening the arms of the mafia. I wish we lived in a perfect world where people just said ‘no’ to drugs but it is not so and the goverment has to make the best decision possible. The best decision is to legalise marijuana, so law-enforcing officers are not required to be arresting college kids for making petty marijuana deals and instead go after the Big Fish.
19. knova | 05.05.09
@wtobias:
Are you trying to say that they should ban tobacco and alcohol because they’re health hazards, and the only reason they don’t is that all they want is the money? If so, I suppose you could be right!
However, UNLIKE tobacco and alcohol, marijuana is NOT known to be a health hazard (except if you smoke it; inhaling smoke is always bad). So there’s one less reason for it to be illegal.
20. Johnny Masters | 05.05.09
Every pot smoker understands the we live in a Police State and that they are not there to protect and serve us as they are to oppress and jail us.
21. JDinWA | 05.05.09
When legal, the taxes will only be a 10th of it. Most present smokers would have to quit. Just think: “Yes, you may partake, but you just can’t do that and work here.” and “We test everyone, now that it’s legal. So is our testing program…” Careful what you wish for.
22. Papa Roach | 05.05.09
Nancy spelling, grammar and facts get them together!!! Marijuana smoke is so much less harmful than cigarette smoke, it doesn’t have all the additives. You can can smell the difference in the smoke. My friend has a bloodhound that will run if someone blows cigarette smoke at him, but blow pot smoke at him and he sniffs it right up. Who wants to dispute a Bloodhound’s nose?
23. Gabe | 05.05.09
Hooray!! Comments being posted are mostly intelligent, and lead one to think that there might be hope for democracy after all. So many comments on other sites/topics lead to the conclusion that most respondents are ignorant and/or stupid.
24. Christian and Conservative | 05.06.09
It is time that it is debated. As more of the “old” school conservative heads roll out of office as they are voted out by the younger generation, the more likely it will be to be legalized. Sorry to the alcohol business and tobacco businesses! Can you imagine it, a plant you can grow in your own house that can actually relax you after a hectic day at work!?!?!?!?!?! I doubt Mr. Jack Daniels will go for that… It is sad that the U.S.A. government can put people away for 5 years for selling a plant that grows naturally in the right conditions (what the **** was God thinking!?!?!?!?). No wonder why the Department of Corrections is so over stacked and the tax payers are fronting the BILLS! -Oh and for the people criticizing Obama on stopping raids on the marijuana dispensaries in California once he can change heads of the DEA… isn’t it a traditional conservative view that each state should have the right to create it’s laws and enforce them? (IE LESS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT?) Phew..
25. Carolyn | 05.06.09
does CA on pot make the economy look better OR does the economy on pot make CA look better?
26. Faith | 05.06.09
I think we should. When something is illegal, more people are gonna wanna do it because it’s tempting to do bad.
28. Homunculis | 05.06.09
It amazes me that after millions of dollars spent on studies by successive administrations looking to add talking points against marijuana, and the best we have is…it leads to harder stuff. What the French Toast? Millions of Americans Felonized, and Incarcerated, removing them from the productive pool of labor. Billions spent to where house Americans in prison, 80% of for simple possession.
What a collosal waste, not to say an egregious injustice. Spanish doctors are using direct injections of THC to treat inoperable brain cancer for crying out loud. If this country could replace Alcohol with marijuana we would be better off both from selective and general harm. It just defies common sense this argument hasn’t been equitably resolved already.
30. Thomas | 05.06.09
Don’t forget, the man blaze up with Mr. Chong way before ever leaning into politics.
Drugpolicy.org
31. Max | 05.06.09
$50/ounce tax? Who’s the suit that thought up that idea? You’ll maintain the current black market with taxation like that.
32. Matt94 | 05.06.09
Legalizing marijuana will have zero impact on cocaine, heroin and the like. So while it may let the pro-drug folks get what they want, it does nothing to help the hard core addicts of the “hard” drugs or the ever increasing prescription drug abusers. It doesn’t reduce crime in our cities (more personal and property crime is attributable to cocaine, meth and heroin users than marijuana). The Mexican drug cartels that currently smuggle drugs into the country will not suddenly stop smuggling, become law-abiding, tax-paying entrepreneurs, and cut their profit margin in the name of generating tax revenue for the U.S. government. They will continue to smuggle and traffic illegally, with the routes that have been long established as successful. The impact on law enforcement will increase, not decrease, as they enforce additional laws about who/what/where drugs are legal. The cost of regulation, licensing, etc will result in increased government expense at the local, state and federal levels.
Meanwhile, the problems faced today will continue. Amsterdam, a real-life experiment on legalizing marijuana and other “soft drugs” is now taking measures to reduce the number of coffee shops (where marijuana sales are permitted) according to the UNODC. Country-wide, the number of these coffee shops has dropped by a third in the past decade: the number of people seeking treatment for cannabis-related health problems has doubled in the same period.
To really understand, talk to a recovering heroin, meth or crack addict. Its not that marijuana somehow triggers you to want harder drugs. But its more along the lines of someone who drinks beer doing shots one day to celebrate something or because they had a hard day at work. Its a slippery slope.
33. DaRookie | 05.06.09
Hi guys
I a German guy and by incident found this comments on Arnies discussion plans.
Recently they asked the German people about what they think regarding legalization of MJ in Germany and most of the people came up with arguments like “it is a gateway drug” “it produces psych damages” and stuff like this.
I thought that this is all bull because here the people are extremly influenced by govermental announcments and bloody media announcement which not even state half the truth.
I smoke regularly since 14 years ( I am 28 now ). I finished my High School and Collegue and have my own business since 5 years.
What is the problem with pot?
If I were drinking all the time I am sure I would look much older and my liver also would not do too good.
Anyway I don’t want to write a book now I just wanted to make clear that I agree with you 100%.
Legalize it.
This would make the world a much better place for all of us.
And by the way. In Germany about 75 % are aginst legalization. The main reason certainly is that they are stupid to believe what our goverments say.
have a nice day
DaRookie
34. Ron | 05.06.09
Max, $50 is, at this point, a fairly arbitrary number. It’s roughly equivalent to the risk premium portion of the current price. Of course it will (should) slide up and down depending on what it takes to ameliorate major black market threat while serving the revenue purposes of the state. People will pay the tax because they are engaging in a legal activity that has been illegal for so long. In Holland for example, nobody buys cannabis on the streets to save a couple Euros because they can buy it legally* in coffee shops.
35. plato | 05.06.09
rational thought vs. the prision industry and the giant parmaceutical war machine….not looking good rational thought….sorry plato….Marijuana laws were first attached to imagration laws to stop the migrant workers from coming to the u.s. to work the labor intinsive crops…..the citizens need to vote!….yes pot head go vote….your doctors says it’s safe…tell him to vote….stop being frightened by the system….this government or any rebublic for that matter should br governed by the people…..so my people …i ask where are you and what are you doing about it…ask not what your country can do for you…..we know what they do!
36. DP | 05.06.09
Max,
$50/oz won’t lead to a black market, since the quality of legal product will be top notch - black market prices are at least $80/oz even for lowest quality, and up to $350-400 high grade. I would think that even with $50/oz only in taxes it should still be hard to compete..
38. TEXFROMCALIF. | 05.06.09
LEGALIZE IT FOR GOODNESS SAKES,TAKE THE MONEY AWAY FROM THE REAL CRIMINALS AND GENERATE GREAT REVENUE AND WATCH AS CRIME FALLS OFF DRASTICLY*HIGH TIME
39. Jonny | 05.06.09
The hands of the Mafia? uh… no. Local growers would be the providers. That’s how it already works. Anyway, it’s about time this is taking place. MJ is kind of like guns. We deserve to own them. It is our right. If we take guns away from the people. The people who shouldn’t have guns will still get them in their hands one way or another, while us law biding tax paying citizens are left unprotected. I can go drink myself to death or get drunk and get behind the wheel of a car and kill somebody else. Or I can go get a pack of smokes and give myself a whole list of problems like asthma and cancer etc. But I can’t smoke marijuana. How many people have died from smoking marijuana? Give me a number. I like statistics. Hit me with them. How many people are healed and treated with Marijuana with outstanding results?
40. Ted Clayton | 05.06.09
If it becomes legal to possess & use marijuana, why would folks not just poke seeds in the dirt and grow it? Are we going to have a law that somehow makes a growing plant illegal, while the dried leaves are cool? Have big raids sweeping through college dormatories, sending hundreds of students off to lengthy prison terms for growing plants in their windows? Sounds kinda doubtful, huh?
All the State gets out of the deal by making it legal is they no longer have to warehouse prisoners for pot-offenses, and the cops aren’t wasting their time (and irritating local voters) chasing after it.
There is no chance that the State is going to develop a valuable new revenue source, by legalizing pot and then taxing it. Get real.
=====
If one State (California, in this case) legalizes pot, wouldn’t that make it tempting to grow it where it’s legal, and haul to other States where it’s illegal? Hello?
Sure enough … we’d have both amateurs and professionals taking advantage of the open borders to export pot throughout the country (world?).
Make a billion dollars a year to help retire the debt, by legalizing pot? That’s just some stoner-politician’s bong-talk.
41. AdamG | 05.06.09
Ted, do people grow tobacco? Bootleg alcohol? Legalizing and regulating the pot trade would ensure a quality standard. Amateurs would find no new business in other states as that trade would continue to be run by cartels, and the pot growing laymen wouldn’t be able to compete with quality or quantity. Pot is legal in Amsterdam, and it’s not a distribution hub for the world.
42. Ted Clayton | 05.06.09
AdamG,
Amsterdam is of course a city in the nation of The Netherlands.
Check out Wikipedia’s article, “Drug policy of the Netherlands”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_the_Netherlands
“In the Netherlands, the national drug policy officially has four major objectives:
* To prevent drug use and to treat and rehabilitate drug users.
* To reduce harm to users.
* To diminish public nuisance by drug users (the disturbance of public order and safety in the neighborhood).
* To combat the production and trafficking of drugs.”
And take careful note of this:
“Netherlands has a high anti-drug related public expenditure, the second highest drug related public expenditure per capita of all countries in EU (after Sweden).”
Also of interest:
“Cannabis remains a controlled substance in the Netherlands and both possession and production for personal use are still misdemeanors, punishable by fine.”
…
“According to current gedoogbeleid the possession of a maximum amount of five grams cannabis for personal use is not prosecuted. A maximum of five Cannabis sativa plants may be grown without prosecution, although they have to be handed over upon discovery.”
…
“A November 2008 poll showed that a 60% majority of the Dutch population support the legalisation of soft drugs. The same poll showed that 85% supported closing of all cannabis coffee shops within 250 meters of a walk from schools.”
…
“Importing and exporting of any classified drug is a serious offence. The penalty can run up to 12 to 16 years if it is hard drug trade, maximum 4 years for import or export of large quantities of cannabis.”
It is a popular myth that Amsterdam & The Netherlands are the Promised Land for marijuana users. In truth, drugs are a serious social malady in their country, and very expensive for them, economically.
43. AdamG | 05.06.09
Ted, none of the quotes you provided suggested a serious social malady and there’s no way they spend what we do on a “War on Drugs.” I’ve been to Amsterdam, have you? Basically you can buy and use pot at home or at a hash bar. They are lenient about what people can get, but still regulate use and abuse. Sounds like a good plan to me.
From your link:
“Dutch rates of drug use are lower than U.S. rates in every category.”
“The United States efforts at drug prohibition started out with a US$ 350 million budget in 1971, and is currently (in 2006) a US$ 30 billion campaign.”
“For instance, in 1999 close to 60,000 prisoners (3.3% of the total incarcerated population) convicted of violating marijuana laws were behind bars at a cost to taxpayers of some $ 1.2 billion per year.”
“The total drug policy spending (in The Netherlands) estimate in 2003 was 2185 million Euros. Allocation to functions amounted to 42 million Euros for prevention, 278 million for treatment, 220 million for harm reduction and 1646 million for enforcement.”
44. Scott | 05.06.09
Big Pharma will profit from MJ’s legalization.
It can produce:
(1) De-munchie pills enabling people to smoke without raiding the fridge.
(2) Smoke-and-drive pills.
(3) Muscle tensors, so things won’t keep slipping from our fingers.
(4) Balance pills, so we can stand on our feet.
45. Dave | 05.06.09
Pot smokers are going to smoke. Period. It’s just a question of how much money you are going to waste and lives you are going to ruin enforcing the existing laws.
46. Fred Evil | 05.06.09
Legalize it, regulate it, TAX IT!
It’s not utterly harmless, but neither is it as dangerous as the DEA, ONDCP and assorted other narco-nazi’s would have you believe. It’s less physically addictive than nicotine, and doesn’t cause lung cancer or COPD (although it can SLIGHTLY aggravate COPD if you smoke ciagrettes).
Far more societal harm is caused by illegal farming (and improper production), gang wars, arrests, imprisonments and familial destruction instigated by the ‘War on Drugs’ itself, than would be caused by freely letting Americans choose what they put in their bodies. It is FAR more expensive to pursue users and cartels, and spend BILLIONS a year to warehouse NON-VIOLENT users, than it is to regulate and tax an agricultural industry, and HELP those who ABUSE the drugs available to them.
Prohibition failed a century ago, and it’s failing today! In fact it’s EASIER for youth to acquire drugs now than if it were legalized, because the black market doesn’t check ID! And never will. After forty years of this FAILED ‘War on Drugs’ they are easier to find, and more potent than ever, just ask your kids!
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result, sounds familiar doesn’t it? When will the narco-nazis recognize the futility of spending OUR money on THEIR ‘War’? Only when we tell them ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
47. Ted Clayton | 05.06.09
AdamG,
I agree that sending tokers to the Big House is not in our interest. They just come back more messed up than they went in. That’s not smart.
But legalizing it isn’t the only way to correct the Big House mistake. It isn’t legal, even in Amsterdam, as you probably knew before you said, “Pot is legal in Amsterdam” [AdamG | 05.06.09].
I also agree that the high cost the Netherlands pays to deal with the consequences of their lenience is worth it, if we can be confident that similar policies here would also reduce our user-rates to the level they have. However, the California proposal is being sold as a way to both reduce costs of enforcement, and create new revenue at the same time … and we have no assurance that our situation would mirror theirs in terms of lower usage.
Netherlands’ experience & record (and Sweden’s) shows that it actually costs a lot to deal with marijuana users in a more sophisticated way. And if we are successful in reducing the numbers of pot-smokers who would pay the $50/oz tax, then the revenue will shrink even more.
AdamG, you may not realize this for some reason or another, but actually quality homegrown marijuana is pretty common. If a person does their homework first and goes about it right, it can be some of best there is. It’s no tougher than any other ‘moderately demand’ gardening-subject, and gardening is very popular.
Right now, growing pot is made more difficult, because it has to be hidden. Let it be out in the open, and most of the technical challenge in growing top bud goes away. California’s climate is perfect for it.
The idea that home-growers wouldn’t grow the State of California right outa their billion dollar tax windfall is as weak as the idea that “Pot is legal in Amsterdam”.
48. A normal guy | 05.06.09
So make it legal to grow but not to sell, problem solved. It’s less damaging then cigarettes, alcohol or Big Macs yet we trust adults to be able to use these with discretion. The simple facts are that our jails are overflowing with people incarcerated in minor marijuana claims and THAT is the cost, both for running the prison system and the cost to society. The main negative effect of marijuana use for most people is the possibility of getting caught.
49. Minh | 05.07.09
It’s already legal. Just go get a medical card and you’re set. That’s all they are asking you to do.
50. Samantha | 05.07.09
Wow, awesome! About time! Portugal decriminalized EVERYTHING in 2001, including Meth and Heroin and their drug use DROPPED, so did drug related crime and the country is billions of dollars reacher. http://www.salviasociety.org has info on other legal herbs, which are legal even now in the US. About time MJ gets added to the list!
53. ShadowFlyer | 05.07.09
While the idea of improving the economy in Ca is a noble gesture, I dont believe the legalization of Marijuana would benifit the economy as much as they make believe it would. With the $50/Ounce tax, would it not be easier and cheaper to purchase from the same “local grower” that the people who already use have purchased from all along? Their prices would undoubtably be better, and I cannot agree that government regulated growers would make a better product than those who have been learning by trial and error for decades. Is the government going to hire these formerly illegal farmers to manufacture the states new “Cash Crop?” I “HIGHLY” doubt it. This is just my uneducated, fact free opinion, but there it is.
54. Common Sense | 05.07.09
Did we not learn anything from alcohol prohibition?
Marijuana prohibition has been an indisputable failure. Legalize it and take the money out of the black market. Marijuana is less dangerous than either alcohol or tobacco yet both of those substances are legal (and should be). Every year our prison system releases violent offenders to make room for non-violent pot smokers. That is just plain insanity. Think of how better society would be served if our law enforcement efforts were directed more towards dealing with violent individuals. We would also save BILLIONS of dollars on prosecution costs and jail expenses every year.
There is also substantial evidence indicating marijuana has numerous medical uses as well.
This is a plant, legalize it and regulate it. We need to look at this issue using nothing more than basic common sense. Isn’t it time to drop the “Reefer Madness” stupidity?
56. itss beaaa | 05.08.09
I think it should be legalized because its really not that bad. Mcdonalds is worse for you.(:
57. Blaze | 05.09.09
Why not legalize the stuff? I read every single comment of what people say in this. More than half said “Legalize The Plant.” What’s better for you, a plant that God made or chemicals mixed in a Vikadin/muscle relaxer. Has anyone heard of SALVIA?! That **** can make you kill yourself. Hallucinations? You name it. Let’s go back to the plant that God made himself. If it’s used for medical reasons, than why can’t other persons use it to take an edge off every once in a while? I know a fact or two about it… 1. It has NEVER killed anyone in the time used. 2. Cigarettes (BION) are 10 time worse. No one runs weed through a factory and puts chemicals in it. On YouTube, Arnold Schwarzenneger tried it himself. Why can’t we.
58. ClassProject | 05.11.09
We think you’re comments are interesting;) Does anyone have any official websites with facts to back up your claims?
60. hellscanyon | 05.12.09
It should be legal to produce and use on your own property. Take the profit out of it and the crime goes away. Isn’t that the bottom line? Most users would prefer to grow their own. No market, no profit.
61. Speacial_K | 05.16.09
Can anyone name a positive “by-product” of alcohol? Marijuana’s positive “by-products” 1.Industrial usages IE.Paper which could help save the newspapers,The strongest rope product available,clothing,green energy etc. 2.Revenue 3.Crime will go down! 4.Revenue saved by states on court cases and prison inmates 5.Peace and love Can you name another positive for Marijuana?
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. Tom | 05.05.09
Find out why more and more cops, judges, and prosecutors who have fought on the front lines of the “war on drugs” are standing up and saying we need to legalize and regulate all drugs to solve our economic, crime, and public health problems: http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com