By Jocelyn Cazares
Editor
With the November elections approaching, you’ll hear talking political heads, or celebrities like Cheech and Chong going around the state telling California residents that they have the opportunity to reduce crime and prison costs, create jobs, reduce police corruption, and fix the economy.
This magic bullet? Marijuana.
Yes, this November voters can decide whether to legalize pot throughout the state.
If you’re in dire conditions, like the state of California’s economy, what else can you do? This is a perfect time for our state to enter the drug-dealing business.
In spite of having some of the highest tax rates in the nation, California continues to spend money, while state employees across the board are facing layoffs. Apparently, this doesn’t matter to the suits in Sacramento. Instead, they seem to think that this is the perfect time to grow—literally—government.
If the state can barely afford the employees it already has, why not hire more? Sounds like a good idea, right? Growers, cultivators, record keepers and vendors of California bud will all be hired to ensure proper taxation and distribution.
How about an oxymoronic claim stated in the bill itself? One of the passages states that besides establishing the “wholesale and retail sales regulation program,” taxation within the proposal includes, “special fees to fund drug abuse prevention programs.”
So, California is going to sell pot and use a small amount of the proceeds to fund drug abuse prevention programs. However, if you want to maximize sales of a product, it does not make sense to spend money to subsidize programs that tell people not to use it.
The proposal also “institutes a one-ounce personal possession limit and allows for limited personal cultivation.” However, I thought the state was responsible for cultivating it.
Allowing for such a thing would lead to a black market for marijuana, as those in possession of it would have enough to sell for a reduced price that would not include high taxes.
It’s also interesting that California set the age limit for marijuana use/cultivation/possession at 21. Just like alcohol, what are the odds that young adults under 21 won’t ever gain access to marijuana?
Marijuana use in California is seemingly accepted. There are many “smoke shops” spread around town, selling bongs and pipes typically not used for smoking tobacco. Last Tuesday was April 20, the unofficial marijuana user’s day.
If you’re a pot smoker, what’s wrong with the way things are? If you’re caught with a small amount on you, the fines aren’t steep. There are places to buy pipes and paper, and even a special day recognizing the fact that marijuana use is still occurring. You get a little rush, being defiant as you purchase your package, and, for you, once you’re home, life is good.
If it isn’t broken, why fix it? If you’re a user, why would you want the government regulating another aspect of your life?
Don’t be fooled, the upcoming proposition is just another way to take more of your tax money and blaze it up on government waste.
