The California Regulate, Control And Tax Cannabis Act: Part 1
Yesterday evening, the California Secretary of State confirmed that the voter initiative to legalize marijuana received an estimated 523,531 valid signatures – well more than the 433,971 signatures needed to get on the November ballot. The California legalization initiative has supporters that argue pot legalization will not only save the cash-strapped California economy money, but will bring in the instant cash of tax revenue. Some detractors of the bill argue that legalizing the drug will lead to an increase in crime and 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 state law making marijuana criminal in the US was passed in California. Other states quickly followed suit. By 1937, federal law made possession or transfer of “Marihuana” illegal for everything except medical and industrial uses.
In 1969 this act was declared unconstitutional; however, the US Federal government kept marijuana in the controlled substance act of 1970. California made medical marijuana legal with Proposition 215 in 1996, reigniting the national debate. On the federal level, marijuana remains an illegal Schedule I narcotic considered to have “no valid medical use.”
California measures to legalize marijuana.
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. The initiative would allow anyone 21 or older 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 to smoke marijuana while minors are present, to provide it to any underage person, to smoke the marijuana in public, to have the drug while on school grounds, or to drive while under the influence of the drug.
The argument consisting of cost-savings for marijuana legalization
Those who support the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act suggest that legalizing marijuana would help save the Californian State a lot of money. Because California has a huge budget deficit, they have been using payday cash advances on the state to cover budget costs.
Estimates for these savings range from $ 156 million to $ 1 billion. Some of the supporters suggest the law-enforcement is being stretched thin due to the prosecution of those who grow, sell, or poses marijuana; they suggest that the law-enforcement can focus on those criminals and crimes doing dangerous and violent acts. Many of the proponents point out that few deaths in California are due to marijuana while alcohol is the contributor of hundreds of deaths every year.
Taxation for cannabis legalization argument.
The Regulate, Control, and Tax act will give the government the ability to tax marijuana as while as saving California millions of dollars in law enforcement. Proponents of the act estimate that $ 15 billion worth of gray-market and black market marijuana is sold each year in California.
Just one excise tax on the retail sales of marijuana would bring in about $ 1.3 billion a year or even more. Some counties and cities within California currently tax medical marijuana dispensaries. These county and city taxes make as much as $ 350,000 per dispensary.
Job arguments in legalizing pot
Many areas of California, like Humboldt County, have already 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. If the marijuana tourism industry in California grew to just one-third the size of the wine industry, it would help to create 50,000 jobs, as pointed out by supporters. If marijuana were legalized, it would also become legal to produce hemp in the state, which could add to the agricultural base of California.
The Californian’s Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act will be on the November ballot. If you want to see arguments against the legalization of marijuana in California, feel free to see Part 2: Arguments against Marijuana Legalization in California.
Sources:
The Associated Press
Business Week
Seattle Times
Time Magazine
CNN
California NORML