Solution to California's budget crisis: Legalize marijuana. (home, buying)

[killer2021]

Legalize marijuana, sell it at any place that sells cigarettes and charge similar taxes as cigarettes.

Grow the marijuana in California (already California's largest cash crop, 2nd being grapes) which will help stimulate local rural farming communities and create jobs in those regions. It will also provide extra revenue for local stores. People will smoke marijuana, regardless if it is legal or not. As a society we need to make the right choices as to where these people get their drugs. Would you rather have those marijuana smokers buying from the local street thugs or from CVS, Rite-Aid etc.?

The vast majority of marijuana comes from foreign countries which is grown by drug lords which finance terrorism and violence.

It is time we say NO to violence and terrorism and yes to job creation and local economic growth!

[EscapeCalifornia]

Except the Feds would shut it all down.

[PKRWUD]

Originally Posted by killer2021

Legalize marijuana, sell it at any place that sells cigarettes and charge similar taxes as cigarettes.

Grow the marijuana in California (already California's largest cash crop, 2nd being grapes) which will help stimulate local rural farming communities and create jobs in those regions. It will also provide extra revenue for local stores. People will smoke marijuana, regardless if it is legal or not. As a society we need to make the right choices as to where these people get their drugs. Would you rather have those marijuana smokers buying from the local street thugs or from CVS, Rite-Aid etc.?

The vast majority of marijuana comes from foreign countries which is grown by drug lords which finance terrorism and violence.

It is time we say NO to violence and terrorism and yes to job creation and local economic growth!

It would also reduce gang violence, provide funding for rehab programs, allow for quality control, supplement the state coffers with an additional tax revenue, and remove the "forbidden fruit" enticement that gets so many kids smoking pot for the first time.

There are dozens of valid reasons to legalize marijuana, I'm yet to hear a single valid reason to justify it being outlawed. Still, I can't see anything changing in my lifetime. Anti-drug propaganda is powerful stuff.

[JustJulia]

Originally Posted by PKRWUD

It would also ... remove the "forbidden fruit" enticement that gets so many kids smoking pot for the first time.

No, it wouldn't. Even if marijuana were legalized, it would still be illegal for kids to buy it, like alcohol or cigarettes. The only pro-legalization people who support allowing kids to buy pot are pothead kids.

[DannyBanany]

I'm sure that there would be regulations like being 18 or older to smoke it, only being allowed in the home or at a specific "pot bar", major fine for selling it to minors, etc...

[JustJulia]

I can just picture the day I go to Walgreens, and next to the Wal-tussin and Wal-buprofen is the Wal-ijuana.

[esmith143]

We can't unilaterally legalize pot in California. Drug cartels will switch from smuggling pot here from Tijuana (hard) to smuggling pot from here to 47 other states (easy).

[JustJulia]

Originally Posted by esmith143

We can't unilaterally legalize pot in California. Drug cartels will switch from smuggling pot here from Tijuana (hard) to smuggling pot from here to 47 other states (easy).

That is a very good point.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by esmith143

We can't unilaterally legalize pot in California. Drug cartels will switch from smuggling pot here from Tijuana (hard) to smuggling pot from here to 47 other states (easy).

Why would we have to "smuggle" it if its legal? If its legal there is no reason to "smuggle" it. As powerful as drug cartels are they still cannot compete with corporate America, which would pretty much wipe them out of existence in CA with a legitimate marijuana trade.

Also why would we need to import weed from other states when we are already the #1 weed producing state in the nation?

[tande1n5]

Originally Posted by sav858

Why would we have to "smuggle" it if its legal? If its legal there is no reason to "smuggle" it. As powerful as drug cartels are they still cannot compete with corporate America, which would pretty much wipe them out of existence in CA with a legitimate marijuana trade.

Also why would we need to import weed from other states when we are already the #1 weed producing state in the nation?

They said "From Here." Just because CA legalizes it doesn't mean the rest of the US would, and they're trying to point out the nightmare that it would be for other states now that all you have to do is cross a simple state line. Bringing pot into CA from TJ is a hard thing to do in comparison from hypothetically simply driving to another state with your stash to sell.