D Day for Drug Users in California

Walking into a convenience store and buying a joint filled with home-grown marijuana, the fresh scent of rich bud in the air…it sounds like just another day in Amsterdam. However, with at least three legislation measures planned for the 2010 ballot and a steady support seeming to build, it could soon be just another day in California. Mom and pop greenhouses will be telling their slightly-stoned customers to “shop American” as they compete with their local Mexican or Columbian drug cartel.

Yes sir, the “War on Drugs” may be coming to a swift end in the Golden State. Grass smokers everywhere will storm the sunny beaches of California as they celebrate counter culture D-day. I studied social policy in Amsterdam for four months, where I was able to understand the logic and benefits of the city’s drug policies. The legalization of smoking marijuana allows the city to collect taxes from the sale of the harmless drug. Not only do the taxes bring in revenue, but the massive amounts of tourism accounts for the dollars acquired by the state.

This is exactly what California needs! Right now, the West Coast state is in dire need of extra revenue. We are struggling to keep unemployment down while the state is in a large amount of debt. Marijuana is already California’s biggest cash crop bringing in about $14 billion a year. The state needs to capitalize on this capitol; if we legalize marijuana it will bring in an estimated $1.3 billion in revenue. This taxation of marijuana provides a form of regulation of the drug trade that is not currently available while the drug is illegal.

Not only will the state benefit from the influx of tax revenue, but many local businesses and restaurants benefit from the influx of tourism brought to California because we would be the first to legalize marijuana. Counter culture lovers and pot heads alike would flock to California to smoke the potent weed that was grown on the side of the I-5 freeway. Imagine the possibilities. People would need to stay at hotels as their red eyes would need rest, and restaurants to eat at as they would all have the munchies.

Marijuana growing businesses would thrive and decrease the unemployment rate. Farms would be able to educate and hire workers to harvest the crop, provide business for crop transportation and increase the flow of customers to distant shops. Other small businesses, like providing bus tours of the local weed farms, would be able to create jobs while increasing awareness of the benefits of marijuana. Years from now, there would be museums as well as other forms of entertainment to promote tourism and increase revenue for California. Drug tourism works for Amsterdam and it can work for California, too!

Since 2005, when the Supreme Court ruled that prosecution of state-wide federal crackdown was permitted in states that had legalized medical marijuana, there have been over 200 of these raids. However, in a new development, last Monday Obama’s people sent a memorandum to the 14 states who currently allow the use of medical marijuana stating that it would no longer go after their dispensaries. The current administration believes that there is a better use of the already strained federal forces. This new policy of respecting states rights only promotes the vigor to get the drug legalized in 2010. Not only would it be awesome to legalize weed in California, but its necessary for our economy.