To understand the changing times, particularly in regard to the legalization of marijuana, you have to go back in time about 80 years or so.
At least that's what California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, is suggesting during this 30-day period between the introduction of his bill to legalize and regulate marijuana sales in California and the time it will be taken up by committee in the state Legislature.
The times are indeed changing, according to Ammiano. Yet the solution for California's collective crises of a billion-dollar deficit and prisons so crowded federal judges want more than a third of an inmates released is found in the past.
"The time has certainly come, given the evolution of the issues, that we need to get the conversation going," Quintin Mecke, spokesman for Ammiano, said.
Mecke said rising support in polls and the recent announcement from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to stop raids on medical marijuana distributors suggest legalizing marijuana is an important next step.
"Granted the average law enforcement office is certainly going to say if not for the economy, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Mecke said, "but that's exactly what drove the repeal of prohibition of alcohol."
The similarities between 21st century marijuana prohibition and 20th-century alcohol prohibition are striking. Both had wide-spread use despite their illegality. Both burdened law enforcement with ambiguous laws and a lack of will to enforce. Both hold a tremendous potential for revenue through regulation, Mecke said.
The legal confusion around marijuana continues to make news, following Holder's announcement. A story in the Los Angeles Times on Saturday said the L.A. U.S. attorney ordered prosecutors to stop filing charges, then quickly changed course, all with little or no explanation. Other localities, like central California said Holder's new policy won't bring any chance to policy. The status of people charged with criminal actions under the guise of a medical marijuana dispensary hang precariously in the current state of limited prohibition.
All of which, Ammiano's legislation, AB 390 would clear up in California.
Ammiano understands the long road ahead for his legislation, which will be assigned to relevant committees in the Assembly, perhaps Revenue and Taxation and certainly public safety. Even if a groundswell of support grows among cautious legislators, a certain veto awaits on the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Any realistic hope of legalization must wait until after the 2010 election when Schwarzenegger would be termed out of office.
Still, Mecke said for those trying to envision a future with legal marijuana only have to look to the past. Just as alcohol was once sold in clandestine outposts, now it's regulated, marketed and taxed. The picture of commercial marijuana in fancy packages on sale next to bottles of Jim Beam is probably only as unfathomable as the idea of a liquor store was in the 1920s.
"That's exactly the model of regulation we're looking at," Mecke said. "People don't sell alcohol in their houses now. Granted (marijuana sales) wouldn't be on every corner, but it would apply to ABC and local zoning laws. All those same rules (regulating alcohol) still apply."
In short, the future for this issue may just reside in the past.
"It would bring a lot of needed revenue to the state," Mecke said simply. "We think we need to have a rational public policy conversation on this."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Scott Sabatini
Contact: Examiner.com
Copyright: 2009 Examiner.com
Website: Picture of Legal Marijuana Rests in Prohibition Era
At least that's what California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, is suggesting during this 30-day period between the introduction of his bill to legalize and regulate marijuana sales in California and the time it will be taken up by committee in the state Legislature.
The times are indeed changing, according to Ammiano. Yet the solution for California's collective crises of a billion-dollar deficit and prisons so crowded federal judges want more than a third of an inmates released is found in the past.
"The time has certainly come, given the evolution of the issues, that we need to get the conversation going," Quintin Mecke, spokesman for Ammiano, said.
Mecke said rising support in polls and the recent announcement from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to stop raids on medical marijuana distributors suggest legalizing marijuana is an important next step.
"Granted the average law enforcement office is certainly going to say if not for the economy, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Mecke said, "but that's exactly what drove the repeal of prohibition of alcohol."
The similarities between 21st century marijuana prohibition and 20th-century alcohol prohibition are striking. Both had wide-spread use despite their illegality. Both burdened law enforcement with ambiguous laws and a lack of will to enforce. Both hold a tremendous potential for revenue through regulation, Mecke said.
The legal confusion around marijuana continues to make news, following Holder's announcement. A story in the Los Angeles Times on Saturday said the L.A. U.S. attorney ordered prosecutors to stop filing charges, then quickly changed course, all with little or no explanation. Other localities, like central California said Holder's new policy won't bring any chance to policy. The status of people charged with criminal actions under the guise of a medical marijuana dispensary hang precariously in the current state of limited prohibition.
All of which, Ammiano's legislation, AB 390 would clear up in California.
Ammiano understands the long road ahead for his legislation, which will be assigned to relevant committees in the Assembly, perhaps Revenue and Taxation and certainly public safety. Even if a groundswell of support grows among cautious legislators, a certain veto awaits on the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Any realistic hope of legalization must wait until after the 2010 election when Schwarzenegger would be termed out of office.
Still, Mecke said for those trying to envision a future with legal marijuana only have to look to the past. Just as alcohol was once sold in clandestine outposts, now it's regulated, marketed and taxed. The picture of commercial marijuana in fancy packages on sale next to bottles of Jim Beam is probably only as unfathomable as the idea of a liquor store was in the 1920s.
"That's exactly the model of regulation we're looking at," Mecke said. "People don't sell alcohol in their houses now. Granted (marijuana sales) wouldn't be on every corner, but it would apply to ABC and local zoning laws. All those same rules (regulating alcohol) still apply."
In short, the future for this issue may just reside in the past.
"It would bring a lot of needed revenue to the state," Mecke said simply. "We think we need to have a rational public policy conversation on this."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Scott Sabatini
Contact: Examiner.com
Copyright: 2009 Examiner.com
Website: Picture of Legal Marijuana Rests in Prohibition Era
