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. Many of the people who don’t support the bill argue that legalizing the drug will end in more crime and great health impacts. Other people suggest that legalizing gray-market marijuana will make the marijuana quality go down and will significantly 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.
In 1913, the first state law criminalizing marijuana in the United States was passed in California. Other states quickly followed suit. The federal law made transfer and possession of “Marihuana” illegal for all things except industrial and medical use by 1937.
The US Federal government put marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 although the act was declared unconstitutional in 1969. In 1996, California legalized medical marijuana with Proposition 215, reigniting a national debate. The federal government still considers marijuana an illegal Schedule I narcotic and considers it to have “no valid medical use.”
California measures to legalize marijuana.
The voter initiative to legalize marijuana, known as the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act, has many limitations on the use to legally use marijuana. All those who are 21 or older would be allowed 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. Individuals would also be prohibited from smoking marijuana in public, smoking marijuana while minors are present, providing to any underage person, possessing the drug on school grounds or driving while under the influence of marijuana.
The argument consisting of cost-savings for marijuana legalization
Many of those who support the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act say that marijuana being legalized would save California 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. Supporters claim that once the already-stretched-thin law-enforcement system stops prosecuting individuals for growing, possessing or selling marijuana, they can focus on crimes and criminals that are more violent or dangerous. 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.
In addition to saving the state of California millions of dollars in law enforcement, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act also gives local governments the ability to tax marijuana. Proponents of the act estimate that $ 15 billion worth of gray-market and black market marijuana is sold each year in California.
An excise tax on the retail sales of marijuana would bring in an estimated $ 1.3 billion a year or more in revenue. Some counties and cities within California currently tax medical marijuana dispensaries. $ 350,000 per dispensary is what is brought in by these city and county taxes.
Job arguments in legalizing pot
Some areas of California, such as Humboldt County, already have 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. Supporters of legalizing cannabis point out that if the marijuana tourism industry in California grows to just one-third the size of the wine industry, it would create more than 50,000 jobs. It would add the agricultural base in California if hemp were to be legal to produce in state with marijuana being legalized.
The Californian’s Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act will be on the November ballot. To see the arguments against the legalization of marijuana in California, see Part 2: Arguments against Marijuana Legalization in California.
Sources:
The Associated Press
Business Week
Seattle Times
Time Magazine
CNN
California NORML
