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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. Many of the supporters of the California legalization initiative will argue that the legalization of pot will not only save the cash-strapped economy, but will also bring in an 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 detractors worry that legalizing gray-market marijuana will decrease the quality of marijuana and significantly harm 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}.

Legalization of marijuana in California history.

In 1913, the first state law criminalizing marijuana in the United States was passed in California. Other states were quick to follow. By 1937, federal law made possession or transfer of “Marihuana” illegal for everything except medical and industrial uses.

The US Federal government put marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 although the act was declared unconstitutional in 1969. The national debate was reignited when California legalize medical marijuana with proposition 215 in 1996. 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. The initiative would allow anyone 21 or older to “possess, cultivate or transport marijuana for personal use.” Governments though all of California would be able to tax and regulate commercial sale or production of marijuana. 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

Many of those who support the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act say that marijuana being legalized would save California a lot of money. California is currently in a huge budget deficit, and has been using payday cash advances on the state budget to cover costs.

Savings estimates range anywhere 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. Those for the act also point out the fact that few deaths in California are due to marijuana while hundreds of death each year are due to alcohol.

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.

Just one excise tax on the retail sales of marijuana would bring in about $ 1.3 billion a year or even more. Many of the cities and counties in the California state tax medical marijuana currently. $ 350,000 per dispensary is what is brought in by these city and county taxes.

Legalizing pot job argument

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. 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. Marijuana being legalized would also make it legal to produce hemp in state which might add to the agricultural base in 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