subject: Proposition 19 [print this page] Proposition 19 Proposition 19
Some of you may not even be aware but on 2nd Nov 2010 one of the biggest laws of the century will be put to vote and depending on its outcome, the way the world looks at drugs could be changed forever.
I am of course talking about Proposition 19 in California. The proposition will completely legalise the use, distribution and cultivation of marijuana on the state level (which of course already has a number of legal medical marijuana dispensaries across the state). The government will be able to sell, tax and produce as much of the plant as they like and any users will be completely in their right to wander to the closest outlet and pick up a bag, just as easily as they could pop to their local off-license for a few beers.
So what does this mean for California? Well first and foremost, we're all aware that CA is one of, if not THE most troubled states in the whole of the US. Their deficit is off the charts, their debt is ever-increasing and though they house the mighty money-maker that is Hollywood, they're still struggling to stay afloat in the economical downturn. Now consider that marijuana is the number one cash-crop in the entire United States (followed by grapes, in case you were wondering) and what you have is a plant that could genuinely save - or at the very least lend a giant helping hand - toward getting the state back on track.
The passing of Prop 19 will:
- Control cannabis like alcohol, allowing adults 21 and over in California to possess up to one ounce of cannabis, to be consumed at home or licensed establishments
- Cut off funding to violent drug cartels across the border who currently generate 60 percent of their revenue from the illegal U.S. marijuana market
- Generate billions in annual revenue to fund what matters most in California: jobs, healthcare, public safety, parks, roads, transportation, and more
- Protect kids, roads, and workplaces, by increasing the penalty for selling marijuana to minors, banning the smoking of marijuana in public, on school grounds, and while minors are present, maintaining strict criminal penalties for driving under the influence of marijuana, and preserving employers' rights to maintain drug-free workplaces
If Prop 19 is successful tomorrow, another five states will be looking to follow suit including New York and Washington, all of which are in desperate need of a cash-boost. It'll be a huge step toward helping the US increase annual revenue and will hopefully show other, stricter countries that instead of ignoring the facts and battling a losing war on drugs, you can in fact benefit hugely from addressing and utilising the problem instead of fighting it.
When it comes down to the bare-bone facts, what you essentially have is a plant (not a drug) that has the possibility of making billions a year for a country, that possesses scientifically proven healing properties, that has not caused a single death or overdose (unlike the hundreds of thousands that die a year from alcohol) and that is currently being looked into for all sorts of interesting developments (treatments, food stuffs, materials and medical).
Over the past few generations, we as a world have pretty much shunned marijuana for a host of reasons, most prominently for the fear of what it does to people (radical 1950's advertisements of crazed, red eyed kids shooting each-other springs to mind) but I feel that we moved so unbelievably past that type of single-mindedness that it's almost silly to keep that frame of mind. Sure it makes you feel giggly, hungry, relaxed and a little giddy and sure, some people are opposed to the whole 'left-wing stoner' ideology but again, when you look at it from a country-wide perspective and begin to see the monetary benefits, it almost seems ridiculous that it's only now someone has decided to stand up and say 'hey, let's just legalise the damn thing'.
