Legalize It & Tax It

A pro-marijuana group launched a television advertisement Wednesday in California advocating legalization and taxation of the drug to help solve the state's budget woes. The 30-second spot, airing Wednesday and paid for by the Marijuana Policy Project, features a retired 58-year-old state worker who said state leaders "are ignoring millions of Californians who want to pay taxes."

"We're marijuana consumers," says Nadene Herndon of Fair Oaks, who says she began using marijuana after suffering multiple strokes three years ago. "Instead of being treated like criminals for using a substance safer than alcohol, we want to pay our fair share."

State lawmakers are bitterly debating how to close a $26.3 billion budget deficit that likely means cuts to state services. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday said he would like to see current laws against marijuana remain in place, adding that legalizing pot to create revenue for the state is not a good idea.

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I applaud the Marijuana Policy Project's efforts, but there is no way in hell marijuana will be legalized. You can't even smoke cigarettes in most public places and there is even talk of banning tobacco sales on military bases. If Big Tobacco, North Carolina's cash cow, is catching it from all angles, the proponents of marijuana don't have a snowball's chance.

We're in a recession and almost everyone is looking for ways to get us out of it. Doing so will require a lot of creativity and fiscal restraint. Legalizing marijuana would do wonders for the economy, but most people have been trained to believe that weed is the devil. These same people probably believe that marijuana is a gateway drug and that its legalization would catalyze the destruction of our society. I don't think weed is more harmful to our society than tobacco and alcohol. If weed is illegal becomes of its potential destructive value, than we need to have another Prohibition. I have witnessed the horrors of alcoholism and they pale in comparison to what weed is capable of doing. Since tobacco and alcohol are legal, states should be given the legislative power to legalize the sale of marijuana.

There are a lot of good weed songs out there. My favorite is "I Got 5 On It" by The Luniz. If our government decides to put 5 on it, we just might get out of this recession.

I got five on it
Grab your four, let's get keyed
I got five on it
Messin with that endo weed
I got five on it
It's got me stuck, cannot go back
I got five on it
Potnah let's go half on a sack