Pubdate: Mon, 11 May 2009
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Page: A -1, Front Page, Page image http://drugsense.org/url/vYnjjkH9
Copyright: 2009 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact:  http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer

BIG STEP FROM PIPE DREAMS TO PRACTICALITY

Imagine walking into a coffee shop, corner market or any grocery 
store with a state-approved cannabis licenseand buying a joint or an 
ounce of pot, plus tax.

Or imagine growing marijuana in a fenced backyard without fear of arrest.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's surprise call last week to debate 
legalizing adult use of marijuana in California has drawn 
international attention, shifting the prospect of such a change from 
the fringe to the forefront.

Advocates of legalization, including state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of 
San Francisco, whose legislation caught the governor's attention, 
have created a concept for a system of regulation and taxation that 
would make the state's marijuana laws among the most liberal in the world.

"Suddenly this is all open to discussion," said Oakland attorney 
James Anthony, who handles land-use and zoning issues for medical 
marijuana dispensaries in the state. "When somebody as conservative 
and cautious as the governor says it's time to debate ... then we're 
in a very different context."

California, in 1996, became the nation's first state to legalize 
marijuana for medical use, creating a multimillion-dollar industry 
and scores of dispensaries where residents buy marijuana with a 
physician's approval.

Ammiano's proposal, at the least, would allow personal possession and 
cultivation of as many as 10 plants.

But if the decades-long federal ban on possessing, growing and 
selling marijuana were repealed, the state law would legalize pot for 
adults over 21 years old, create a regulatory system and impose a 
$50-an-ounce sales tax on marijuana, much like taxes on tobacco and alcohol.

Packaged marijuana would be sold from a locked cabinet behind the 
counter, similar to hard liquor, under the proposal.

The state Board of Equalization, which collects sales and use taxes, 
expects cannabis prices would drop, use would increase and the state 
would take in $1.3 billion annually in the fees. The agency estimates 
that sales of marijuana for medical use now generate $18 million a 
year in taxes.

Ammiano said the state has a history of bucking federal government 
regulations with its own, and he thinks the Obama administration may 
be open to reforming federal marijuana-enforcement laws.

Where Could Pot Be Sold?

He has yet to ask for anyone to co-sponsor the legislation, which he 
plans to move at a deliberate pace over two years. But if federal 
laws were changed, Ammiano's proposal would present intriguing and 
banal policy questions:

. Would it be regulated by a state agency, such as the state 
Alcoholic Beverage Control department, or would local jurisdictions 
have that power?

. What zoning issues would a cannabis license be subject to?

. Could local jurisdictions ban the licenses outright - resulting in 
"dry" areas?

. Where marijuana could be sold, whether in specialty stores or 
everywhere alcohol and tobacco are sold, would also create intense 
debate. Would the speciality stores be run by the state, like liquor 
stores in Idaho and Oregon, or by private citizens?

'Coffee-Shop Model'

Richard Lee, president of Oaksterdam University in Oakland, a 
marijuana dispensary and education group, said he prefers allowing 
pot sales only in cafes, as is done in Amsterdam.

"I like the coffee-shop model," Lee said. "I think it goes well 
together, like a restaurant that serves alcohol that goes well with a meal."

Lee said he doubts Schwarzenegger would sign the legislation in its 
current form, given that the governor has vetoed laws legalizing the 
growth of industrial hemp and barring employers from firing workers 
who use marijuana.

Initiative in the Works

But he said marijuana advocates are working on a statewide initiative 
to carry out the goals of Ammiano's legislation and allow voters to 
bypass the Legislature as they did in 1996, with Proposition 215, 
which legalized the use of marijuana with a doctor's permission.

A spokesman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said 
debate over the effects of legalization is good. But he thinks most 
people ultimately would side with the status quo.

"I think there are very simplistic catch phrases put out there," 
spokesman Garrison Courtney said. "This is a complex issue and there 
does need to be discussion about it. But the thing is, it's not like 
there hasn't been discussion."

Feds Say Crime a Problem

He doubted that legalization would push drug cartels out of the state 
and said the argument that legalization would reduce violence is just 
"scratching the surface."

It's questionable, he said, whether estimated tax revenues would be 
offset by the costs of regulation and addiction treatment.

Marijuana advocates challenge those assertions and are ready for 
debate, too. Oakland attorney Bill Panzer, who helped draft Prop. 
215, says the state should move ahead without consent from the 
federal government.

"My feeling is the more you put it in the feds' faces, the more of a 
chance you have of actually getting somewhere," Panzer said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake