Pubdate: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 Source: Contra Costa Times (CA) Copyright: 2009 Knight Ridder Contact: http://www.contracostatimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/96 Author: Corin Neddersen ARCHAIC LAW So it seems that California's special election was a bust (surprise, surprise) and we're still without a budget. Back to square one, and the only thing that changed is that we're even closer to recession than we were before. What's the unemployment rate now, 12 percent? The state's hemorrhaging money at the moment, so it's only going to get worse. With so many people out of work, I shudder to think how many have gone into business in the submarket we've created by keeping marijuana prohibition alive all these years. Therefore, I wholeheartedly support Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's initiative to throw out this archaic law. California stands to make billions by taxing what could easily be our biggest cash crop. The world of organized crime would take a significant hit when they lost that resource. New jobs would be created by its legal cultivation and sale. Imagine how much money we would save in prison costs by releasing nonviolent marijuana offenders. We learned our lesson about alcohol prohibition. We repealed that law and reaped the profits. We've never even considered making tobacco illegal. Alcohol and tobacco are both much more addictive and dangerous than pot. When will we learn? Corin Neddersen Berkeley - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake