Pubdate: Fri, 31 Jul 2009
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.dailybulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/871
Author: Wes Woods II
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

LEGALIZATION ISSUE WON'T GO AWAY ANYTIME SOON

No matter what anyone thinks about legalizing  marijuana, the issue 
won't go away anytime soon.

Proponents said the legalization of marijuana would be  a boon to the 
state economy. The California Board of  Equalization has estimated 
the state could see nearly  $1.4 billion per year in extra revenue 
from legalization.

But critics contend legalization would be prone to  abuse and point 
to a growing number of younger  patients.

Roger Anderson, leader of the Rancho Cucamonga-based  Inland Valley 
Drug Free Community Coalition, is one of  those critics. He opposes 
legalization as well as  taxing marijuana.

"It's a slap in the face to youth, to our communities  and to 
Californians," Anderson said. "We're fed up with  this nonsense. We 
got fooled by Proposition 215, and  we're not going to get fooled again."

Prop 215 legalized marijuana for medical purposes in California.

But the move toward legalization has recently picked up steam.

In February, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco,  introduced a 
bill that would legalize and tax most uses  of marijuana. Hearings 
are expected to be held later  this year. Medicinal marijuana would 
not be taxed in  the bill.

Three Los Angeles City Council members in July proposed  taxing 
medical marijuana at the city's more than 400  dispensaries.

The legalization issue is worth acknowledging, said  Kris Hermes, 
spokesman for a national medical marijuana  advocacy group Americans 
for Safe Access.

"It creates legitimacy around the sale of medical  marijuana and 
establishes it as a drug that sales can  actually benefit 
Californians who aren't even  patients," Hermes said.

A television advertisement recently encouraged the  drug's 
legalization and expressed how it could help the  state's budget deficit.

"The ad we just did was inspired by the immediacy of  the budget 
crisis, like, 'Hey, this ought to be  something people should be 
talking about; let's strike  while the iron is hot,"' said Bruce 
Mirken, director of  communication for the pro-marijuana group 
Marijuana  Policy Project.

The ad, which was paid for by the Marijuana Policy  Project, focuses 
on a now-retired state worker who  sustained multiple strokes that 
prompted her to use  marijuana.

"One relatively small ad campaign by itself does not  get a law 
passed, but it keeps the issue on the front  burner as we deal with 
everything," Mirken said.

The Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition works  to stop 
substance abuse through enforcement, treatment,  prevention and 
education. The group works in San  Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Nevertheless, Anderson said he is for the marijuana ad.

"We love for that commercial to be played," he said.  "It really 
shows the intent and purpose of the medical  marijuana fraud in 
California. The true intent is to  legalize marijuana through 
taxation. We say bring it on  with the commercial. More important, 
even San Francisco area stations wouldn't play that commercial, which 
says  a lot."

The state in 2007 collected about $100 million in  sales-tax revenue 
from hundreds of dispensaries for its  general fund.

Mirken contends the figure could be higher because  there are 
thousands of people not mentioned in the  report "growing and 
transporting marijuana and most are  not getting their income 
reported because it's  illegal."

Anderson concedes taxing marijuana would help the state.

"So would meth, heroin and ecstasy for high schoolers  ... Where do 
we stop? This is a moral issue," he said.  "And whatever taxes come 
in, they would be far  outweighed by the health care costs."

Psychological problems, depression and anxiety are side  effects of 
marijuana usage and contribute to higher  health care costs. 
Marijuana was also considered a  cancerous drug under Proposition 65, 
Anderson said.

There are several issues that need to be addressed when  it comes to 
the legalization and taxation of marijuana,  said Sandra Emerson, Cal 
Poly Pomona public  administration professor.

"Is there a large enough number of users to buy illegal  recreational 
drugs and would it have an impact on  revenues the state would be 
able to raise? ... I  suspect there's billions of dollars in illegal 
transactions the government has not received revenue  from so, on 
that note, yes," Emerson said.

On another issue, she said, "We need to make the  decision whether we 
think recreational marijuana in  small quantities is something which 
is feasible and is  consistent with our goals and agenda. If we say 
yes,  and that makes sense, then we have to figure out how to  tax it 
like alcohol and tobacco and stuff like that."

There are two levels of taxing - sales tax and use tax,  Emerson said.

"The dilemma I'm struggling with is we allow people to  buy alcoholic 
beverages, but there is no control on how  much they buy and we use 
that money to help people  through rehabilitation," Emerson said.

"We do not want to get in the same box for recreational  drugs. If we 
want this to be a revenue generator,  hopefully, we won't solve one 
problem and create  another."

Another issue is if the taxation and legalization of  the marijuana 
requires expensive monitoring, "They may  find it more costly than 
they think. It's very costly  to control the behavior of 15 million 
people," Emerson  said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom