Pubdate: Tue, 24 Feb 2009
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/bc7El3Yo
Website: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Eric Bailey, Reporting from Sacramento
Referenced AB 390 http://www.canorml.org/prop/AmmianoMarijuanaBill.pdf
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California)

TAXING POT COULD BECOME A POLITICAL TOKING POINT

An Assemblyman From San Francisco Argues That It's Time to Tax and 
Regulate the State's Biggest Cash Crop in the Same Manner As Alcohol. 
Opponents Say It Would Create New Costs for Society.

Could Cannabis sativa be a salvation for California's fiscal 
misfortunes? Can the state get a better budget grip by taxing what 
some folks toke?

An assemblyman from San Francisco announced legislation Monday to do 
just that: make California the first state in the nation to tax and 
regulate recreational marijuana in the same manner as alcohol.

Buoyed by the widely held belief that cannabis is California's 
biggest cash crop, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano contends it is time to 
reap some state revenue from that harvest while putting a damper on 
drug use by teens, cutting police costs and even helping Mother Nature.

"I know the jokes are going to be coming, but this is not a frivolous 
issue," said Ammiano, a Democrat elected in November after more than 
a dozen years as a San Francisco supervisor. "California always takes 
the lead -- on gay marriage, the sanctuary movement, medical marijuana."

Anti-drug groups are anything but amused by the idea of California 
collecting a windfall from the leafy herb that remains illegal under 
federal law.

"This would open another door in Pandora's box," said Calvina Fay, 
executive director of Save Our Society From Drugs. "Legalizing drugs 
like this would create a whole new set of costs for society."

Ammiano's measure, AB 390, would essentially replicate the regulatory 
structure used for beer, wine and hard liquor, with taxed sales 
barred to anyone under 21.

He said it would actually boost public safety, keeping law 
enforcement focused on more serious crimes while keeping marijuana 
away from teenagers who can readily purchase black-market pot from peers.

The natural world would benefit, too, from the uprooting of 
environmentally destructive backcountry pot plantations that denude 
fragile ecosystems, Ammiano said.

But the biggest boon might be to the bottom line. By some estimates, 
California's pot crop is a $14-billion industry, putting it above 
vegetables ($5.7 billion) and grapes ($2.6 billion). If so, that 
could mean upward of $1 billion in tax revenue for the state each year.

"Having just closed a $42-billion budget deficit, generating new 
revenue is crucial to the state's long-term fiscal health," said 
Betty Yee, the state Board of Equalization chairwoman who appeared 
with Ammiano at a San Francisco news conference.

Also in support of opening debate on the issue are San Francisco 
Sheriff Mike Hennessey and retired Orange County Superior Court Judge 
James Gray, a longtime legalization proponent.

"I'm a martini guy myself," Ammiano said. "But I think it's time for 
California to . . . look at this in a truly deliberative fashion."

He sees the possibility of an eventual truce in the marijuana wars 
with Barack Obama now in the White House.

A White House spokesman declined to discuss Ammiano's legislation, 
instead pointing to a transition website that says the president "is 
not in favor of the legalization of marijuana."

Several cities in California and around the nation have adopted laws 
making marijuana the lowest law enforcement priority, including Santa 
Barbara, Santa Monica, Denver and Seattle.

Oakland went even further in 2004, requiring pot to be taxed if it is 
legalized.

But where Ammiano sees taxes, pot foes see trouble.

They say easier access means more problems with drug dependency among 
adults, heavier teen use and an increase in driving while high.

"If we think the drug cartels are going to tuck their tails between 
their legs and go home, I think we're badly mistaken," Fay said.

"They're going to heavily target our children."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake