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GOVERNOR SINGS DIFFERENT TUNE ABOUT LEGALIZING POT

Doobies were undoubtedly sparking throughout the United States a few weeks ago when California Gov.  Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested it's time to discuss legalizing marijuana in the Golden State.  It seems the stogie-puffing governor is desperate enough to solve the state's economic woes he is willing to consider calling on Kaptain Kronic.

Hear him out, people; it's not such a "half-toked" idea.

Stopping short of calling for a "marijuanatorium" against the federal War on Drugs, Schwarzenegger told the media at a fire-safety event in Davis, Calif.  on Tuesday, May 5, "I think it's time for debate."

Schwarzenegger was responding to questions about a Field Poll from April that indicated more than 56 percent of Californians support legalizing and taxing the plant for recreational use.  While no studies have been conducted to determine the medical benefits legal weed might provide a flailing economy, it definitely presents thinking-out-of-the-box possibilities.

We're certain we will probably get blazed for agreeing with somebody we've never agreed with before -- on anything -- but we read the headlines.  The state is in its worst financial dilemma in recent memory.  The rumbling we're feeling isn't one of our famous earthquakes; it's the groan of capitalism being decapitated.

Only four weeks after his plea to start the dialogue Schwarzenegger faces mega slashes to all levels of education, is threatening to cut Cal Grants and just about every imaginable social service, and is watching as unemployment burns California like an empty rolling paper.

Conservatives should welcome a concept such as being able to regulate and tax the plant.  Some marijuana advocates predict lifting the ban on marijuana could provide tax revenues in the billions.  The state could release tens of thousands from its overcrowded prison system, loosening up hundreds of millions spent on confinement and prisoner health care.

One huge benefit would be cost-effectiveness.  Marijuana is a low-maintenance weed, if you erase the black market and legal components.  Because it is against the law it's a lucrative business for the criminal element.

Many counties in Northern California largely ignore pot laws.  In counties with sparse populations like Mendocino, Trinity and Humboldt, cannabis has become not only a cultural staple, but is an enormous part of the local economy, supporting everything from manufacturing plastic pipe for irrigation to garden supply stores.

Let's face it, legal or not, marijuana has truly become one of the state's leading cash crops.  It's wasteful and ignorant to turn our backs on the potential means to right a sinking ship.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to read the Daily Forty-Niner and then smoke it? We say that if Schwarzenegger feels it's time to open the dialogue about simultaneously abandoning draconian laws and easing our economic strife, let's talk.

The worst thing that could happen is the laws remain on the books, while the state's economy goes up in smoke.