[420 Girl]

With California’s deficit looming at about $42 billion, state lawmakers are looking for any out they can find. And for San Francisco representative Tom Ammiano, that means introducing legislation that would legalize and tax marijuana.

According to The Guardian, “The bill … would legalise the cultivation, possession and sale of marijuana by people 21 and older. It would charge growers and wholesalers a $5,000 (£3,400) initial franchise fee and a $2,500 annual renewal fee, and would levy a $50 per ounce fee on retailers.”

Passing the law would *— not surprisingly — make California the first state to legalize marijuana, a feat that would rake in an estimated $13 billion a year in revenue. This is very good news for a state that just signed a $130 billion budget that raises taxes and drastically cuts spending.

“It is simply nonsensical that California’s largest agricultural industry is completely unregulated and untaxed,” said Aaron Smith, policy director of the Marijuana Policy Project California, at a news conference announcing the bill. “With our state in an ongoing fiscal crisis — and no one believes the new budget is the end of California’s financial woes — it’s time to bring this major piece of our economy into the light of day.”

Bruce Mirken, communications director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said this bill is the first of its kind in California that cites research showing marijuana is America’s largest cash crop.

This is not the first time California has led the way with the reefer. The state was also the first to enact laws allowing marijuana use for medical purposes, a practice that 13 other states have followed since 1996.

While this concept of legalizing and taxing marijuana is clever, Ammiano’s efforts may not amount to much. Republicans are said to oppose the idea and it’s hard to say if the governor would ever consider signing such a controversial bill into law, assuming it even passed through the Legislature.

But if did, there is always the possibility other desperate states would follow suit. After all, drastic times call for drastic measures.

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