[420 Girl]

The state of California is on the brink of economic collapse these days, and Democratic assemblyman Tom Ammiano wants to legalize marijuana to get the state’s hands on revenue from its sale. Ammiano recently introduced the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act (AB 390) that will legalize pot for users over-21 years of age, the same way alcohol is regulated. Since pot is already the state’s biggest cash crop, grown for medical use, additional revenue from the retail sale of marijuana could fill up the state’s now empty coffers.

California always seems to lead the way when it comes to cultural changes. In 1996, it was the first state to legalize pot for medical use. Law enforcement officials have long believed, perhaps more so in these bad economic times with strained resources, that spending time and money chasing down pot smokers is a waste of police resources.

Critics of the United State’s drug policies are taking hope, from the new Obama administration that our country’s harsh treatment towards criminalizing pot smokers may soon change. Recently, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the federal government would stop raiding California medical marijuana facilities.

If ever there was a positive climate to push for legalizing the sale of marijuana, it is now, with bankrupt states scrambling to find additional sources of revenue and a softening of federal policy towards its criminalization. Stay tuned for updates to the progress of Ammiano’s marijuana legalization bill as it makes it way through the state legislature.

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