[420 Girl]

California has long been ahead of the rest of the country when it comes to drug legalization. But if the state passes an initiative in November to regulate and tax marijuana, it will be the only jurisdiction in the world to make pot use plainly legal for all adults.

That's right. Even in the Netherlands, long known for its libertine allowances, pot remains technically illegal. But the government there has instituted a "tolerance policy," under which it doesn't prosecute anyone with up to 5 grams and allows the city's famous "coffee" shops -- known more for their pot than their coffee -- to thrive.

Such tolerance in various degrees, rather than expressed legality, is the policy in much of the Western world, including Canada and large parts of Europe and South and Central America. But the actual legalities can be confusing. For instance, under Czech Republic law, possession of an "amount not bigger than a small amount" is considered only a misdemeanor -- but just what these amounts entail isn't specified. In contrast, in much of the East, pot is both illegal and stiffly punished.

In California, Gov. Jerry Brown made possession of an ounce or less of pot a misdemeanor punishable by fine rather than a prison sentence in 1975. Fourteen years ago, the state became the first to legalize marijuana for medical use, and since then 14 other states have followed suit -- despite the fact that such use remains illegal under federal law.

The proposal now going to the state's voters would allow people 21 or older to posses, transport or share (with another adult) up to 1 ounce of marijuana as well as cultivate a limited amount on private property for personal use. Polls show that a slight majority of voters support the measure.

Legalization advocates span the ideological spectrum from the far left to the libertarian right. They have mustered several arguments for the bill, including marijuana's health benefits, the millions of dollars that would come from taxing pot sales (marijuana is believed to be the state's biggest cash crop), not sending pot users to jail, and the fact that millions of Americans already smoke pot.

Opponents, who include President Barack Obama's drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske, cite marijuana's health risks and say that the costs incurred by treating those who abuse pot would outweigh the added tax revenue from legalization.

No matter which way the vote goes, illegal activities such as trafficking and selling to minors surely will continue. Recently, for instance, the Netherlands, which draws about $600 million a year from taxing the country's pot-selling coffee shops, has been cracking down on stores that skirt its toleration policy. The Obama administration has taken a laissez-faire approach to state laws legalizing medical marijuana use, but it's unclear how Washington would react to full legalization in California.

And yet, even if the measure passes, it would be the most pro-marijuana law only in the country's recent history. In 1619, the first successful English colony of Jamestown, Va., passed a law requiring farmers to grow marijuana for its fibers used to make rope and other products. The California measure doesn't go that far.


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