CA lawmaker proposes legalizing pot

Long, long, long overdue. C'mon, you Californians, get with the program and get behind this guy! It will probably take forEVER for the U.S. Congress to move on this. Let's hear it for state's rights!

Calif. lawmaker proposes legalizing marijuana

A California legislator today proposed making the state the first to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

The legislation, by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a Democrat from San Francisco, would allow people 21 and older to grow, buy, sell and possess pot. It would be sold, regulated and taxed similar to alcohol. The state would collect $50 an ounce from sellers, and growers, too, would be taxed.

He estimates that the cash-strapped state could reap more than $1 billion a year.

"We could in fact have the political will to do something, and certainly in the meantime this is a public policy call and I think it's worth the discussion," Ammiano told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I think the outcome would be very healthy for California and California's economy."

The bill (AB 390) would ban use near schools and prohibit growing cannabis in public view. Also illegal, as now: DWS — driving while stoned.

A Republican colleague isn't inhaling, according to The Sacramento Bee.

"I don't think we're particularly well served in our society to further accommodate or even encourage something that's going to be unproductive and damaging to the individual, especially not for the reason of generating revenue," said Assemblyman Roger Niello of Fair Oaks.

A spokeswoman for the federal Drug Enforcement Agency would not comment.

Since 1996, California doctors can prescribe so-called medical marijuana to their patients.

See original here.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/02/calif-lawmaker.html