What Would Legalized Recreational Marijuana Usage Mean To California
California voters will vote whether to allow the recreational usage of Marijuana. California currently is one of 14 states to offer some form of medical marijuana laws. If the voters say yes this fall then it would open up California for recreational marijuana usage. This November California voters will vote on whether the state should legalize, tax, and regulate the sale of Marijuana to adults 21 years of age or older.
Although both recreational and medicinal marijuana are illegal under federal law the usage of marijuana in the state of California will be allowed. Currently a person who is registered in California to use medical marijuana can still be prosecuted by the federal government. As long as a medical marijuana user in California is following all the medical marijuana laws in California and keep a low profile then prosecution by the Feds is slim to none. Most of the medical marijuana users that have been charged by the feds have been because they are not following the state laws, are using medical marijuana as a scheme to sell marijuana to recreational smokers who do not hold a medical marijuana card, or are on the internet and TV telling the world they use medical marijuana and daring the Feds to prosecute them.
If the California recreational
marijuana ballot is passed you can expect the same for recreational
users of Marijuana. If the law is passed recreational users of
Marijuana should Follow All Laws.
If the recreational marijuana law allows you to carry up to one ounce of marijuana then never have more than one ounce of marijuana. If you get pulled over and have 2 pounds of marijuana in your car then you will still get prosecuted for Marijuana. If you want to smoke marijuana recreationally in California then you must follow the state laws. If the state of California votes to allow you to have 1 ounce of marijuana for recreational usage then NEVER posses more than one ounce.
Driving
If you are high on Marijuana and get pulled over you will stand a better chance of getting arrested. You should not drive if you have been using marijuana. Beer is legal but it is illegal to drive drunk. The same will go for recreational marijuana in California. You may be able to smoke marijuana in the privacy of your own home but if you drive to Taco Bell when you get the munchies expect to be pulled over, arrested, and prosecuted.
If you are on probation you will probably be told not to smoke marijuana. Even though it is illegal under state law it will be the same as Alcohol. If you are told to abscond from alcohol usage while on probation they will tell you the same for recreational marijuana usage. If you truly want to use marijuana recreationally then you will have to keep your nose clean. Do not violate any laws. As long as you are not on probation and you keep a low profile you will be able to smoke all the marijuana you want too, as long as you do not posses more than 1 ounce at a time.
Taxes
Taxes will increase drastically. Not only will California receive taxes on a ll legal sales of Marijuana but there will also be multiple streams of new taxes available that will benefit California.
Tourism to California is expected to increase after the passage of the recreational marijuana law. With more tourists you can expect more tax money. The tourists will not only be buying marijuana but will also be fueling up, eating at the restaurants, staying at hotels and motels, and many other tax positive activities including many leisure activities such as golfing.
California will become a spring break destination for many college students. With the current unsafe conditions for Mexico these students will look to a new venue for there Spring Break vacation. Florida has been a traditional hot spot but expect many students too begin an annual trek to California. With these huge numbers of Spring Break students going to California for there annual Spring Break pilgrimage there will be an increase in crime but the benefits of the huge amount of tax money it will bring in to the state of California will more than offset the costs of the crime. The crime that does occur will generally be off a different variety.
When people are drunk they tend to be more aggressive, violent, and even homicidal at times. When a group of people are simply smoking marijuana the most common crime will be driving while under the intoxication of marijuana. Fights, vandalism, and rape will be much lower for a group of marijuana smokers as opposed to a group that is heavily drinking alcohol.
Instead of having large groups of kids yelling profanities and "mooning" passing cars you will have large groups giggling.
Drug Testing
Even if recreational marijuana is legal in California your employer will still be able to fire you if you fail a drug test. Because marijuana will still be illegal under federal laws your employer has the right to fire you for marijuana usage. In many cases your employer may be required to dismiss you from your job because of there insurance requirements.
Illegal Marijuana Sellers
The vast majority of the current marijuana dealers will be either out of business or forced to change there distribution point. Instead of selling marijuana locally these dealers will have to either sell out of state or they will have too find a new specialty. Instead of Marijuana profits going to fund illicit activities they will instead go to fund education, pot holes, and everything else in California.
President Obama has already advised the Feds that if medical marijuana users in California are following all state laws regarding medical marijuana then leave them alone. In other words do not prosecute people who are legally using medical marijuana in California. If the recreational marijuana passes a similar directive is expected to follow from President Obama with 6 months of the passage of the ballot in California.
The passage of the Tax Cannabis ballot will not only increase the amount of taxes California raises as well as increase tourism but will also save money. No longer will habitual recreational users of Marijuana be forced into county jails and State Prisons for smoking a joint in the privacy of there home.
As California does the country follows.
Historically many laws that were started in California have spread to
other states. If the Tax Cannabis ballot passes this November it
could be a historic milestone that is similar to the ending of
Prohibition. Prohibition was a failure and so are the current
marijuana laws. The archaic laws banning recreational marijuana usage
will eventually be overturned the way prohibition was. It may be
sooner then you think. Image Credit: (Flickr/torbenh)
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Comments
I think they did a thing in Alaska for a while where they legalized marijuana for recreational use to see how it worked out. I think it went well. Look at British Columbia, they seem to be doing good. It really baffles my mind how they can keep marijuana illegal and have a million other things worse for you completely legal like cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine, high fructose corn syrup, BHA, trans fats, pills and "medication", and whatever else I didn't list. It makes my brain hurt trying to figure out how it can possibly STILL be illegal, here in 2010, just amazing. The top 2 killers in America, cancer and heart disease, are caused by all those LEGAL things I just listed. I can't name a single illness associated with marijuana itself. Absolutely mind boggling. Sorry for the rant! LOL thumbs up though very nice article ernie!
Go Travis!! Yeah, I still find it amusing that we can't even allow industrial HEMP to be grown for chrissakes when the average farmer could really use the income as tobacco usage continues to decline. Just shows how much lobby power the big industries have.
Marijuana should be legalized. Lawmakers are ridiculous.
I couldn't agree with you more. I pray for the day marijuana will be legal at the federal level in all 50 states.
As you all may know, the issue failed to pass here in California. The primary reason was because the Federal government threatened to crack down on the medical marijuana businesses, and any other attempt to operate a legal marijuana business in California.
As someone who works with high school kids in California, I am conflicted about this issue. So many students currently admit to marijuana use, and it would probably only get worse if it were legalized for adults. When the issue was on the ballot, I asked a classroom of students if they would obey the law. In other words, would they wait until they were 21 to begin using it? They all acted like I was crazy!! Of course they planned to continue their underage use. It's unfortunate that it can't be better controlled; then, there would probably be more support for legalization for adults.
More Danger is caused by alcohol and cigarettes. How many kids died of marijuana smoking last year? How many died in car wrecks? Should we ban cars?
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