The Hash Reality of AB-390

Posted on 10. Mar, 2009 by Travis in Crime, Lifestyle, Politics

Regardless of how you morally feel about weed and weather people should or should not smoke it, thanks to Tom Ammiano it is something that will be brought up a lot in the upcoming future. I actually spent a solid 20 minutes reading the proposed AB-390 that assemblymen Ammiano and it sounds pretty interesting. Some of it sounds good and I think it could work, and some of it sounds a little out of reach even for our already weed friendly state. In a nut-shell, if you haven't heard, will essentially legalize weed and tax it for consumption for anyone over 21. Anyone will be able to sell, grow and transport as long as proper papers are obtained. All morality and religious jargon aside, why not pass this bill? The amount of money that this state will A) make in selling and taxing marijuana B) save in prison and court fees. The projected amount the state will make is anywhere from $1-1.5 billion depeding on the websites you look at, that in addition to the roughly $8 billion a year we spend in court fees for procedurally "dealing" with this problem. I'm not a math major, but that's almost $10 billion saved per year, and that isn't even including money saved on locking people up for weed related offenses. In a nut shell it is a way to make and save an almost retarded amount of money for the state. Think of the possibilities if AB-390 went nation wide, I read somewhere last week that almost 46% of our country's jail population is for pot or pot related offenses. What's really the worst that happens when you are high? You may get a stomache ache from eating to many oroes, a hand cramp from video games or God forbid you may pass out on the couch? I just don't think it will tear away at the moral fiber of our society like everyone thinks it will. People who smoke will still smoke, maybe a little more but who cares, and the people who don't smoke won't smoke it's that easy.

Tags: AB-390, california, weed