Legalizing Pot: The Great Experiment
I am opposed to legalizing marijuana because encouraging the public, particularly young people, touse drugsin order to increase state revenue is reprehensible.
After listening to testimony today from RAND researchers, my resolve is strengthened: Legalizing pot is a bad idea.
The researchers put forth plenty of questions (how much money will California generate from marijuana sales? Will tax invasion on marijuana sales become a problem? Will the usage of marijuana increase dramatically?), but they were only able to offer theories instead of concrete answers.
That’s because nobody really knows the outcome of legalizing pot since it’s not been done anywhere in the world. California would be swimming in uncharted waters if Proposition 19 were to pass in November. In other words, once again California would be the great experiment for the rest of the world at the expense of public safety, community health and common sense.
One thing the RAND researchers were certain about: California would not save that much money in law enforcement costs – maybe $300 million, some of that General Fund money, some local dollars. Why the nominal savings?… Read More