Can stoners save the Golden State?

[yields]

California screaming: can stoners save the Golden State?

14/07/2009 4:46:00 PM, Stuart Fagg Next

 

By Stuart Fagg, ninemsn

 

The Republic of California is known for many things: Hollywood, beautiful people, violent street gangs and the Governator.

 

It also has the eighth biggest economy in the world. With a gross domestic product of $1.8 trillion, it's bigger than the Australian, Norwegian and Saudi Arabian economies combined. That's pretty big.

 

And now, it's broke.

 

Earlier this month, the Golden State's budget crisis took a spectacular turn. California began this financial year with a US$26 billion hole in the books and has so little cash it's been forced to issue IOUs to Californians eagerly awaiting tax refunds.

 

The last time I saw an IOU was when I was still in single figures age-wise and decided it could be a nifty way to extort cash from my sister. And it's fair to say most advanced economies don't generally consider them an alternative to money.

 

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a "fiscal emergency" and given the state government 45 days to clean up the mess, but the IOUs are likely to cost California millions of dollars, which clearly it doesn't have.

 

Luckily, someone has a plan.

 

That someone is the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). They've decided that the answer to the state's budgetary bad trip is to legalise pot.

 

The green herb is the state's biggest cash crop and is valued at around US$14 billion annually, according to the MPP. That's double the value of the state's vegetable and grape crops combined.

 

Advocates of the plan reckon legalising marijuana could bring in up $4 billion in tax revenue every year. It'd probably do wonders for sales of Doritos and Hershey bars too.

 

Sin taxes have long been used by governments around the world as revenue raisers.

 

And why not. People who indulge in habits that are harmful to their health should pay, via taxes, for the priviledge.

 

But why stop there? According to the United Nations, illicit drugs generate around US$320 billion in revenue every year in the US alone.

 

That's more than all but the three biggest companies in the world. Why not tax that income? What's more, the illicit drugs trade has clear and established links to terrorist financing and legalisation would cut off a key income stream for the extremists of the world.

 

Many would argue that legalising prohibited drugs is one step too far. Or is it?

 

It goes to the heart of what is acceptable in society and what is not.

 

How broke does a country (or state) have to be before it turns to alternative sources of income? What price morality?

 

At the same time, there are inherent risks in prohibition. The 1919 to 1933 alcohol prohibition in the US is a case in point. That experiment created a huge black market for alcohol and a thriving network of 'speakeasy' bars where illicit boozers could enjoy their favourite tipple away from the prying eyes of the law.

 

So will California plump for pot legalization as a way out of its financial woes? It's highly unlikely, but when money’s too tight to mention, politicians, and ex-action heroes, make unusual decisions.

 

http://money.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blog...owcomments=true

[jimbojones5678]

That's really interesting - food for thought...

 

Jimbo

[mistyville]

If only 'the powers that be' would see the enormous revenue which could be gained from the legalisation of cannabis. al that needs to be done is to tax it like alcohol and tobacco. But no one listens to this point of view. We, the stoners do. But the pollies and the do gooders don't seem to get it.

 

Mistyville