California mulls legalising marijuana

[Frazz]

In 1996, voters in California approved a referendum that made it legal for the first time in decades in the US for people to consume cannabis for medicinal purposes.

 

More than a dozen states have followed suit since and several others - the most recent of which is Massachusetts - have approved laws decriminalising the possession of small amounts of the drug.

 

Now, there are moves afoot in California to go further to fully legalise marijuana.

 

Evidence of the impact that the approval of medicinal marijuana has had on some areas of California is clear in Oakland.

 

Across the bay from San Francisco, it has come to be known as Oaksterdam, in a nod to the symbolic global capital of marijuana deregulation, Amsterdam.

 

The relaxed approach to marijuana use in this part of Oakland has led to the opening of several marijuana dispensaries.

 

They are establishments in this once deprived area of town which sell a broad array of cannabis related products, from food products such as brownies and cereal bars laced with cannabis to traditional marijuana for smoking.

 

Oaksterdam University run by Mr. Richard Lee is a trade school for all of those interested in finding a place in the thriving cannabis trade that medicinal marijuana has spawned.

 

Mr Lee tells me that making cannabis use legal would make economic sense but would also help in the fight against the Mexican drugs cartels.

 

"According to some estimates, the Mexican cartels get 60-70% of their money - their profit - from cannabis," he tells me.

 

That perspective, along with the fact that California state authorities estimate marijuana could bring in nearly $1.5bn a year in much needed tax revenue if it were legalised, has led to increased support among the state's voters for the full legalisation of the drug.

 

One of those opponents is Ronald Brooks, president of the National Narcotic Officers' Associations' Coalition, which represents more than 70,000 narcotics enforcement officers in the US.

 

We meet south of San Francisco and, as I get in his car, we drive past what appears to be a nondescript office building

However, he tells me that in the 1980s it was a bank - the place where his partner on the police force was killed in front of him by a ruthless marijuana dealer, who was carrying out a bank robbery to fund his drug business.

 

He says experiences like that have strengthened his resolve that America can't allow itself to take a more lenient approach to marijuana

 

( WANKER .. if marijuana had not been illegal then Ronald Brooks partner would NOT have been killed!! Frazz)

 

 

Emerging industry

 

Back across the San Francisco Bay in Oakland, specifically Oaksterdam, the patrons of the Bulldog Cafe are enjoying their legally sanctioned right to consume marijuana for medicinal purposes.

 

Gary has travelled from Texas for the weekend to attend a seminar on the cannabis trade at the Oaksterdam University across the street.

 

He is in his 50s, but says he is hoping to take the information he has picked up in his course on the cannabis business and make a life-transforming move in the coming months to California.

 

"My girlfriend and I are interested in moving to California from Texas to become a part of this here. We're not quite sure where we fit in but we want to get into the business itself. We feel it's an emerging industry, and this is where I feel compelled to come," he tells me as the smell of cannabis wafts through the room.

 

Like Gary, there are hundreds of others participating in the courses at the Oaksterdam University on any given week.

 

Beyond that, there are more than 200,000 people in the state registered as consumers of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

 

Politicians like Tom Ammiano's proposal to legalise marijuana in the state, is still making its way through the California state assembly and it is difficult to say whether it will succeed or not.

 

What is clear, however, is that whatever the outcome of the legalisation proposal, the medical marijuana law and the multi-million dollar industry it has spawned appear to be here to stay in California.

 

Author:Emilio San Pedro

Date: 27 September 2009

Source:BBC News

Copyright: BBC © http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8275794.stm

 

Well finally comercialisation of the herb is making way for the legalization of Cannabis somewhere ...

[bufo marinus]

Thanks for posting that Frazzle

I am quite surprised at how little has been in the media about this, even from the US

[Crunchy]

you can expect too much from the corporate media bufo... though most people are online these days, i think we should use online tools such as facebook or myspace (i know.. they make me sick as well..) to inform people.