This article talks about the recent Proposition 19 that would have legalized marijuana in California. Even though marijuana hasn’t been legalized yet, with about 48% supporting the proposition it shows that there’s hope for 2012. The main debate is how much tax revenue would have been made if marijuana were to have been made legal. This topic connects to what Birkland discusses as social regulation, rules and regulation that improve and benefit well-being of Americans. Citizens won’t vote to legalize marijuana until they are told that it is not threatening to health and well-being to their families. Yet, many believe the campaign was a success because it educated people and brought the issue to the mainstream.
Eizabeth Sziler
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/us/14pot.html?ref=todayspaper
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The recently Proposition 19(to legalize Marijuana in the State of California) was voted on and failed to pass, but many now see it as a stepping-stone towards its eventual passing. The government being able to tax the sale of marijuana, and profiting from it, is seen as the driving force behinds its eventual legalization. However this should not be something that is in the hands of the government at the federal level, it should be a localized issue that helps smaller pockets of the economy become more viable. If put in the hands of the federal government such as the taxation of cigarettes, or if the government its self looks to become the sole distributor, it damages an already viable economic sect of the economy.
ReplyDeleteBen Rains
I think that this is a controversial topic that will never die. It is true, if legalized, the government would make large sums of money off the product tax. However there is always going to be that health risk, but should that stop us? If people are worried about the health of Americans then why are cigarettes legal, and why is alcohol legal? With the same social regulation marijuana is a drug that could be kept under control and taken to the governments benefit. People do the same thing to themselves by smoking cigarettes that they would with marijuana. So for people to say they are simply against it for health reasons is somewhat bizarre.
ReplyDelete-Jordan Goodman