The Blog

Right on Mr Dumke. Your arguments are sound. Why not make money off it, take away some of the criminal activity surrounding it, and do the right thing. Well played, Sir!

Can we get the Morgan Stanley parking boxes to dispense nickel bags?

They must make this legal for me to calm my nerve and chill. My dreams and prayers will finally come true and if Daley passes this one he sadly will have my vote.

If it is legalized I don't think there will be any tax revenue. There already is a huge illegal grower and distribution system in place. Why would they give any profits to the government? That system would continue on without paying any taxes - sure that would be illegal under the new proposal, but it is illegal now.

It's a way better idea than video poker, imo.

RealityCheck: How many bootleggers and bathtub stills stayed in business after prohibition was ended? There is no question in any rational person's (i.e., non-Puritanical) mind that people will opt for the legal, taxed, and regulated suppliers. Even the shops in Oakland welcome being taxed. It is rarely 100%, but it will be a lot better than 100% illegal, untaxed, and unregulated (unknown and unsafe contents) that we have now.

As for the untaxed and unregulated its going on now with legal drugs if you haven't noticed with all the new prescribed drugs for just about everything. If we all forgot already majority of our illegal drugs started off as a prescribed drug then became illegal once the masses started to get their hands on them. Even today everyone knows some one that either uses legal medications or sales legal medications illegally. But when you look at the big picture yes it might put a dent in the illegal distribution of the drug and as far as taxes goes they might use that money for what they say they will. But in the end that just makes the drug more accessible to just about every one especially if you can get a prescription for any small illness. We already kicked all the tobacco smokes out of every establishment in the city now why would be allow people to smoke weed legally? So now where does that leave us?

seanile... smoke from marijuana doesn't smell as bad as tobacco, and chances are people (or at least I hope) won't be smoking it all day like tobacco smokers. as a sufferer of chronic lower back pain, i was told off the record by my doctor that marijuana is better than painkillers like vicadin, and less addicting. in addition to the additional revenues from taxing marijuana, perhaps the city could have a "green saturday" to compete/compare to the "black friday" post-Thanksgiving retail shopping holiday. why do i have a feeling more people would buy green herbs than fuzzy slippers? ideally, they'd buy both, but still, the idea of legalizing marijuana is a good one, and i think it could help the economy as long as its done well. given California's horrendous economy, and a billion worth of I.O.U debts, however, i am not sure they are the act to be following, either.

i hope it happens, but is California an act to follow? look at its budget woes.

I say why not legalize it. We all should be free and responsible. But if you think that it will plug up a billion dollar budget short fall, you might need to smoke crack. Because of two reasons it would not make money

a) People who do drugs tend not to have alot of money.

b) Marijuana can be grown very fast and easy from a seed.

All comments are good and have their point, but those who get in trouble for pot are still smoking pot and are most likely not to stop smoking, so what is the point of keeping them in jail. The jails are already overcrowded and spending tax money over a dime bag it does not balance, they spend money in State Attorneys, police officers court appearances and correction facilities when they could save some $$ by legalizing and taxing citizens.

MAN AN WOMAN KIND ARE TO PRIMITIVE TO DEAL WITH RACE AN A HOSTED OF OTHER ISSUES!!!LEGALIZING MARIJUANA!!IT WELL NEVER HAPPEN AND THE MIDWEST CHICAGO KING OF PRIMITIVE LAND I DOUT IT!!!! IT WOULD MEAN MAN AN WOMAN KIND !!!ARE CIVILIZED AND INTELLECTUAL!!!IT WOULD MEAN LOGIC WITH HUMAN FLAWS!!!IT WOULD MEAN PEOPLE WILL GET WHAT I'M SAYING !!!AND SCIENCE OVER FICTION MYTHS OF WOMAN AN MANKIND!!AND LIFE IT SELF!!!!

And what about the thousands of growers, distributors and users currently sitting in jail? They must be let out!

If you want to take the tax-revenue-generating route, fine. It's infinitely better than the present bust-and-punish model, which benefits no one.

But an even saner idea would be to allow people to legally grow their own plants. A half-dozen plants in the back yard by the tomatoes or in a container on the balcony would provide as much pot as a person could want.

Or follow the brew-at-home model and allow those who want to grow their own to do so; others who can't be bothered can pop into their local, legal, taxed county-based distributor.

I think marijuana use would actually decrease use because the illegality thrill would be gone. http://www.mindreign.com/en/mindshare/Heal… has some interesting views on the subject.