SAN FRANCISCO -- It's almost a cliche these days that San Francisco and its sister to the east, Oakland, stand as the primary incubators of some of California's infamously wacky but later transformational social and political ideas. From the Silicon Valley to Oakland and Berkeley to the Napa Valley -- if it was at first weird, untested, illegal and/or controversial, it probably got its start right here.Now a small but determined coalition of Bay Area activists and politicos are on a mission to have California be the first state in the union to fully legalize, regulate and tax the use of marijuana - and they're approaching that goal from several different angles.
SAN FRANCISCO -- It's almost a cliche these days that San Francisco and its sister to the east, Oakland, stand as the primary incubators of some of California's infamously wacky but later transformational social and political ideas.
From the Silicon Valley to Oakland and Berkeley to the Napa Valley -- if it was at first weird, untested, illegal and/or controversial, it probably got its start right here.
Now a small but determined coalition of Bay Area activists and politicos are on a mission to have California be the first state in the union to fully legalize, regulate and tax the use of marijuana - and they're approaching that goal from several different angles.
The reason it will spread quickly is revenue. As soon as California legalizes there will be an immediate set of industries that pop-up around it. If these companies get a head start they will be able to dominate the marijuana business. It is in the best interest of say, Washington and Oregon, to legalize for business competition reasons.
Also, the citizens of various states will be traveling to California to fill up our tax coffers instead of spending that disposable income in their local economies.
There is data supporting all of this because prohibition has happened before and also because it still exists in some counties and states to an extent. The main difference is that marijuana does not have the severe social issues that alcohol comes with.
Naturally, alcohol and cigarette interests (along with the pharmaceutical companies) are the biggest opponents to legalized marijuana. It's business and they're the competition.
Marijuana legalization will be on the November ballot in California and will definitely be the most interesting thing to happen in this election in the US. There is a huge underground economy and industry already in place that will spring into action faster than most people can believe. The cultural impact will also be enormous.
