LegalFish: The Daily Tackle

Hazy Debate Continues: Legalizing Marijuana in California

Here’s the Scenario:

The campaign to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana in California has gained some traction since the last time we touched on the topic. Lawmakers are holding a hearing today considering the effects of widely legalizing the substance throughout the state. Also, supporters have organized themselves so much so to create multiple initiatives to collect signatures to appear on next year’s ballot, which according to the New York Times, would allow “adults to possess marijuana for personal use and allow local governments to tax it.”

Criminal Law: The Hazy Debate

I just moved from the state of California, and the delivery of my car was delayed for nearly two weeks because according to my moving company,  “a lot of people are moving from the state.” Why would so many people be moving from the sunny, beautiful state of California – home to the hills of San Francisco and where TV and film dreams are made in Hollywood? Perhaps, California’s financial crisis has shadowed over its state. The problem and how to solve it has not only been heavily debated and reached national headlines, but it has left its politicians puzzled with the immense feat of making financial wrongs right.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of the state known for its surf boards and beach mentality, is considering the option of legalizing and taxing marijuana for recreational use in California to help beat the state’s looming deficit. According to a New York Times article in May of 2009, Governor  Schwarzenegger thinks “it’s time for a debate” and urged for a careful study to be conducted about the other countries that have legalized marijuana’s usage.