http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1846-California-Grows-A-Brain.html
Karl has such a way with words it deserves a share
Prohibition - the worst mistake our federal government ever made when it came to restraining freedom, in that all it did was provide the fuel for criminal gangs to buy weapons, bullets and harm lots of innocent bystanders - was ended by The Depression and a need for tax revenues.
Now California in the crunch of a massive budget deficit is considering the first act of sanity in a nearly-100-year old drug war that has similarly done nothing to promote general societal welfare, but has locked up hundreds of thousands of non-violent Americans who have engaged only in consensual adult transactions and acts, wasted hundreds of billions of dollars, fueled wars in foreign nations and provided the money that criminal gangs in the United States have used to buy weapons with which they have terrorized the population.
I am speaking of Assembly Bill 390 - The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act.
From the summary:
This bill would remove marijuana and its derivatives from existing statutes defining and regulating controlled substances. It would instead legalize the possession, sale, cultivation, and other conduct relating to marijuana and its derivatives by persons 21 years of age and older, except as specified. It would set up a wholesale and retail marijuana sales regulation program, including special fees to fund drug abuse prevention programs, as specified, to commence after regulations concerning the program have been issued, and federal law
permits possession and sale consistent with the program. It would ban local and state assistance in enforcing inconsistent federal and other laws relating to marijuana, and would provide specified infraction penalties for violations of these new marijuana laws and regulations, as specified.
It's about damn time.
Never mind that there's a lot of use for the hemp plant that has nothing to do with getting stoned
