Legalizing marijuana not really a dopey idea



A) The tax base gets a much-needed bump.





There’s one problem, though. Prisons are jammed.










The trials took weeks.




In 2008, it was 43.5 percent.


If it’s made legal, it’s also goodbye to the black market’s near-total control of the sale and distribution of it, Mecke said. And some of the crime associated with that, including violent turf wars in Mexico, will drop.

If government controlled and taxed it, the possible revenue could be around $1.3 billion, Ammiano’s office has estimated.

Some, of course, question all of this. Legalizing marijuana is no silver bullet, said Dana Stevens of the El Cajon-based Communities Against Substance Abuse. If the marijuana is taxed, how in the world can that price compete against what a street dealer charges, she asked.

Her biggest concern, though, is how it affects young people. “What’s it telling them?”

If marijuana weren’t so accessible now, such arguments might be more compelling.

A Field Poll last year showed that 56 percent of Californians support legalizing the drug, so it’s not a, um, pipe dream.

And if Chelsea’s Law becomes a reality, we, as a society, have to make choices.

Or build more prisons.

Michael Stetz: (619) 293-1720;