Marijuana Policy Project

Your editors almost got it right. The marijuana laws were based on racism, ignorance, and nonsense from the very beginning. Every major study of drug laws from around the world over the last 100 years agrees that marijuana prohibition does more harm than good. You got that right.

However, keeping sales illegal simply means that organized crime will have a monopoly on a multi-billion dollar market. There are really only two choices for sales of marijuana. Either the Mexican drug lords get tens of billions of dollars per year, or that money could go to law-abiding American citizens. It is the same choice we had with beer — Al Capone or Anheuser-Busch.

Marijuana is now de facto legal in California. As a result of the medical marijuana law there are now hundreds of stores openly selling marijuana. They have regular storefronts in strip malls. They advertise marijuana specials in the newspaper.  Some have neon signs in the window.  Any adult who wants marijuana only needs a doctor's recommendation to shop in the stores. Recommendations are about $100 and no adult who asks is refused.

Some stores have done $50 million in business from a single location in a single year. The stores pay an estimated $100 million per year in sales taxes.

The big news is that it isn't a problem. None of the predicted calamities happened. It isn't bothering most people and support for the medical marijuana law is now higher than when the law was passed.