The article I'm responding to is incredibly short; I heard this story on the radio this morning and just wanted to comment more on the content of the news, rather than the style of the reporting.
Basically California State Assemblyman (unlike Connecticut, California has assemblymen rather than state senators or representatives) Tom Ammiano, a Democrat from San Francisco, proposed a bill yesterday that would legalize marijuana in the state of California.
The bill's not for the potheads, though, it's a money maker.
You see, if the bill were to be passed, citizens would have to be 21 to purchase marijuana (similar to the sale of alcohol)... and they would pay a tax of $50 per ounce. Ammiano estimated that this could raise more that $1.3 billion for the state of California.
Personally, I think this bill is irresponsible and unethical. Maybe I'm reading into this the wrong way, but to me, Ammiano is saying, "Well, we need some money for the state. Why don't we open the doors to a lucrative market, and then just make sure we get a profit off of it. The citizens? Who cares if they'll harm their health or get into other drugs. They'll be high - they won't mind."
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11766760
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4 comments:
Hi Gretchen,
I agree that this is unethical. A state has a moral obligation to protect their citizens, the reason pot is illegal in the first place. The way the assemblyman sees it is probably that people smoke marijuana anyway, but at least California can make some money off it if there is a set procedure. The tax however, is set so high that it might continue to encourage a black market for pot. On a similar note, there is a bill in the CT State House and Senate that would lessen the consequences for small amounts of marijuana.
I think this is unethical, but I don't exactly see how we can find away around it at this point. With the economy in the shape that its in, the government and or businesses will do anything to generate extra revenue. This will not stop illegal smoking or deter people from harvesting the substance illegally either. Furthermore I doubt this will even be passed in the first place. But hey, if it is, I know a lot of people who are going to be very happy.
This was really shocking for me to read. I've been hearing tidbits recently about the legalization of marijuana, but I hadn't read any articles about it yet. I don't understand how something that has been proven bad for your health would be something that some officials in states and the U.S. would legalize to get more money for their state, I agree with you that it's very unethical. I feel as if we're supposed to be setting an example for younger generations that marijuana is bad and unhealthy, not telling them this awful drug is legal.
This article/response reminds me of how after the great depression our country was slowly moving into a recession and then we taxed alcohol and it seemed up jump start our economy. Imagine now our government legalizing and taxing marijuana. Our state is already looking into legalizing possession for small amounts of it so this has to be going somewhere.
The tax on it is ridiculous, which will probably cut down the number of smokers or bring in loads of money towards are struggling economy.
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