Marijuana- California’s Next Goldrush. And Prostitution, Too.

California recently has expressed a desire to see marijuana use legalized, and they may see several initiatives up for a vote soon.  And I am interested to see what comes out of it, both on a state and federal level.

First off, from a federal standpoint, while it may seem like they are powerless from stopped California from legalized marijuana use, they do have an ace up their sleeve, and I have seen them flex their muscle in the past.  When I started college in New Orleans in 1995, the drinking age was still 18.  The law changed several days after classes started.  Why?  Federal highway funds.  After several years of Louisiana defying the government by forfeiting their highway funds, they finally cracked and changed the drinking age to 21.  And the government, if they really want to keep marijuana legal in all 50 states, may resort to the same tactics.  And with the size of California and the number of heavily used roads, I can’t see them giving up their share of federal highway dollars.  But we’ll see.

What are the implications of California legalizing marijuana?  Well first off, we don’t have to deal with this stupid medical marijuana bullcrap, which, as you know from previous posts, I am not in favor off.  You can read my previous posts if you want to know my feelings on that.  But I digress.

First off, California believes that selling marijuana legally and taxing it will bring in over a billion dollars in taxes.  And while it will bring in revenue, i doubt it will bring in as much as they predict.  Why not?  The black market for marijuana will thrive.  If its legal to grow, then the criminal element will grow it and then sell it for cheaper than market value.  How?  Because they don’t pay taxes on it.  If you buy it from a store, the taxes may be 10-15%.  If you buy it under the table, you won’t have to pay the tax mark-up, saving $4-6 a pop.  Plenty of people will buy it legally, but man people will buy it illegally to save cash.

A bigger boon to the state may not even be the tax money from marijuana sale itself.  It may very well be the huge immigration rate from other states that helps buoy California’s economy.  I know several people who are not anchored to their present homes, and would gladly move to California simply for the legalized pot.  I could see tens of thousands of people relocating to Cali because of marijuana, and that would be a shot in the arm to the economy.

I’m curious to see how this will all work out if these initiatives pass.  Call it a social experiment if you will.  People say that legalized marijuana works well in Amsterdam, and that may be so.  But Amsterdam is small and more easily governed.  California is big.  Amsterdam is tiny.  California has millions of drivers on the road while Amsterdam depends on public transportation, keeping stoned citizens from getting behind the wheel.  And Amsterdam has a fraction of the crime California currently has.  The two locations are as different as night and day, and I am curious to see how the legalization of marijuana would affect California from a social and criminal standpoint. 

I’ve always believed that something being legal legitimizes it in the mind of a population.  I wonder how many people don’t smoke marijuana simply because it is illegal and they are worried about being caught and arrested.  But if the government makes it legal, all of a sudden you have a large segment of the population who would never have used it in the past now experimenting with it because it is legal. 

I’m a prime example.  I smoked my fair share of pot in college, but don’t anymore.  Why not?  I am a doctor, and if I got caught, well then, there goes my license and my career.  I wouldn’t even consider doing it in the privacy of my basement because the paranoia and the fear is too strong.  But if it were legal?  Hell yeah, I would light up every weekend to relax.

I also wonder how this would affect high school students.  Drinking is much more prevalent among high school kids because its much easier to obtain than pot.  And the consequences from parents and the law is less severe because alcohol is not illegal.  But if pot were legal for people 21 and older, you know it would trickled down to the high school kids, and many more would use it because it would be as easy to get as alcohol.

Okay, on to my second point… prostitution.  If California wants to legalize marijuana, why not legalize prostitution.  I have never understood, from a purely legal standpoint, why prostitution is illegal.  From a social standpoint, sure, I can understand.  It just has that dirty feel to it.  But prostitution exists everywhere in the US, legal in Nevada everywhere outside of Vegas, but in the shadows in every major city.  Hell, in New York City, its pretty much practiced legally behind the guise of escort services.  But what baffles me is that, if it is going on anyway, why not make it safer for the girls who are involved?  I am sure that the women who do it legally in Nevada are safer in all aspects than the women who work on the streets for pimps in the large cities.  They get regular medical check-ups, they are required to use condoms, they are protected from being abused, and they are protected by the government.

You know, you get all of these righteous assholes claiming how demeaning it is, how it ravages the soul and the body, how debasing it is to sell your body for money.  But that’s all bullshit.  What about boxers?  What about fighters in the UFC and MMA?  These guys do basically the same thing- they sell out their bodies, risk permanent damage and disability, for the enjoyment of others.  Is a woman selling her body really any different from a fighter giving up his body to be beaten on and bloodied in the ring for howling spectators?  Not really.  I bet the average fighter sacrifices much more than a prostitute in the long long.  It is a choice someone makes, and if a woman wants to make a living selling her body, much like a fighter sells his body, than who are we to stop them?

So maybe California show legalize prostitution as well.  It’s going on, you may as well protect the women involved and get a share of the tax revenue while you’re at it.

So that’s what I think?  What about you?

Peace/

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