The election is upon on us, and I know that one proposition that is of great interest to many of you is Prop 19 - Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010.
A good summary of it's provisions is on Ballotpedia.
And a blog entitled "Stoners Against the Prop. 19 Tax Cannabis Initiative" has been making the rounds lately.
I do not agree with it on some fundamental grounds.
First, I think it's disingenuous to not acknowledge that Cannabis prohibition has in effect created a huge subsidy for multitudes of pot growers. Rightly or wrongly, I suspect many will vote with their own financial interest to defeat Prop 19. I'll be most interested to see if Humboldt County votes to legalize its major economic engine.
Secondly, regardless of the specifics of the measure and the arguments against it by the "stoners", I think this is a landmark step to acknowledge and take responsibility for appropriate use of Cannabis.
While the current "medical" marijuana system is quite flexible, its application results in what is tantamount to fraud. Countless people, no doubt that includes many of you, have gotten "medical recommendations" with a wink and a nod (and $100). It's a sham.
Let's restore some integrity and acknowledge that lots of people use it in a "recreational" (literally re-create) way and that shouldn't be illegal. Steps to regulate and tax it, along similar lines to alcohol, is an appropriate way for society control this powerful herb, which can be used as well as abused.
This is just the first step, and it crosses is big line, even if we've inched up to that line via de-criminalization and compassionate use, and it doesn't take us very far across the line, but none-the-less it crosses a huge symbolic line.
We've all dreamed about this day. It's time to make it real!