The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis act has gotten enough voter signatures to be on California’s November ballot. California Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act: Part 1 summarizes the arguments for passing this voter initiative. While polls show a 59 percent majority of California voters who have decided to support the marijuana legalization measure, there are opponents of the voter initiative that say the tax pay day is not worth the problems the act will create. Detractors of the bill have one of two major arguments – either how the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis act will cause more crime, or how the act will take away from the quality of grown marijuana.
The medical argument against legalizing cannabis
While the medical uses of marijuana are under debate, several doctors agree there are some medical uses for the drug. Public health could be harmed if marijuana is made legal for recreational use.
For the most part, marijuana is smoked – and smoking anything long term can seriously damage lung tissue. Studies have also found that heavy pot smoking can permanently harm short term memory and reaction time. These opponents argue that legalized recreational marijuana would increase the use of marijuana, which would be a hazard to public health.
The California Peace Officers Association, among quite a few others, has spoken out in opposition to the initiative intended to legalize marijuana. John Lovell, who lobbies for the association went on record against the bill, saying “We have enough problems with alcohol and abuse of pharmaceutical products. Do we really have to add yet another mind-altering substance to the array?”
Detractors also point out that, no matter what California voters pass, marijuana stays a Schedule I illegal substance, federally. When enforcement on medical marijuana has been lax, marijuana use, sale, and possession remain serious federal crimes. If marijuana were to be legalized in California, it could entice organized crime and drug cartels to the state.
The quality argument against legalizing pot
An unusual coalition between marijuana producers and those who want to keep marijuana illegal is emerging. Some marijuana growers are speaking out against the voter initiative, saying that legal pot could be economically damaging. Economically, growers fear that legalized marijuana would significantly reduce the sales price of their cash crop. This would put their livelihood and the economic base of much of Humboldt county at risk, sending several of them to credit counseling. As in various other markets, growers worry that legal marijuana would mean corporations would begin producing competition to their crops. Like other farmers in America, pot growers would be forced to compete with agribusinesses, which would increase expense and reduce profit.
There are lots of arguments both for and against the passage of California’s Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis act. The results in California’s election will be carefully watched, and the result on the legal marijuana movement could be profound.
