legalization is a complicated issue, and not because of any moral hang up or even for reasons pertaining to the war on drugs... although both of those main issues do influence the debate. The issue is this; as it stands there is a huge demand for supply. the illegal aspects of marijuana horticulture provide the grey area for inflated price. So, the current price floor could only be maintained if the illegal aspects that promote the higher prices remains on the supply end. If marijuana, and the production/manufacturing of marijuana and related agents(hash,oil, tincture, etc.) were to become legitimized, it would flood the the supply lines which would lower demand(or at least ease the intensity of) and hence drop the price floor due to such prominent availabilty. If the price floor drops, and you introduce the costs of institutionalized regulation for our newly embraced national cash crop, there is no longer the bountiful profit incentive for legalization in the first place. In fact (and I've had my accountant do the numbers when I was still considering becoming involved) , it would cost to regulate (in california)- way overhead of any profit to be made by the state. So legalization would actually cost tax payer money. If it costs tax payer money, that means there is less money for our trusted representatives to "re-allocate" or better- steal. They already have a hard time stealing from us citizens due to california's deficient status quo, this would make it harder to scratch each others backs (in a nut shell). If it meant big money for the GOV, you better believe it would have been legal 50 yrs ago... but to our dismay, it would actually cost too much to legalize contrary to popular notions of creating a financial surplus. I feel if the GOV were to look past the profits of simply legalizing a substance, and see the retail potential of a marijuana friendly atmosphere, they would find the cash cow they are after in a new and vast marketplace that would cater to the giant "stoner" demographic. The profit is not in the weed, but in the products and businesses a weed friendly approach would create. Also remember, that the federal government stands strongly against any notions for legalization, so until marijuana enthusiasts can form a plan that would create profits that over ride the massive federal grant money allocated to california (which would terminate if we went legal), my prediction is we will never see a truly legal marketplace for the ganja. Also keep in mind that if it were to go legal, they would give out commercial contracts to the highest bidders, and protect those contracts by not allowing any competition from the smaller operations. Think about it- Vicoden is a legal drug right? what happens if you get caught manufacturing your own home made vicoden on a commercial scale? Your going to jail. same tactics will apply. They will not under any circumstances allow citizens to openly compete with the institutionalized market. The entire reason for removing marijuana from the medical remedy section in the first place was wide spread instability of marijuana based products, potency and quality was never consistent and too wide spread, no general dosage guidelines could be established at that time. They will use this as a reason for why you cant grow your own. The market would be dominated with the iron fist of wal mart. and my guess is some green earth bill would pass that claims growers to be too wasteful of power and water or some bullshit like that. I'm all for legalization, however basic economic theory contradicts the exponential financial predictions of most well-meaning enthusiasts. Like almost everything in government, it boils down to the bottom dollar, thats the sad and obvious truth. time to smoke a bole!
