California's Marijuana Movement

by Matt Kelley · 2009-03-03 15:58:00 UTC
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California State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a bill last week in the state legislature to regulate the state's number one cash crop - marijuana. California is facing a $16 billion budget shortfall and marijuana could bring in hundreds of millions in revenue while saving the state millions it spend enforcing marijuana laws and locking up violators. Ammiano wrote today in the San Francisco Chronicle that he introduced the bill because it is the "logical next step in the nation's public policy toward marijuana."

I introduced AB390 not only to address California's growing economic crisis but, more importantly, to begin a rational public policy discussion about how best to regulate the state's largest cash crop, estimated to be worth roughly $14 billion annually. Placing marijuana under the same regulatory system that now applies to alcohol represents the natural evolution of California's laws and is in line with recent polls indicating strong support for decriminalizing marijuana.

He goes on to say:

As a member of the state Assembly, I believe we must acknowledge reality and bring innovative solutions to the issue of marijuana, not simply wait for the federal government. This is how change happens. Californians lead rather than follow, and we can set an example for the nation as we did on medical marijuana by passing AB390.

Californians can contact your state representatives about the bill here.

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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