ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA - It’s been said that as California goes, so follows the rest of the states. Earlier this month, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced California’s initiative to investigate the possibility of the legalization of Marijuana. The bill proposed by San Francisco Representative Tom Ammiano would make recreational cannabis legal for ages 21 and up, with a tax of $50 an ounce. Ammiano predicts will net $1.3 billion to help float the state’s $46 billion deficit. So, with all of the state programs from California that have already been exported, what could this mean for Florida?
“If it helps the economy; then yes” was Katie Couch, a 27 year old school teacher from Jacksonville’s response. Her sentiment was echoed by many people when asked whether they would vote yes or no on a bill to legalize the drug on the same terms as California’s proposal. “Quite a few teachers already smoke, so it wouldn’t impact us one way or the other except to make our habits legal,” Couch added. Her friend and co-worker, 24 year old Jaime Adams agreed, “If you don’t smoke it already, then there’s really no change in your life. People that do it are going to do it anyways.” The only concern over the bill came from the 21 year old age limit, which sparked both Adams and 23 year old St. Augustine waitress, Megan Frost, to agree “[that] if you’re old enough to die for your country and vote, you should be old enough to have a beer or [now] a joint!”
“Alcoholism from employees or customers disrupts more business [than marijuana],” said 27 year old Samantha Palmer, manager of the Flagler Legacy store in St. Augustine. “Drugs are drugs,” she reasoned, “marijuana’s appeal [to new users] comes from its mystique as an illegal drug.” As such, Sam doubts there would be a flood of new long time users if it became illegal. Whitney Warren, a 23 year old employee of the Legacy agreed, “[some] people would just switch to other drugs that are still illegal to get the same thrill.”
Lauren Salvo, a 21 year old clerk at the Legacy also wants to know what the money would be used for. She would like to be reassured that the money from the legal sale of marijuana would be used for things she can agree with and not”…be used for things that are trivial”.
Another concern for many faced with this hypothetical decision is whether or not legalization will bring more bad than good? With the grower’s license and the tax at retail, the bill seeks to keep the cultivation of the drug in the private sector, but it’s yet to be seen what kind of effect this will have on the already robust illegal infrastructure. “The real questions would be in who packages and sells it and would it create a larger problem by disrupting a pre-existing underground industry,” Couch pondered.
It’s not just undergrounds that would be affected, either. Frost pointed out that even pharmaceutical companies might feel the sting when legal marijuana goes public. “It would totally have a positive effect on the economy,” she reasoned, “but there’d be a lot less money going to things like Vicadin.” In the past, marijuana lobbyists have claimed that their legalization efforts were stymied by such corporations, now California might put that claim to the test.
This controversial bill is sure to spark many more questions in the future as the details are run through with a fine comb, but early on it seems to have strong support especially from young working professionals and a few would even consider trying the drug if it weren’t illegal. For the most part this proposed bill seems to impact the millions who already smoke or grow cannabis illegally, and will allow the State to float on funds that before only bolstered the black market. Those who already smoke all agreed: what better to show your patriotism than to kick back and light up that legal joint?
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