When recreational cannabis becomes legal in California on Jan. 2, part of the focus — in Los Angeles, at any rate — will be on “social equity.” That’s the term for a set of guidelines meant to spread legalization’s wealth to neighborhoods that have gotten the worst of the drug wars. According to draft legislation currently moving through the City Council, for every general license approved for a pot shop, one license must also be approved for social equity reasons.
I’m fully in favor of legalization — here, there and everywhere. I wouldn’t stop with marijuana, either. Across the board decriminalization would allow us to reframe addiction as a medical issue, and treat it as such. No more mandatory sentences, no more addicts in prison simply because of drug use. It would also undermine the black market, and raise tax revenues that could be channeled, in part — as Los Angeles plans to do with 20% of its marijuana taxes — into recovery and rehabilitation.
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6 comments:
Why does the government have to give California huge amounts of money every year? Its my tax money but I don't have a say on where it goes. California is getting "hood winked" by their own government constantly. Large parts of California is like a third world country with poverty,violence and sickness.
It's a good thought, but tax money dedicated to social causes generally slips down some abyss, eaten by bureaucrats, never to make it to any program.
You can't put all those lawyers, judges and jailers on the unemployment line! THINK! There's just too much money in keeping it illegal.
So, what are the drug dealing thugs going to do to make up for their lost income over legalization? You can certainly believe they are not going to go out and find legitimate jobs. One has to wonder how solving one problem will create another, perhaps even worse than the one being solved.
Big pharma doesn't want this; would render a lot of their drugs useless. As always, follow the money The same reason Dupont doesn't want us to go back to hemp paper; they own the patent on the toxic chemical-laden paper-making process. Our farmers could actually make some money if allowed to farm both.
2:48 and they line the pockets of the law makers just like every major energy firm. Welcome to American politics.
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