California’s November ballot will include the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis act. The arguments for passing the initiative are summarized in California Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act: Part 1. Naysayers of the bill say that the tax pay day will not be worth the problems of the bill, even though polls show that 59% of decided voters support the act. Major opponents of the bill include those who believe the act will increase crime and those who believe the act will worsen the quality of marijuana available.
Medical arguments against legal marijuana
The medical uses of marijuana are fairly well-accepted by some doctors. However, if marijuana is legalized, public health might be harmed.
Marijuana is mainly ingested through smoking, and the smoking of any substance, especially long-term, can seriously damage a person’s lungs. Reaction time and short term memory have also been shown to be damaged by long-term pot smoking. Medical opponents of legal recreational marijuana argue that legalization would increase use, and therefore negatively affect public health.
Arguments against legal marijuana – Criminal
The California Peace Officers Association, among quite a few others, has spoken out against 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 need to add yet another mind-altering substance to the array?”
No matter what California voters do, opponents point out that marijuana is nevertheless considered a Schedule I illegal drug by the federal government. The possession, sale, and distribution of marijuana remains a serious federal crime, even if enforcement against medical marijuana states has been greatly diminished. If marijuana were to be legalized in California, it could entice organized crime and drug cartels to the state.
Quality arguments against legal marijuana
While many marijuana smokers and growers usually stand at odds against those who want to keep marijuana illegal, a small coalition is emerging. Some marijuana growers are speaking out in opposition to the voter initiative, saying that legal pot could be economically damaging. Growers fear that if marijuana were legal, it would reduce the sales price of their cash crop. If the price of pot were to drop, the growers fear they would have to attend credit counseling because their livelihood would be damaged. In addition to price fears, growers worry that large corporations would begin growing marijuana. Like quite a few other small-scale growers in America, the growers would be compelled to compete against agribusinesses, which could drive up the cost while driving down the price of their crops.
There are several arguments both for and against the passage of California’s Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis act. The debate about legal marijuana has been raging in the United States for over a hundred years, and the result of California’s election is certain to be attentively watched.
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