- Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger Smoking Marijuana
Just over a month before the big Proposition 19 bill goes up for a vote to officially legalize marijuana in the state of California, the Governator, Arnold Schwartzenegger signed a bill to decriminalize possession of the plant.
By signing this bill, the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana will result in the equivalent of a speeding ticket. A fine of $100. No longer a misdemeanor, this new law will free up the court system and all of the money that goes along with prosecuting the offenders. I bet those 60,000+ people who were prosecuted last year for possession wish he’d done this a long time ago. The bill takes effect on January 1, 2011.
On November 2nd, Californians will vote on Proposition 19 which proposes full legalization of marijuana so this act by the Governor may be merely political posturing and mean absolutely nothing. Proposition 19 proposes that lilgalizing marijana will result in billions of taxable income for the state and with the stroke of one pen could eliminate the budget crisis in California.
Whether you are for or against the smoking of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes, you have to admit that California could sure use the money. As Fiorello LaGuardia, former Mayor of New York said when asked to make Marijuana illegal, “You want me to make a PLANT illegal?”
