In California, Legal Pot Is Best of Bad Options: Mark A.R. Kleiman

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Californians are ready to makeanother run at the high life. Last year, the state’s voters cameclose to legalizing marijuana production and sales. Next year,with the legalization forces backed by more money, betterorganization and a younger presidential-year electorate, they’llprobably succeed. So drafting the marijuana ballot proposal ismore than a symbolic exercise: Whatever goes on the ballot maywell go into the law books.

Advocates of change in California confront one bedrockfact: They can’t repeal the federal laws making it illegal togrow, sell or even use cannabis. They can hope that change inCalifornia will create pressure for change in Washington, butwhatever they ask voters to approve in November 2012 will haveto work, at first, in the context of continued nationalprohibition. That rules out some otherwise attractive ideas. Forexample, Proposition 19, which came close to passage last year,sought to tax and regulate cannabis production and sale. But nogrower or seller could have paid state taxes or filed Californiaregulatory paperwork without confessing to a federal crime. Thatmade the whole idea nonsense.