With the California marijuana legalization bill fast approaching, many find themselves for the first time outside the traditional perspective regarding criminalization of marijuana. Proponents of the bill are pressing forward in reconstructing what many Californians now consider outdated drug reform. However, there are many delusions that need to be clarified in order to get a full perspective on legalization.

Proponents of legalization usually enjoy pointing out the misconception that marijuana use is medically hazardous to society. PureTHC.com, a leading Legalization proponent, states that although alcohol claims nearly 100,000 American lives annually, while cigarettes claim an astounding 400,000 lives annually, there has never been a single marijuana-related death reported in our nation’s history. Many proponents of the bill beg the question that if the government will allow such dangerous substances such as alcohol or tobacco in society, why would they criminalize the use of non-lethal recreational substances?

Proponents of the bill suggest that the cost inefficiency of criminalizing Marijuana proves to be more than sufficient reason for legalization. Not only could the taxable revenue on marijuana strongly assist combating the California deficit, The leading activist organization California NORML reports that Legalization would save over $150 million in law enforcement costs for arrest, prosecution, trial and imprisonment of marijuana offenders annually. The assumption is that the vast wasted revenue could be directed at more serious, federal violent crimes rather than at arresting what 30 million Americans consider recreation.

These arguments, however, are actually misleading.

The University of South Florida reports, “We’ve tried working with marijuana smoke, and it’s so toxic, you just get it near the immune system and it (the immune system) simply dies.”
 
Although Marijuana is used recreationally, the Drug Watch Organization reports in the nation’s capital alone, 90 percent of all reported child abusers are also convicted drug abusers, indicating direct correlations between the two. They also report that one-third of all car accidents in Maryland involve drivers who test positive for marijuana and that there appears to be a growing trend for surrounding states. If high driving is an issue when marijuana is illegal, the potential consequences of legalization could be explained as nothing less than disastrous. When we observe the state’s relationship with alcohol, we learn from the Washington Post that the state spends nearly 800 percent more in medical care and federal and local administration costs than it makes in tax revenues. Understanding how much more of a financial burden alcohol is compared to how much the United States makes on the taxes of it, there is simply no evidence to support the idea of any federal financial benefits to legalization.

Although proponents of the bill hold an idealistic perspective, I don’t believe California is prepared for the social stigmas if such a reform were to pass. I don’t believe we would want to partake in the international connotations of Legalized Nations such as the Netherlands.

We need to ask ourselves, “Could November be the first step in a long process of social compromises?”