"Historic highs" for support of legalizing marijuana

By Sheilah Downey (sheilahd@foodconsumer.org)

The times they may have changed.

Voters in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a measure to tax medical marijuana sales, the first city in the United States to do so.

With the economy in the dumps and the deficit a downer, advocates say they have never seen such widespread public support for marijuana legalization.

"We are actually talking about historic highs when it comes to public support of taxing and regulating marijuana for adult consumption," said Paul Armentano, of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, to the Christian Science Monitor.

By a wide margin of 80 percent to 20 percent, Oakland voters approved the measure to increase sales tax on "cannabis business" to $18 per $1,000 of gross receipts.

The push is on to have the legislation go statewide.

Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger, dealing with a budget crises in a cash-starved state, has said he is in favor of debating the issue of legalizing marijuana.

State assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced legislation that would let California regulate and tax medical marijuana. The proposed $50-per-ounce pot tax would bring in a much-needed $1.3 billion a year, according to estimates. Though the bill was shelved, Ammiano has said he will re-introduce the bill early next year.

California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 and since then 12 states have followed suit.