Smoking Out California's Budget Crisis

Could the sticky green substance that many consider a sacrament be Sacramento's answer to California's imminent financial woes? With pundits and lawmakers searching desperately for ways to plug California's hemorrhaging budget deficit — now at $26.3 billion — the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) says it has the answer: legalization and taxation.

Airing again on Wednesday, a 30-second pro-marijuana television ad is getting all the buzz, with some networks refusing to run this controversial call to arms because some believe the commercial promotes marijuana use. NBC affiliate KTVU and ABC affiliate KGO outright rejected the ad, while CBS affiliate KPIX and the Bay Area's local Fox station reportedly ignored the MPP's request for a rate card.

The ad features the plea of Nadene Herndon of Fair Oaks, a 58-year-old state employee who states that millions of marijuana users and potential tax payers are being ignored. “Instead of being treated like criminals for using a substance safer than alcohol,” Herndon says in the ad, “we want to pay our fair share. Taxes from California's marijuana industry could pay the salaries of 20,000 teachers. Isn't it time?”

In February, Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) floored a California bill that promises $1 billion in new state revenues with taxation on legal marijuana sales, and in April, a poll found that 56 percent of Californians were in favor of legalization for recreational marijuana use. Shortly afterward, facing massive cuts in public safety and education, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stated publicly that “it's time for a debate,” and proposed a study be done on legalization and taxation.

All of which suggests that, even if the Marijuana Policy Project doesn't get the air time they seek for their commercial, their ideas aren't likely to go up in smoke anytime soon.

Photo courtesy of Ben Corbett.