Proposition 19

Kristina Porier

Heather Hill

Written Communication

April 22 2011

Proposition 19: Beneficial or Harmful?

California Proposition 19 is a ballot initiative that was on the November 2, 2010, statewide ballot.   It is a bill that was created and hoped to be passed that would have legalized marijuana-related activities, such as taxing and regulating marijuana.   The bill was defeated on a close percentage, with 46.2% voting “Yes” and 53.8% voting “No”.   There was much controversy between the supporting and opposing sides.   Writer Paul Van Slambrouck from the Christian Science Monitor argues against the supporters of legalizing marijuana.   In his article titled “The Debate Over the Legalization of Marijuana: An Overview”, he writes about how the federal government continues to oppose legalizing even medical marijuana due to the concern that any loosening of drug laws will have harmful effects to our society.   On the other hand, Brian Doherty argues just the opposite in his article titled “Reason”.   He writes that since 1995, support for marijuana legalization has risen nationally from 25% to 46%, and that legalizing marijuana can have a huge impact on our country for many reasons.   So the question is, would the legalization of marijuana be beneficial or harmful to our government, economy, and country?
In the past years marijuana has been illegal, the majority of those against the legalization of marijuana outweighed the number of those supporting the legalization of marijuana.   Times have changed.   Doherty writes in his article that since 1995, support for marijuana legalization has risen nationally from 25% to 46%.   He writes that a September 2010 study for the Cato Institute by Harvard economist Jeffery Miron found that California alone spends $960 million a year on marijuana law enforcement.   He also discusses how activists pointed out the fact that rape kits went untested while police processed 861,000 misdemeanor pot arrests in California in a year....