How To Fix The Budget? Grow Pot

A California activist is working to fix California's budget shortfall by introducing an idea to tax and regulate marijuana.

California's budget impasse has passed the one-month mark, social services aren't getting state-funded help they need to stay open, and other legislative priorities are being put off the table until the legislature can come to agreement.

One California resident thinks he has the answer: Legalize the growth and sales of marijuana.

Clifford Schaffer, who runs a marijuana advocacy Web site in his spare time from his day job as a computer programmer, says that California could easily clear up the $700 million budget gap still facing state lawmakers, and as a plus, the measure could even help improve national security. He has started a petition, and the number of those supporting his idea is growing rapidly.

"We would honestly hope that they take our suggestion. Failing that, you know, what are the options?" Schaffer said in a telephone interview from his Agua Dulce, Calif., home. Otherwise, he said, "They're going to send another few billion to the drug lords in Mexico who are challenging the Mexican government."

Citing a study that estimates gross U.S. spending on marijuana at roughly $10 billion a year, he said California could corner the market on taxes gleaned from a legalized marijuana trade, generating $1 billion in revenues. That money would stay within the state instead of going to foreign drug cartels.

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